Hello out there, I have a

2nd Gen 1988 Subaru Hatchback GL 4 speed manual dual range transmission EA81 with Weber 32/36

I'm getting terrible mpg. Runs great though. Never stalls, Putters a little only when going from 3rd to 4th going up hill but I would think this is fairly normal?  I'm going to be checking through some of the common known issues but curious if anyone has had a similar model and setup as this and gotten good mpg if so, what range? I estimate I'm getting  about 18 right now and not happy with this. The only reason I bought a subaru was for the combination of 4wd and good mpg, nothing more otherwise I would have stuck with my pathfinder.

What are the first things that come to mind from personal experience and I will be sure to check those things first.

 

Btw Spark Plugs recently changed, but not the wires.

Airfilter (K&N) dirty, about to clean.

Tons of things have been done to this car before I bought it so I wonder why
this would remain an issue ort gone unoticed. I got some work to do.

 

Much thanks and appreciation for any info!

Eh. I've yet to see great gas mileage from my ea71. It seems milage goes south post-55mph in a 4 speed. Though I did improve fuel economy by doing some of the maintenance work below:

 

1) replacing the fuel filter

2) replacing the fuel pump

3) replacing spark plugs

4) cleaning the carb

5) adjusting the valve lash

6) adjusting the timing & fuel mix of the carb in tandem.

+1 on Checking the timing.   Maybe ohm out your plug wires.  Double check the firing order.  Make sure the plug caps are secure in the disty cap and on the plugs.

   I bought an EA82 that ran 'pretty good'.  I wasn't too happy about the first tank's mpg... so I looked around a bit.   The car ran 'really good' after I secured the #2 plug wire.  Now I get 29 mpg.

Running rich, float stuck! My first guess as that is about all you can do without the car in front of you. Check timing as stated, that is simple enough. Make sure you have decent wires and cap connected properly. My brother just installed new plugs and wires on his truck. He had a time, two plugs out of 6 were bad out of the box. Plus he messed up one wire pulling it off so many times. Do you still have the cat in place? Could be plugged, most likely is at this age. My 87 Brat with Weber gets 29.5 mpg or so on average, calculated for larger tires size. I have broke 30 on quite a few tanks over the 17 years I have owned it. These are not computer controlled engines so it is pretty basic stuff.

+2 verify timing

 

What are your idle mixture and idle speed screws set at?  Jetting?  What's the background on the carb?