I got a 1979 Subaru DL today. Unfortunately it is FWD and Automatic, but the price was right!!!!! It is having a couple problem probably from sitting for a year. When I start it it runs at idle for about 2 seconds then screams like I have my foot to the floor! I used a can do carb cleaner, checked the idle and mixture screw, checked air lines and don't see any problems. Could it just be that the float is not seating and the pump is just pouring gas? I drove it home 4 miles, started it and put it in gear it would take off and start racing, when it got going to fast I would shut off the key and let it slow down, then when I needed to go faster I would turn the key on and it would kick start even though it is an automatic. Hairy ride home but I made it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Nice looking coupe even though it's auto. Do i see a 5 speed 2wd swap in the future? I'm interested to see what the problem is. My hatch does the same with with the weber i put on it. It idles for few seconds then revs to 5k until it burns the gas off usually taking about 7 seconds then goes down to idle.My also revs up when you push on the gas pedal to fast  or tap it.

Nice two door sedan... Strange that these always seem to have the automatic!

 

I wonder if the wires to the carb and intake manifold are correctly connected? When I changed carbs on my sedan it did the same thing; start fine and then scream its head off! After I swapped carbs I realised I had mixed up the wires for the water temp and the idle cut off solenoid.

Leeroy, I'll check that, but probably not, no real work has been done on this car in years, it was truly a little old ladies car who's father bought it new. Also on the drive home (by turning it on and off) the tempature gauge worked. I'm thinking I'll start with the float and seat.

After working on it for a bit I decided to just remove the Carberator. It was caked with greasy sludge around the base and really heavy on the linkages. I cleaned it all with carb cleaner, scrubbed everything, added a new base gasket. Now it seems to run like a champ. Now I have to work on the front caliper, they seem stuck from sitting a year!

Finally found a Governor gear Christmas Eve, put it in today! Car seems to run like a champ so far! Really smooth shifting.

My wife suddenly seems interested in driving another vintage Subaru but it has to be an automatic. So let me know when you're bored with it. ????

 

Sounds like you scored the gear locally. The metal upgrade or plastic?

I'm jealous of how mint your intiorior is! Glad you got it running true. My 79 Brat seems to idle pretty high , it's 4 speed Manuel and when I put it in gear it's runs fine. With the clutch in or in neutral it idles at 2K rpms. I'm going to try a good carb cleaning. Thanks

Make sure you have good play in the accelerator cable at the carburetor. If it's even the slightest bit taunt...our idle will be high. Loosen the set screw and pull the cable out some.