My ea81 is having idling issues pretty bad. I kick the throttle to let it fast idle to warm up, but all of a sudden, it doesn't idle properly. I adjusted the idle screw to a nice rpm and then go on my way and after awhile of driving, i stop at a light and it idles down to nothing and stalls. I have to keep my foot on the gas to keep it running. I have adjusted the idle screw about 4 times now and it seems like it should be racing. What should I be looking for? The last thing I can recall doing was filling up at Chevron. That's all I ever used in this car.

hi, sounds like the fast idle screw ( hard to find its in the back )_and choke release may need some adjustment . especially if it has a cooler temp thermostat than original. you need to set the main idle when its fully at operating temp , after setting the fast idle and choke when cold.

...and after awhile of driving, i stop at a light and it idles down to nothing and stalls...

 

Sounds like a Dirty Carb to me... Could I Ask When was the Last time you Took it Out to Deep Cleansing?

 

if you Haven't done that, you Might Try the Carb Cleaner Spray Procedure First, here is a Link to a Basic Tune-up & Carb Cleansing Procedure that Might Help:

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=987097&postcount=2

 

Kind Regards.

if you Haven't done that, you Might Try the Carb Cleaner Spray Procedure First, here is a Link to a Basic Tune-up & Carb Cleansing Procedure that Might Help:

 

Great write up. I was hunting the other night for some tips and didn't find anything useful. I will give this a try. I am not too worried as I am about 20% on my way to funding a EJ swap. If I wasn't, I would be doing the Weber swap.

I'm having the same issue with my EA81 Hitachi. I rebuilt it and it seems to be running smoother. But it still dies at a stop sometimes. GD told me that the choke might not be working properly. So you might want to give that a look see. I'm going to try and replace mine this weekend. I'll let you know if it makes a difference.

Same issue! Is it easy to completely take apart the carb and clean it?

Take the top off the float bowl.

 

unscrew the brass cap over the slow idle passage. (it's the one inline with the Anti-dieseling solenoid)

 

Under it is the slow idle emulsion tube. Unscrew it. 99% chance there is crud in the bottom of the tube. Blow it out.

 

This should correct idle issue. Good idea to remove all the jets and tubes one by one and blow them out while you're in there.

Cleaning carb bits usually yields better performance, but also make sure you change your fuel filter if you haven't done so in a while.

I got the engine idling back to normal buy adjusting it more. It sits around 1100 which is okay with me for the time being. Like I mentioned earlier, I will be EJ swapping before too long, so I can be patient. Thanks for the tips.

I replaced my choke and that seems to have worked. The speedo needle isn't jumping and it's idling lower. Give that a shot if you become impatient.

I replaced my choke and that seems to have worked. The speedo needle isn't jumping and it's idling lower. Give that a shot if you become impatient.

 

where did you get a replacement for the choke?