Frank B

Ok, so the little hitachi carb on my 89 hatch is crap. The shafts are worn badly and it runs poorly, well, just not as good as it should. Among other things, I'd like to replace it but I'm not putting an expensive Weber on an oil burning engine that has 215,000 miles on it. So, I can get a non feedback Hitachi cheap but I will have to remove a bunch of stuff on the motor I'm sure. But what exactly?? There will be no need for the various solonoids and O2 sensor, but what about the ECM? Has anyone done this? I don't have the time to play with this thing and figure it out over a week or two. It needs to get me to work and even running below it's optimum, it still gets twice the mileage of my pickup!! Thanks for the help.

I agree with Gary. I have done that dozens of times. Just go get a garden hose repair end, the brass type that you clamp on the hose. Clamp that onto your heater hose or just use a short lenght of heater hose attahed to your heater core pipes, and turn on the hose. I like to crimp the garden hose in my hand and slowly release it to increase the water pressure slowly.

The hatch was EA81 4WD, and had 4 sticky, knobby snow tires on it. Yes the wagon is a bigger car, but not by much. Anyway, I just thought SPFI would do better than that.

Yeah, that was a shot in the dark I think :-\ .

I can't seem to find anything like this listed anywhere...... Whats wierd about it is that it stops after a few minutes, if that! Is there some type of pressure relief valve on the tranny or motor that would piss out oil?

Thanks GD! And thanks for the coil info too.

Ok, how does one bench test a distributor module on a 89 EA82T? Also, would an XT6 distributor work on an EA82T, with a different cap of course... Thanks

Thanks for the info GD, it makes sense.

My parents own a 2005 forester X, 2.5L automatic. Every now and again, totally at random with no rhyme or reason it squirts out oil, or tranny fluid, leaving a small stain and a short trail in the driveway. So far it only happens in the driveway just after a cold start. Mom's pushing 60 so she doesn't take the car out much or is she hard on the car. She told me about this yesterday and it's raining today so untill it dries up enough for me to play with the car, I'll do some research...... Has anyone had this happen?? I hope it's a common problem.

The 2wd disty has a more desirable advance curve, so you'll be better off with the 2wd units. What's the difference in the 2wd and 4wd coils(hitachi vs nd)?? Resistance values? Replacing the alternator and distributor should take at most 20 minutes, not bad really.

I would have to say that the peoblem is the alternator, not the distributor. Usually when the disty bushings wear out the car will stall while turning and the tachometer will jump around erratically.

I was getting 37 mpg in an 86 hatch with the stock Hitachi ?? I thought the SPFI would get better than 30 mpg...

Start with the little things, spark and fuel. If it runs at all, it has spark, so check your carb. I had the same problem with an 86 ea82 carbed car and it was the float sticking. Remove the carb, take it apart and clean/rebuild it. Check the float height and by the specs in the rebuild kit. My vote is on the float.

Take some pics of the engine before you start, at every angle you can. That way you have a reference when you put it back together. It will come off as an assembly. remove the fuel lines, plug wires, air intake hoses, upper radiator hose, vacuum hoses to the heater/ac controls, vacuum lines to the evap. canister, throttle cable, pcv hoses, disconnect the electrical connectors for the sensors and such then remove the intake bolts. Obviously have some new intake gaskets on hand too. Oh and drain the coolant before you take it apart or you'll fill the cylinders with coolant.

I agree, check for shorts under the dash. I need to do the same thing after reading this post. Not too long ago I heard a clicking sound under the steering column every now and again. The last time it did it I reached up and pushed everything around a bit in frustration and the sound went a way. There's relays, the fuse panel and a bunch of connectors under there. Maybe its why my car stumbles and tries to stall too?? Thanks for reminding me.....

on my 89 gl-10 it was on the accumulator/drier, but when I replaced the drier the new one had no provision for it. There were two wires to jump, one for the compressor clutch, one for the cooling fan. I crimped the clutch wires together permanently, but the fan wires I used a set of 1/4" spade connectors so I can unplug it during the winter months. If not it will run anytime the key is on. Just keep an eye on the freon pressures by checking it now and again, if it gets low your system will not shut itself down without that pressure switch and you'll fry the compressor.

Is it a turbo? If so check the hose under the turbo. If it's leaking there it will run onto the exhaust. Also look for the tell-tale white chaulk like staining that antifreeze leaves behind. It stands out pretty well on aluminum engines.

You may be able to fish a vacuum cleaner hoses into one of the ducts??

I have that same download somewhere, I remember using that info to test the tps a while back. I'll dig it up.

89 gl-10, turbo, 5 speed, awd, power everything. I'm seriously thinking of trading it for a DL, power nothing!!

woops, 44 isn't knock sensor, thats the WGDS, and I have that one too! 22, and 44.

Ok, some time ago the check engine light came on out of the blue, I checked the codes and 44 came up, knock sensor. I pulled the connector and it fell apart in my hands. So I broke the green plastic away from it and directly soldered the wire to the terminal, still has the code. Today i just installed a brand new knock sensor but this time I used a red butt connector crimped onto the wire and pushed onto the terminal on the sensor. I then applied some Goop glue covering the connection the waterproof it. Still had the code. Connected both the green and black connectors under the dash to clear the codes, still had the code. Disconnected the battery for 10 minutes, still had the code. Now thew kicker, replaced the ECM with a known good one, and guess what, still had the code! I'm thinking that the signal from the knock sensor is easily effected by any change in the wire, or is there something else that could be causing this?

I have noticed that the fan doesn't turn as fast, but it still heats up the inside just fine. maybe my connections aren't good enough?

Sorry, no pics. It was dark, raining, and getting colder.

You know your a sube owner if....your too broke(or cheap) to fix it with the correct parts!!!