barak181 Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Ok, my 88 Hatcback (EA81) needs either a new carb or a rebuild/overhaul. I'm not going to pay a mechanic close to $500 to do something that I'm fairly sure I can do myself. Thing is, I've never actually worked on a carb before. First question: Is it wise to do it myself without someone looking over my shoulder the entire time? Two: What's more feasible, a rebuild or getting one from the junkyard down the street? Thanks in advance for any advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Ok, my 88 Hatcback (EA81) needs either a new carb or a rebuild/overhaul. I'm not going to pay a mechanic close to $500 to do something that I'm fairly sure I can do myself. Thing is, I've never actually worked on a carb before. First question: Is it wise to do it myself without someone looking over my shoulder the entire time? Two: What's more feasible, a rebuild or getting one from the junkyard down the street? Thanks in advance for any advice! I have rebuilt many carbs. Its not so much the rebuild, if your slow and methodical and watch for the tiny parts, youll do fine. What usually happens is the bushings or pass throughs for the shafts get worn and allow for air leakage. Rebuild kits are cheap. Spray some carb cleaner around the shafts of yours and see if it gets sucked into the carb (rpm change). If it doesnt your shafts are probably ok. How much do they want for the other carb? If you need to have the car running, i would rebuild one of them and use the other to keep the car running. Justa thought. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petersubaru Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 2 months ago I purchased a carb from Nationalcarburetors.com. the price was cheaper then there web price of $189 and included free shipping and there core charge was waived?...I am happy and it is garanteed to work if you set it up like they tell you..this carb looked brand new if every repect and i got to keep my old one. there is a possiblity that a dashpot will be needed (at least for me)..if your motor is still in good shape with near new compression this carb should work very well..if the motor is somewhat tired, a Carb that is remanuf. to new specs could make tuning somewhat difficult..It really depends on what you expect and of course the FI conversion is a better way to go and less then $500 Ok, my 88 Hatcback (EA81) needs either a new carb or a rebuild/overhaul. I'm not going to pay a mechanic close to $500 to do something that I'm fairly sure I can do myself. Thing is, I've never actually worked on a carb before. First question: Is it wise to do it myself without someone looking over my shoulder the entire time? Two: What's more feasible, a rebuild or getting one from the junkyard down the street? Thanks in advance for any advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 2 months ago I purchased a carb from Nationalcarburetors.com. the price was cheaper then there web price of $189 and included free shipping and there core charge was waived?...I am happy and it is garanteed to work if you set it up like they tell you..this carb looked brand new if every repect and i got to keep my old one. there is a possiblity that a dashpot will be needed (at least for me)..if your motor is still in good shape with near new compression this carb should work very well..if the motor is somewhat tired, a Carb that is rebuilt to new specs could make tuning somewhat difficult..It really depends on what you expect wow thats a good deal, that goes on my bookmarks. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petersubaru Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Not only a good deal.. also amazingly is when I first called them up, they said that they had no remanufactured carbs avaliable , but only 3 cores waiting ..they said call back tomorrow and one should be ready for you..and it certainly was... wow thats a good deal, that goes on my bookmarks. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barak181 Posted December 24, 2006 Author Share Posted December 24, 2006 Wow, thanks for the link, Peter! I'll give them a call on Tuesday. Now, for the total noob question: Where's the dashpot and how do I know if I need a new one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petersubaru Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 Sorry, I couldn't answer your question sooner,..I just returned from a 700 mile trip, the carb gave me 30mpUSg at 60 ..all is working good, but like any subaru carb, needs to be warmed up well in the winter to work properly...the "dashpot" is located beside the carb "stop/idle" screw and it helps to maintain the "idle" at a constant speed..some carbs work well without it..some don't..I really Don't know why...if yours comes with a "air/fuel" mixture screw,... my advice is not to mess with it since the carb has been flow tested and if the technician was doing his job, it should be already set correctly..running the hot air hose to the carb intake probably wouldn't hurt either and would help a little to over come the "cold driveability" , provided the "hot air" thermostate is working properly..Good luck Wow, thanks for the link, Peter! I'll give them a call on Tuesday. Now, for the total noob question: Where's the dashpot and how do I know if I need a new one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgh831 Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 FI Coversion for less than 500 bucks huh? is it CA Smog Legal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phizinza Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 FI Coversion for less than 500 bucks huh? The Subaru Loyals came with SPFI on the EA82. It is possible to take the manifold, TB, pump, wiring, etc, and bolt it to a EA82 or EA81 carbed engine. Look for "SPFI swap" or something. General Disorder ( GD ) knows everything about it. Can't answer your other question, sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgh831 Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 How about the question of rough idle on a fresh EA81 Timing seems on but won't idle under 1200. Vacume leak? Some other way to find them beside the carb cleaner trick? Thanks Guys, New to this Forum but allready finding tons of usefull info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barak181 Posted February 23, 2007 Author Share Posted February 23, 2007 How about the question of rough idle on a fresh EA81 Timing seems on but won't idle under 1200. Vacume leak? Some other way to find them beside the carb cleaner trick?Thanks Guys, New to this Forum but allready finding tons of usefull info. That sounds like a vacuum leak to me. I find the carb cleaner method to be easiest but there's several other methods you could use. Below is a pretty good page about vacuum leaks you might want to check out: http://www.aa1car.com/library/vacleak.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgh831 Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Ever hear of a Idle Solinoind causing such a problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Are you talking about the little solonoid on the front of the darb? That one shuts off fuel when the key is off to prevent dieseling after shut-down. If that goes bad, it will not run. The other one pulls the throttle open when you turn on the AC, if you don't have AC, you won't have it. Check the throttle cable for slack, it should have a bit of slack so it won't hold the throttle open. Check the slack and adjust with the engine is warm. Also spray all the linkage with carb cleaner to clear the gunk off of it. Sometimes it gets stuck. You can use a 2 or 3 foot piece of fuel or heater hose to find vacuum leaks too. Put one end to your ear, the move the other all over the intake and the hoses and listen for a loud hiss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgh831 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Vac leak at base of carb but thanks for all the help and advice!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suburpy Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Hey Mate A carb rebuild is really quite easy and $500 sound expensive to me. A rebuild kit $50, cleaner $50 - thats all. I have done about ten carby rebuilds now, even done them for friends. My first one was a disaster could never get it to idle. Only know do i know that (1) there may have been a vacuum leak but more likely (2) The throttle shaft (the ones that have the venturi butterflys) - not the chokle plates was loose (grab the throttle shaft and see if you can wobble it), this changes the mix of air and fuel and leads it to vary the idle, so one minute it was nice at 800 then the next time i stopped it might be 1000. The Hitachi carbs are much harder to rebuild in my opinion. A couple of points on Hitachis Watch for little ball bearings that will come out from near the accelerator pump Make sure the needle and seat arnt sticking. (i had one that with the clip on it would not open), generally the rebuild ones in the kit should be OK though. If the shaft is wobbly take it to a carby shop and get it re-bushed. They will drill out the old shaft hole and insert a piece of brass tubing. It will be all tight again. Do a quick check of any vacuum components (ie suck on it, put your finger on the end and ensure it holds a vacuum) The Hitachis are a 3 piece body of top cover, main body and throtle body, when assembling the main body and throttle body it is usually and aluminium (main body) to iron (throttle body). it pays to add a small amount of loctitie to the nuts holding them together as this area has a tendency to leak. The jets are numbered as well on some models, so record which one came from which hole. A weber is a much better option if your old factory carb is worn out, They are easier to rebuild (god they are sooo simple), better built and just damn good looking (oh an performance and economy gains if tuned correctly) They consist of only two pieces the main body and top cover - therfore no air leaks They have many more interchangeble jets and emulsion tubes to tune the carby to your engine They can be rubushed (like the Hitachis) but Overseas Distributors (somewhere in Canada) has a re-bearing kit for 32/36 webers, which means no need to drill to get rid of shaft wobble. Really with a weber no matter how old it is if the shafts are tight it will be good. Choices of auto or manual chokes Mechanical advance means no need to check all the vacuum components of the carby But can be hard to tune (reportedly) Hope this helps, it's only my experience and opinion, Many here particulary GD has given advice on weber rebuilds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rch10007 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 I had my carb rebuilt and bench tested/adjusted for $300 at a local carb shop. Works great and I get to keep the stock carb. Not a bad deal since I want to keep everything as original as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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