July 25, 201114 yr I just bought my first Subaru. 1984 Brat GL. I love it! But... When I really step on the gas, the engine has almost no power. It slugs and chugs. If I'm gentle on the gas It runs fine. I drove it on the highway today and it did NOT want to go past 57mph. It drives and sounds great at 55mph at 2700 rpms. If I'm gentle on the gas It runs fine. Is this a carb issue? Fuel filter? Please help! I wanna have this thing for a long time.
July 25, 201114 yr Sounds like the symptoms of a fuel filter. Start with that which is a the easiest and that dont work try different things.
July 25, 201114 yr Congrats on your Brat. Part of the learning curve is to have stuff like this pop up till you learn how they tick.... agree with above, fuel filter (back by fuel pump and under hood), timing, plugs, wires, check vacuum lines, dump some Sea Foam into it etc... could be carb issues but lets assure first.. .both my 84's are running great on original carbs so don't jump to weber unless it's part of your plan... put up a pic or two.... and welcome.
July 25, 201114 yr Author Thanks for the tips, guys. New plugs made no difference. I put Seafoam in the fuel tank and engine. No difference. I replaced both fuel filter today. The old ones looked decent. I'm positive what the problem is now. Catalytic Converter. When I bought the car, the Cat was toast. So the seller put a new one in. I had never owned a manual tranny before, and have been learning on for the last week. I think my awful driving, stalling, and over-reving the engine caused it to melt. I popped a nice sized briquette out today. I'm going to remove the exhaust and see how many chunks of the Cat I can shake out. I will post pics of the whole thing tonight. P.S. -What is the top speed for a stock non-turbo '84 Brat? -What should my idle be? It's at 1200 rpm right now.
July 26, 201114 yr P.S. -What is the top speed for a stock non-turbo '84 Brat? 85.... maybe 90 with a good tail-wind and a Weber. -What should my idle be? It's at 1200 rpm right now. 750 rpm. GD
July 29, 201114 yr Author Alright boys, here we go. The trouble continues... First: Here's the 1984 BRAT GL So, first thing I did was replace the Spark Plugs. They were old and black. The new ones are NGK Iridium. Can't find wires localy, so I have to find them online somewhere. Anybody have a link? Here is one of the briquettes that shot out of my tailpipe. I removed the whole exhaust system and shook out every last piece of the Catalytic Converter. That was fun. Not. The muffler was FULL of Catalytic crap and who knows what else, so I cut the damn thing off. I put everything back together nice and tight, and boy oh boy was exhaust flow improved! The engine was WAY too loud for daily driving so I got a new muffler installed. I'll have to get a new Cat when DEQ comes around... Sorry no pics for that last bit. Anyway... I have been driving it for the last few days and it has been great. I got up to 60mph!!! But then... It started happening again. When I give it gas it sputters, hesitates and stalls. It fires up ok, and if I give it gas REALLY SLOWLY it sounds ok. In neutral when I put he pedal to the floor, hardly anything. I've been reading ALOT of posts on the board and it sounds like a fuel delivery issue. I'm going to get the fuel pump tested today and disassemble and clean the carb. UGH. P.S. There is an electric fuel pump next to he rear fuel filter that someone put on at one time. What is the stock one like and where is it located? Thanks and more to come...
July 29, 201114 yr That is where the stock pump is located. On a shelf next to the filter. Put a Weber on it and be done with it. Your issue is a carb issue - accelerator pump probably not working, mixture/idle speed/igntion timing are probably all wrong..... probably have multiple vacuum leaks, etc. If you don't know the Hitachi's very well it's not easy to make them run correctly. I'm in West Linn and I've got lots of EA81 experience if you want to bring it by. I can probably improve it by 300% in a matter of an hour or less. You need to start shopping at the dealership and at a place in Milwaukie called "Discount Import Parts". For plug wires you want NGK and they can get them easily. GD
July 30, 201114 yr Author GeneralDisorder: THANK YOU. It drove like a dream for a few hours today, and then in the home stretch it started chugging and coughing, etc... Are you available tomorrow? I would do the Weber swap right now, but can't really sink $300 or more in it at the moment and I am concerned with DEQ. Maybe you can fill me in on getting around that... I'll be available between 11 am and 5pm. I want to love this thing! :-\
July 30, 201114 yr Sure - I'll be here all day working on a Mercedes :-\. Text or call me tomorrow - 5o3-88o-4o84. GD
July 30, 201114 yr I think they came from the factory with the sluggish option! 73hp and 93 ft lbs of torque! too much power to handle! amateurs need not apply:slobber: just kidding? sea foam is good. run it in both oil and gas, it can help. adjust the valves maybe? that helped mine quite a bit. that, and knocking the guts out of the catalytic convertor
July 30, 201114 yr Author HAHAHA!!!!! No kidding! Already tried the Seafoam. I don't know anything about adjusting valves. I'll see you tomorrow General!
July 30, 201114 yr I think they came from the factory with the sluggish option!73hp and 93 ft lbs of torque! too much power to handle! amateurs need not apply:slobber: just kidding? exactly
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now