Hey all,

 

I left Portland heading for the coast with my usually dependable '86 GL EA-82 4X wagon filled with 5 people, a dog and backpacks. This was the heaviest load I've put the car to but it seemed to be doing great. We filled up with regular gas, added some octane boost for a little extra pep, and then we headed up Hwy 26 into the coast range. The first few hills were fine, a bit sluggish, but I attributed this to the extra weight. Then, on a long upgrade we suddenly bogged down, lost power and made it to the side of the road by downshifting and feathering the accel pedal.

 

The car was idling fine: no heat, no smoke, no untoward noises, no hot hubs, plenty of oil, trans fluid, etc... It revved out, just wouldn't (won't) pull a load.

 

I pulled back onto the road, drove few miles more to a country store and pondered the problem. The bogging didn't have the sharpness of an ignition miss but more the soupy feeling of fuel/mixture/??? I went into the store and bought a generic inline fuel filter and put it in, hoping that would solve the problem. Nope...same as before.

 

So, pulling over again after jerking and lunging between 15-20 mph., I saw alot of oil smoke from the exhaust where the pre-heater pipe is attached. I pulled the pipe out of the car and through the hole in the heat exchanger could see the exhaust glowing red!!! HMMM?!?! Could my cat be plugged? We pulled back onto the road and this time avereaged much better, getting up to 3rd and 4th gears. I figured cooler air going into the carb was making for better mixture.

 

We made it back home (barely) and I'm at my wits end as to what to do next.

 

Here are the stats:

 

--gas fill up + 1 bottle octane boost

--20 miles later bogged severely when put under load

--cap, rotor, air filter, etc. fine

--plugs sooty

--black smoke from exhaust (rich mixture) when bogging, no smoke when idling or revving with no load

--new fuel filter

--inside of carb clean

--all vacuum hoses attached and in good shape

--idles great, revs out fine, timing right on mark

--filled tank again when half empty

 

So what do you think? Bad gas? carb done for? bad cat?

 

I'm really at a loss. Anybody have ideas about what to do next????

 

Thanks,

Aiden

Canby, OR

bump bump bumpity bump

 

anyone?