I've got an 87 EA82 Wagon and I'm having a few issues. My Idle is a bit high. (1400 rpm) and The rig starts perfectly cold. after a trip to town and a warmup, the car needs to crank for about 10-15 seconds to finally start. I'm going to verify my timing tonight as occasionaly it diesels upon shutoff. After timing, I'm going to look for vacuum leaks. Any opinions on where to go from there?

A subaru mechanic that I spoke to describes the 87 gl as the worst car that Subaru has ever built.

A subaru mechanic that I spoke to describes the 87 gl as the worst car that Subaru has ever built.

 

How is that in the least bit helpful?

Your basically saying "your car is crap"

 

OP do you ever notice the car running rich? Not sure the year they switched to all SPFI but maybe a stuck injector or out of tune carb?

I had a problem in the past where if the car sat for a while (overnight) it started fine, or if it sat for a few minutes it was fine. Between those two times it would be hard to start. The fuel injectors were leaking around their seals and it would flood the cylinders.

 

Does your car start okay if you shut it off and start it 30 seconds later?

is it a carburetor or single point fuel injection ?? a lot of times in an spfi the o ring on the injector can leak , putting fuel into the manifold , also your coolant temp sensor could be bad . that would cause an idle issue , and lastly , most mechanics don't understand how to work on an ea82 engine , I wouldnt consider them the worsh ever made, my original engine has 316.000 miles on it , yes the leak, and eat timing belts often , and are underpowered , Its a love hate relationship. I dont want to anger the Justy lovers but that may be the worst car subaru ever made.

Edited February 5, 201313 yr by ivantruckman

I think there's either a vacuum leak or an emulson tube thats clogged in the carb. I'm making my way through the threads to learn about carb tuning now. I can't complain about the car. Rust free, 175K, 4wd works, good tires and still gets 28mpg. I only payed $200.

Hi Press Lab,

You don't say if your car has a carburettor or fuel injection; if the former I can say I've had the same problem on one of my EA82 cars. My solution was to clean the carb thoroughly, paying special attention to the idle jet, and I ensured all linkages were properly oiled.

 

On a fuel injected Honda CRX I had a similar problem and replaced the idle injector solenoid (strangely expensive).