GeneralDisorder

Carter/Weber = Fail. Trust me - you don't want to deal with that thing - especially if it's a feedback unit with a computer (sounds like it is based on you haveing the blue FPCU). But it sounds like your problem is electrical. I doubt you have a fuel pump power problem - the little blue fuel pump control unit will only supply power while cranking or running based on the tach signal. You problem is a lack of spark. You need to check for power to the + side of the coil and check the primary and secondary coil winding resistance. Where are you located in the PNW? If you are around the Portland, OR area I might be able to help. GD

They are anti-rattle clips. Designed to keep the pads from vibrating in the caliper bracket. You can get a new set from Subaru for pretty cheap but they aren't entirely neccesary - my lifted wagon is missing a good number of them and the brakes work fine - can't notice any noises on it with all the road noise, etc. I replaced them with a full new set on my Brat and didn't notice any real difference there either. They are pretty cheap though so might as well replace them if you feel the need. GD

It's like night and day. I wont even drive a Subaru with the stock carb. Painful. It's got to be a Weber or fuel injection. The Weber improves low-end torque by a lot. Top end is about the same. Smoothness depends on how you drive it and how you jet it. They are progressive linkage carbs so at 2/3 primary throttle the secondary starts opening - no vacuum or demand driven secondary. GD

The dealer does not carry bulk fuel line. You would have to order the exact part number for the specific hose. I recently asked my local dealer about this in fact. Other dealers may be different but the same scenario applies with dealerships as with auto-parts stores. The price is going to be rediculous when down the street at the hose and coupleing industrial supply you can get hose that is impervious to just about everything, has a working temp of 250*F, and a pressure rating of 1800 psi for a little over a buck a foot. Why would I bother with the dealer? As to why you would need some - engine swaps mostly for me. Sometimes the lines are damaged when replacing fuel filters, etc as well. Though I've developed a technique that rarely results in damage on these lines - I've done a lot of them though and trial and error has resulted in damage in the past. GD

Go to A1-Coupling over in Tualitin. You want 5/16" high pressure fuel rated hose. It's like $2 a foot or less from them vs. $8 to $10 a foot from auto parts stores. You can't buy metric hose in the US that I know of except for some select sizes through places like Discount Import Parts, etc. They have some german hose in bulk that is used on the VW's for breather lines and vacuum lines, etc. I wouldn't use it for the FI line though - I always use 5/16" hose from A1 - it's close enough for the 8mm stuff and their hose is rated to something rediculous like 1800 psi. And yes - when you are talking about rubber hose - 5/16" and 8mm are the same thing. They are even the same when talking about tubing and tubing fittings really. So close that it's not even worth worring about..... maybe if you were working for NASA. 1/4" and 6mm are NOT interchangeable when talking about tubing but generally ARE when talking about hose..... just to give you an idea..... .25" = 6.35mm. GD

Check all your fuses, etc. Actually check for spark? Check the resistance of the CTS - it might be indicateing the engine is hot when it's actually cold leading to no cold enrichment and no starting. The start wire is the one on the ignition switch connector that isn't being used. If you look at the switch side you will see 6 male spades but on the harness side there will only be 5 female spades. The 6th spade is the start signal - pop a female spade with short pig-tail from one of the unused connectors from the SPFI donor harness into the vehicle side of the plug and solder that to the start signal wire going to the ECU. GD

You need the adaptor plate, 1-3/4" air filter, and you want it jetted thusly: 140/140 mains 170/160 air bleeds 50/50 idle jets You may need to go up a size on the primary idle jet so you might want to also order a 55 and a 60 idle jet for the carb in order to tune it for your engine. I find that the EA81 likes the 50 or 55 while the EA82 wants a 60 or even 65 idle jet. That's been my experience. GD

Water has to be hooked up to the cooling system. It is typically the most accurate of the choke styles as it tracks the choke with the temp of the engine. Electric hooks to the electrical system and heats up over a specific time interval - it does not track the engine temp and as such pretty much requires maintenance adjustment every season. I prefer the DGV-5A which is the manual choke variant. Never requires adjustment - no wiring or coolant hoses. Just install a choke pull-cable and remember to open the choke as it warms or once you enter the freeway. GD

Depends on what you want. Do you have a 3-door coupe or a Hatch? Do you want electric, water, or manual choke? It's all about your preference. Any of the 32/36's will work if you desire the features and want to hook them up. Mostly it's a style of choke decision. You probably do not want any of the DFV's. DGV's are the standard around here. GD

Then find a good honest board member in your area to work on it. Likely you are being ripped off by these people anyway. Besides that - they are just trying to rob you blind by saying something like that. If there is no paper trail that *they* removed the stuff then they are not liable for it or it's replacement - they can still legally work on the car - all they have to do legally is tell you they noticed that it's been modified, that they didn't do it, and that you *should* fix it. Obviously if they *know* about it then you will have to go somewhere else to have it tested, etc - but there are plenty of places that can and will do that without ever having seen your car in the past. Your best bet is to post in this section of the forum for someone in your area to work on the car that is local to you. There are lots of members here from WA that would love to make a few extra $$ on the side doing whatever needs done. Your shop is on a high-horse and see's you as a money maker - instead of doing the right thing for the customer they have given you some line about how it must be done to "federal standards" or some big-brother men-in-black are going to show up and throw them all in the slammer for helping an elderly lady get her 30 year old car running halfway decent by tossing off a few antiquated components that can't be sourced...... they are being tight-asses and it shows. The *spirt of the law* is to keep the emissions clean and I don't disagree with that on a fundamental level - but it can be accomplished in a variety of ways and some are MUCH less expensive for the customer. At the end of the day if there is no paper trail then there is no criminal and thus no crime. They don't have to write down what they did for you - but instead they see ways they can make more money by insisting on complicated, expensive repairs that are not in your best intrest - only in the intrest of draining your wallet. GD

That's all well understood by myself and everyone else here. Explaining this to you so that you understand it is difficult, but I'll do the best I can. The emissions equipment in place on your vehicle has to do two things and two things only (this is actual real-world stuff, not hypothetical beurocratic garbage laws that are unenforceable): 1. Has to pass a visual inspection. 2. Must function well enough to pass a tail-pipe sniffer test. Here's what happens: A. They open the hood and look around. They are looking for obvious stuff - disconnected lines, major components missing - EGR valve, Air Injection or smog pumps, radically different and obviously non-stock equipment like Weber carbs, etc. Most of the people that are going to be looking have no real clue what they are looking at - they have had maybe 8 hours of actual instruction and are in no way familar with what they should be seeing. Two potential outcomes here: a. They see nothing out of place (most likely) and go on to step B. b. They find something that disqualifies you - they say "no can do Mam - because of X - please go fix that". There are no fines, no wrist slapping, and no finger pointing. All that would be pointless. They are going to refer you to a mechanic if you ask and give you a peice of paper that says something about what they didn't like when they opened the hood. You are going to go and fix it and come back later. B. They put a sniffer up the tail-pipe and do an idle and then a 2500 RPM test. Two outcomes here: a. You pass - have a nice day b. You don't pas - see 'b' under section A. This is not the big deal that you think it is. The little plastic valve that is cracked is not even directly a peice of a emissions equipment nor is it mentioned specifically in the laws you posted, NOR can it even be seen once the air filter is in place. This just isn't a big deal - you pull it off, cap the lines and go about your daily life as before. Big brother is not going to hover over your house with blackhawk's if you yard off some broken plastic valve from your 1980's Subaru. Not going to happen. Pitch it in the dumpster and stop worring about vauge, hopelessly intricate, and impossible to enforce laws that no one is paying any attention to. GD

I think your mistake is in *thinking* that you have a problem. What you have is government meddling taking a bite out of your wallet. Good god man - don't they already take enough from you in taxes!?!? That is the same level of thinking that causes the elderly to conclude that a good way to spend their social security check is to feed it into the slot machines on the Indian reservations . If you just open your mind a bit you will find that the non-foulers, or the 02 sensor simulator products really *are* fixing the problem . Punch the cat's out completely so there's no chance of them clogging and you have "completely fixed" the problem . At the end of the day - it's a sub-routine in the computer that's looking for a signal from a sensor that is within a specified tollerance range. It is mandated by the governement. That sensor has absolutely nothing to do with engine management from a mileage or fuel/ignition mapping perspective. Any information that could be gathered from the exhaust stream and used for tuning purposes has been destroyed by the function of the catalytic converter. The non-fouler or similulator is simply giving the software the signal it wants to see to not throw the code. No more, no less. Solutions can range from replacing all the sensors and the converter and sealing up the exhaust, to reprogramming the ECU, to the non-fouler or the simulator. They are all viable, 100% effective "fixes" to the immediate problem of the code and the CEL. Period, end of story. GD

In a sense, yes it is - but only in that it's a valve that opens or closes one of the metering ports on the carb to filtered air - in practice you can plug both of the metering ports on the carb and the mileage doesn't change any amount that can be noticed by my calculations. Those metering ports are for the feedback computer controlled carbs - actually all of the Hitachi carbs are capable of being computer controlled - the difference is the jetting and that the feedback models have their metering ports hooked to duty solenoids and in turn to a computer and other sensors that control the airflow through those metering ports. On the non-feedback models the vacuum valves in conjunction with thermo-vacuum valves only open the metering ports once the engine has reached a specified operating temp or via other conditions like part-throttle cruise, or WOT, etc. Depending on how the vacuum system was routed. Ultimately the MPG difference between feedback and non is (on paper) about 1 MPG. In the real world it's generally much less and typically doesn't even show up under most driving conditions. I've driven with those ports plugged and with them open - I could detect no descernible difference in either mileage or behaviour either way. Especially when talking about an older vehicle with a good amount of mileage - these components and others will stop working and replacing them is typically not cost effective. The best solution involves simplification - remove those components that were installed for reasons that didn't involve having the engine run well. In fact, removing these failed components very often results in better fuel economy and cleaner emissions since in their failed form they were a detriment to both. All you really need is the carb, the EGR, the catalytic converter, and the Air Injection System (AIS). And if you want to be "green" the absolute best way to accomplish that is to buy a brand new 3-way catalytic converter off ebay for $75 or so and have your favorite muffler shop install it into the mid-pipe. Shouldn't cost more than $50 or so for the install. Just installing a NEW, modern 3-way catalyst into the mid-pipe and removing everything from the original emissions equipment besides the EGR valve and the AIS will result in less emissions than the car emitted when brand new in the '80's (Assuming the carb is jetted as it was originally and the ingition system is functioning properly). That's just the amount of improvement that has taken place in the design of catalysts over the last 30 years. From a cost/benefit analysis point of view - ditching all the orignal gear and going with a modern catalyst is both cheaper and better for the environment than fixing all that old junk. GD

It's complicated. But you don't need the thing - trust me. GD

Try that same thing in the cab of a Brat. And I'm 6' 2"..... I'll bet I have used over a dozen Subaru's of various vintages for that activity. GD

It's a balancing act - hotter will improve their effeciency AND decrease their life. I've seen just a few miles with a bad ignition component cause a cat to glow red and then throw catalyst effeciency codes immediately after the ignition was repaired. My neighbor's truck was running fine - he went to pass someone on the freeway, lost all power (engine started missing) and coasted to the side of the road. He waited for a bit - about 30 minutes later it fired up and drove home without problem. Replaced the ignition coil and then within a week both cats turn up bad according to the ECU. I installed non-foulers and it's fine now. Just leave the non-foulers in place. Let someone else pay the premium for replacement parts. If the non-foulers aren't doing it then spend the $25 on a rear O2 simulator or add a 2nd non-fouler GD

Thought I would mention it - the Army (when I was in anyway) runs an oil analysis program (Army Oil Analysis Program, or AOAP for short). We never changed the oil unless the analysis people told us to - usually we heard nothing and when we did we were typically told to get a second sample and then again heard nothing or it was simply determined that he engine was shot and needed to be overhauled :-\ (mind you - many of these trucks were Korean War vintage - 1950's and 1960's). The military is basically the largest domestic consumer of oil and fuel products and as such they do a lot of analysis and run their own analysis programs. It pays off for them and the success of their program is a big indicator of how important oil analysis is if you are going to spend the money on synthetics. At the end of all this discussion, debate, speculation, and anecdotal evidence - if you aren't doing analysis then you really don't know anything. Actually I can't remember a single time when I actually changed oil except one time on a generator engine - changed all 27 quarts in that one - per the AOAP report. In my opinion there is only two viable approaches to engine oil: 1. Use regular, quality oil - change it and the filter on a regular basis. 5k is a good number for most engines. 2. Use synthetics, do analysis, and change it when indicated by the report. It's really that simple. Those are the two time-tested and accepted methods. Anything else is speculation and gambling. GD

It doesn't affect anything. It's mileage tripped and comes on every 60k miles. You can reset it by moving some connectors under the dash. It's purely a maintenance reminder. GD

Direct link: http://www.autozone.com/autozone/catalog/parts/partsProduct.jsp?itemIdentifier=229062_0_1759_1200&skuDescription=Gabriel+Ultra+/+Shock/Strut+-+Front&brandName=Gabriel+Ultra&displayName=Shock/Strut+-+Front&categoryNValue=&sortType=&store=2219&isSearchByPartNumber=&fromWhere=&fromString=&counter=1&itemId=660-0&navValue=14600660&filterByKeyWord=&productId=229062&searchText=&categoryDisplayName=Suspension+%26+Steering&parentId=46-0 GD

Just looked them up - they are Gabiel Ultra's - $72 GD

They sell online as well. GD

I hear Autozone of all places carries the heigh-adjustable front struts. Possibly made by Monroe since that's one of the only aftermarket brands I've seen that stayed true to the Subaru design with the adjustable lower spring perch. And I guess they are cheap too - like $40 each is what I was told. Mind you that's second hand info but from a good source. Worth checking out if you need a set. GD

It's a vacuum valve. There is no common name for them other than that. If you want to replace it your options are a used one or a new one from the dealer. Or just pull it and plug the lines. You don't need it. GD

It is typicaly of the older vacuum/fuel pressure shop gauges to read in Inches of Mercury (inHg) on the vacuum side of the scale, and then Pounds per Sqaure Inch (PSI) on the fuel pressure side of the scale. I have one of those from the 1940's hanging on my wall in the garage. I wrote an entire article about using the EA82 SPFI on the EA81 engines. Here's the link: http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/EA81_SPFI.html GD

^ Jerry ^ knows his stuff - call him. He can fix it. GD