i am looking for any info on what to check on my 86 subaru GL 1.8 no turbo.

i just bought it and feel that it is greatly underpowered. top speed only 60mph.

and where can i buy parts for this car

any help would be appreciated

 

thanks

zac

 

ok im done laughing.

first off welcome to the board. hope we can help.

 

next you little car did not come with much powr to start with so it would not take much to slow it down.

 

now I start throwing educated (or noneducated depending on who you ask) guesses at you.

first- fuel filter plugged

second- exhaust pluged

third-air filter pluged

 

you get the trend? somthing is keeping your sube from breathing properly it would seem to me.

its a slow little car but it should hit 70 and be able to cruise there ok.

it should be able to do 80+ if everything is good. Start with checking what rallyruss said. Then you can move onto things like spark plugs and leads. I find my car runs A LOT better on the higher octain fuel. But I have a older model then you and its a "special" engine for that era.

 

Welcome to the board.

Your basic tune-up is like magic on those little engines.

 

Don't forget the distributor cap, plugs and wires while your messing with it.

 

You'll be back up to 70 in no time!:-\

 

Good luck,

Glenn

82 SubaruHummer

84 GL Mad Max

01 Forester

My 86 had been gradually losing power for about the last 100,000 miles and I just thought the engine was getting tired. While I was replacing the rack boots on the steering, I dropped the exhaust pipe to gain more working room. I found the cat had disassembled itself and plugged the exhaust pipe right behind it. I cut the pipe in half, removed the obstruction, and welded it back together. It ran as good as it had way back when.

Yeah. Some good suggestions above. It should go faster. My '89 GL wagon (which is SPFI instead of carbureated, so has a little more power), has a top speed on the flat of about 85mph. The person I sold my '85 to said he got it up to 92mph -- not quite sure how, since I never got it above 85, and that was going down hill.