rubbie

My beasty is still down. Okay, so I have to get a new ignition amp, that little black thingy below the coil. I go to EVERY junkyard in town, and that little part has been pulled off all the available Subarus. Hmmm, thinks I, others have done this ... I call the dealership. Yes, they could bring one in for me - for $350! I finally find a junked one by phone 50 miles out of town. But the guy hears the desperation in my voice, and demands $125 for the sucker! Argh! I'm gonna try him again tomorrow with my best negotiating skills. But ... is there any way to bypass this litle gizmo? Failing that, is there any way to go to Radio Shack, get the components and build one? I might have to get creative here. Tony B

Okay, wonderful advisors, as the sun sets on another unproductive day I give you the results of my efforts. I cleaned up the coil-bracket grounds and the spade connectors for the ignition amp. There's now power at the coil negative terminal. The coil wire leading to the distributor doesn't spark at all when I turn it over, no juice there whatever. A new coil makes no difference. During all this, the ignition relay under-dash clicks as the engine turns over. If I turn the key almost but not quite to start, I hear the fuel-pump whine, and the ignition relay starts clicking. I checked the ECU wires for loose connections, everything's tight. I ran down to the junkyard and pulled another relay - no change with the new one, I should have guessed but had to try. My choices now, as I see it, are maybe still the ignition amp (the junkyard didn't have one), the distributor, or (gulp) the ECU. Any thoughts? Any way I can check these things to narrow it further? Thanks much. Tony B

Thanks guys, I'll get the ol' multimeter out and check when I get off work tonite. I'll let you know what I find. Tony B

Thanks for the suggestions, here's some more info. There's no spark at the plug. There's also no spark when I connected the plug straight to the coil (and grounded it ). I did the T-belt check, sure enough the disty spins, everything's okay there. The rotor does have that little screw, but it's fine. There's power at the positive terminal of the coil. There's no power at the negative pole, unless I disconnect the disty wire from it. According to Haynes, that means I have a defective "ignition control unit" inside the distributor. Big bummer if that's the case. The thing I wonder about is the clicking from the ignition relay under the dash. Does that mean the relay is the problem, a much easier fix, or is it just trying to do its job? I *hope* I can get my little beasty on the road by Monday.

This one has me stumped. My '87 GL hatchback (EA82 with SPFI) just up and died, it'll roll over endlessly but no power comes from the coil. There is a constant clicking as I roll it over, turns out it's coming from the blue connector against the steering column, hidden behind the ECU. I'm pretty sure that is the ignition relay. Do I have a bad relay, or is the problem with the inner workings of the distributor, as my Haynes manual suggests? Any feedback would be nice. This is a work car, and I need it back soon. Tony B