So I picked uo another subaru today... and it seems to have a few problems. It's an 84 Auto, hydro lifter ea81, carbed, 174xxx miles. It really sputters uphills almost to the point of dying. It runs great in reverse and going downhill. It sat for a while before I drove it home, I am going to start with draining the tank and putting fresh gas in and replacing the fuel filter, but what would cause the sputter? Thanks a bunch.

The secondary airbleed maybe a little plugged up. Hitting it with a little compressed air seems to cure those types of problems for me.

from my own experiance i would say a bad spark. check all your plugs, wires, disty cap and rotor. i wouldnt worry about the coil as the stock ones last quite a long while. make sure all connections/leads are clean and fitting snug. even one loose plug wire can cause a bad sputter uphill. just figure, taking 5 min to go over these little things first can save you hours of work tearing into your carb and fuel supply system looking for a problem that might not be there. good luck!