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alaskaloyale

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Posts posted by alaskaloyale

  1. Sorry, I should have posted a more detailed update. The running worse when warm issue turned out to be a loose distributor rotor, when I replaced that the car started behaving the same cold as warm, runs much smoother, and no longer dies completely when it warms up. Unfortunately it still won't idle most of the time. When the car isn't idling, it typically will not idle cold or warm.  I'll check the valve on the charcoal canister, but I am suspecting that a carb rebuild is probably the only solution at this point. I sprayed starter fluid around the intake and all the hoses and it didn't seem to affect the idle. It's just odd because sometimes it will idle just fine for days or weeks at a time, then go back to this for another month. I'm getting great at driving with two feet, but it's pretty frustrating.

  2. Update! The car is fixed. I had the distributor dropped 180 off, I think because my timing belt were the opposite from where they should be. I put my finger over the spark plug hole and turned the engine till I felt pressure, put it at TDC on that stroke and dropped the disty and it fired right up. I set the timing to 8 degrees btdc at idle, which I think wasn't the right engine speed to set it at, but it's running pretty good. I'll replace the spark plugs and check the timing at 2k rpm over the weekend.

  3. It does have a vacuum advance. I tested it by sucking on the hose and it seems to be functional. I'll check the distributor to coil wires, they haven't been messed with since the car was running, but it's possible that I broke or damaged a wire while messing with the distributor. It very well could be the coil wire, because it doesn't even try to start, the best I've been able to get is a slight backfire when the distributor is set pretty far off from where I think it should be. We might just not be getting spark.

  4. Either I am somehow misunderstanding, or there is something else wrong with the car. I lined up the 0 degree mark, with the dot on the drivers side cam gear pointed 45 degrees down to the right. The I inserted the distributor, with the rotor pointed towards the the #1 plug wire (basically straight back towards the firewall. The engine cranks but does not even attempt to start. I'll post pictures tomorrow. The car started and ran, albeit poorly, when I pulled the distributor, I have replaced the cap and rotor with new ones (the old rotor had over an inch of slop, which I figured was probably the cause of my rough running), but the plug wires are in the same places as before.

  5. In an attempt to fix a timing issue on my car, I removed my distributor without marking how it was aligned when it came out. The Hanes manual said to point the rotor towards the #1 spark plug wire with the engine at about 0 degrees, but I can't seem to get the car started now. I would appreciate some advice (sorry for the total amateur mistake, really wasn't thinking)

     

    Thanks!

  6. I've got an 86 carbed (Hitachi) EA82 Wagon that's got a few issues. It intermittently (more often than not) will die if you let off the gas pedal, and acts like it is not getting enough gas at lower rpms. In addition is doesn't seem to have a high idle when started cold, and runs on low idle all the time when it can idle at all. This has been going on for quite some time, but was merely annoying and didn't impact the drivability. Now it seems to drive fine (although perhaps not as smoothly as it should and still no idle), until the engine fully warms up, at which point it suddenly develops a misfire/stumble so bad as to be almost undriveable, and if it dies becomes very difficult to start. When the engine has cooled, it once again fires up effortlessly and drives fine until warmed all the way up.

     

    I figure that the idle issue is most likely the carburetor, and it probably needs either a new anti-diesel valve or a carb rebuild. It also maybe could be a weak fuel pump or plugged filter. However, the fuel system wouldn't explain my more serious running issue when the engine is hot.

    I also think it needs a timing adjustment, as the running got noticeably worse after I replaced the clutch, which could mean that I accidentally moved the distributor off by a tooth when putting the flywheel back on.

     

    If you guys have any other troubleshooting ideas they would be greatly appreciated, my other car is an 88 GL so I'm not accustomed to carburetors. This was a pretty reliable car before all of this started and is in otherwise great shape with only 135K on it (the dash clock even works!), which is pretty much brand new for these things (my beat-to-hell 88 is still driving at 389K). Unfortunately the money isn't there right now to do a weber or TBI swap, so I'm stuck with this fuel system till summer.

  7. I bought a cv axle at Napa for my 1988gl wagon with a 5-speed Dr. The axle I got looked exactly right, but the inner end of the axle where it slides onto the transmission shaft is slightly too large to engage the splines. What did I buy by mistake, and how do I get the parts store to sell me the right one?

    • Like 1
  8. The power steering pump on my 88 GL wagon recently started making a loud screeching noise when the wheel was turned hard, and a constant clattering noise whether or not the wheel was being turned. The wheel also became quite difficult to turn when the vehicle is moving slowly. I replaced the pump with one from my parts car, and all the noises have completely gone away. However, strangely enough the wheel isn't any easier to turn. Is it possible that this pump is bad too but just doesn't make noise, or is there something wrong with my steering rack?

     

    EDIT: I just realized that I refilled the system with Power Steering Fluid instead of the recommended Dextron ATF. Could this be causing the new pump to still be hard to steer at low speeds, and does that cause any damage? I'm going to switch back to ATF tonight.

  9. Thanks, I'll test that tomorrow. The main problem seems to have entirely gone away. I think maybe some of the leaked coolant that sprayed all over the engine bay must have iced up something important, because after I thawed it out it ran great, and hasn't had the problem since. It still runs a little lean, and hesitates a little when the engine is very cold so I need to keep poking around till I find out whats wrong, but nothing severe enough to make driving difficult. I suspect I've got a slight vacuum leak somewhere that I haven't been able to find yet. Here's to problems that solve themselves!

    • Like 1
  10. If you could find the specs that would be fantastic. Fired up the car today, and it seemed to run normally, although I didn't have a chance to give it a real test drive, just drove it up onto the trailer to tow it home. It's possible that something just iced up in the engine and was messing things up, I'll know for sure tomorrow when I get a good look at it. -40 degrees does strange things to cars.

  11. How do I test the Coolant Temperature Sensor? They are about $90 around here from NAPA, so I'd like to somehow confirm the problem before replacing it.

     

    I'll take a good look at all the vacuum hoses, would not be surprised if one of them cracked, I had one break a month or so ago that I replaced, and the other ones all look pretty old.

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