What the hell is this, and why won't it stay in its hole? Is this a stupid question?

 

Probably doesnt help much..but my EA82 doesnt have that frayed thingy stuffed there..just the plastic connector thingy...looks like some kind of old clogged filter....well..Like I said mine doesnt have that and as long as I have had my EA82 there has never been one there and it runs fine and that area is dry as a bone..I dont think it wouild harm anything to just yank it...but I am sure someone else might know better

That's part of the PCV system by the looks of it. If that frayed piece can be removed, take it out. It's probably so clogged up that the air pressure is pushing or pulling it out. If you can clean it or get a new one from the dealer do that. Then use a better worm gear type clamp on it to snug it up. The air intake hose gets hard over time, so that little spring clamp really doesn't do much anymore.

The air intake hose gets hard over time, so that little spring clamp really doesn't do much anymore.

 

I did notice that...

that hose goes to the idle air control valve (IAC). It shouldn't have anything in it (??)

 

During idle, (or when the throttle plate is closed), air is allowed around the throttle plate through the IAC. Not sure why it's popping off though. You can replace the current 'clamp' with a normal hose clamp.

 

-Dave

Hoozie's right, as usual. Shouldn't be anything in there at all. Take that fuzzy thing out and put a new clamp on it.

So i took the thing out, secured the little plastic connector, started it up, and was suddenly idling at about 2100. Does that still indicate that it just just needs a better clamp?

adjust your idle. prolly just got ramped up when someone, for whatever reason, decided to plug it.

adjust your idle.

 

umm...how do i do that?

 

thanks to all for help, btw.

Adjust the idle screw on the throttle body. Right is lower, left is higher.

 

could you point me in the general direction of the throttle body?

 

wow, i feel dumb.

look for a large black rubber snorkel that says Subaru EFI, that goes down to a point over the center of your engine.

 

The barrel-type thingy that snorkel goes down into, is your thorttle body.. its basically an electronic carburetor, but thats GROSSLY oversimplifying it.

Is it running at 2100 rpm after the motor is warmed up?

It will idle at higher rpm till the motor warms up or you kick it down.

As Heartless said, now that you've cleared that out, it should run higher for a few minutes until it's warmed up.

 

If it countinues to idle high after it's warm, then it either needs the idle adjusted, or it could be that the idle air control valve has a problem, and that's why someone had it blocked off.

well, with the mysterious thing removed, it now idles consistently at about 1200. which i guess is better than before.

 

does that work, or does it still need to be adjusted somehow?

It should be around 800-900 rpm I would think. That info may be on the emissions sticker on the underside of the hood.

Should be lower. Adjust that idle screw in, however I think there's really only about 200rpm range of adjustment there. Someone may have messed with the stop screw for the throttle plate. Check to see if its still got the factory white mark on it, and that it hasn't moved.

 

Both of those are on that throttle body thingy. That hose that had the frayed thing in it, follow it back to a little canister. That's hooked up to the throttle body. Examine it, then the picture I have. Only difference, is mine is missing the idle solenoid (that canister thingy).

Should be lower. Adjust that idle screw in, however I think there's really only about 200rpm range of adjustment there. Someone may have messed with the stop screw for the throttle plate. Check to see if its still got the factory white mark on it, and that it hasn't moved..

 

screwed (ha!) with the idle screw for a bit and it indeed had very little effect.

 

i found the other screw for kicks, and it's got what would appear to be a white mark, where should that white mark be?

It should be around 800-900 rpm I would think. That info may be on the emissions sticker on the underside of the hood.

 

p.s. emissions sticker is either gone or the type is all faded into oblivion.

screwed (ha!) with the idle screw for a bit and it indeed had very little effect.

 

i found the other screw for kicks, and it's got what would appear to be a white mark, where should that white mark be?

The white mark should go across the screw, and what it screws into. Should be lined up if no one messed with it (If I remember correctly...)

 

I had troubles after troubles getting my spfi wagon to idle correctly. It always idled at 600 and kinda rough. If you're happy with the idle, you might just wanna say screw it.

Don't mess with the other screw on the throttle shaft, your just asking for trouble then. If the Idle air screw didn't effect it, you may have other vacuum leaks.

Don't mess with the other screw on the throttle shaft, your just asking for trouble then. If the Idle air screw didn't effect it, you may have other vacuum leaks.

 

Greeaat. Which probably goes beyond the narrow scope of things I'm able to mess with.

A good way to find vacuum leaks is to spray carb cleaner around every little hose connection, manifold gaskets, throttle body base, etc etc. if the idle changes, you found the leak. That white mark is paint put on during original assembly, if it is broken(it's hard like plastic) then the dealer technician will know if some jerky messed with it. You would have to adjust your TPS voltage, idle air solonoid setting and who know what else to get it back. Do you have A/C ? there may be a solonoid that opens the throttle a bit if the A/C or defroster are on, check to see if that is holding it back. Also, check your throttle cable, it should have a tad-bit of slack in it. if it's too tight, it will hold open the trottle too.

Greeaat. Which probably goes beyond the narrow scope of things I'm able to mess with.

 

It has already been said better than I can put it, so I will quote..

 

The white mark should go across the screw, and what it screws into. Should be lined up if no one messed with it (If I remember correctly...)

 

If it appears to line up with a corresponding white mark on the bit where it screws into, as it does in the picture, then you are OK. In other words, it should look like, when it was assembled, they put the screw *just* where it needed to be, and then took a white paint marker and marked across the top of the screw, onto the metal. As long as thats OK, then there is nothing to worry about with this screw. that is the only reason it even came up.. just, DONT fiddle with it, it isnt an "adjustment" at all.

 

If, on the other hand, the screw DOES look like its been tampered with.. I don't know what to tell you. I just wanted to make sure you weren't worrying about the idle stop screw when you didnt have to.

Maybe I'll just wait until I can afford to pay other people to fix things for me.

 

Or until I can afford a WRX swap and thus eliminate the problems with the current engine.

 

On a somewhat related tangent it brightens my day to know there's a bunch of similar Subaru kooks (in the most affectionate manner possible) out there who are kindly enough to help me.