Hello all...

 

New to the forum and what not, so be gentle.

I have a 83 4x4 GL that only recently began to show a problem. It starts great when cold. Runs well, kicks down to slow idle with a tap of the accelerator and runs until it gets warm. As soon as it gets warm, and without touching the car (its just sitting there running), it suddenly dies as if the spark quits. I mean like you turned off the key. Then it will not start again until it cools of for a while. Then it starts and runs till it's warm and does the same thing again. Its got to be a computer problem... right. Ok I thought it was under the drivers side dash. Didn't see it there. May be pasengers side dash.

Help plz..!

 

Thanks

NO computer problem.

 

It can be a bad coil, or a bad ignitor. The coil is much cheaper to replace. What happens is that whateveritis gets hot, the electrical insulation (coil) or a internal solder joint (ignitor or the thing in the distrubutor) opens up, and the car dies. Since the ignitor tends to drive you nuts with no rhyme or reason, replace the coil first and see what happens.

 

Also since it fails and stays failed while hot, you can check for a signal from the (I cant believe I cant remeber what its called) thingy in the distrubutor is sending a signal to the ignitor or not.

 

nipper

I second what Nipper had to say. No problems while cold but spark issues when hot is a classic bad coil symptom. I'm not saying that's it for sure, but they usually act up when hot.

Also if that has a dist. a bad condenser will act that way. Had one on a dodge that would stall out at the same place like clock work after leaving the house. Drove me nuts for awhile.

It won`t be the computer.Even if your 83 had one,I don`t think they have enough authority to prevent the car from running.

 

Sounds more like a leaky carb float valve flooding the engine.Normally,a lightly flooded engine will restart immediately if cranked w/the throttle floored.Otherwise you wait.

 

Regardless,you need to check wheher you have spark before throwing parts at it.

The chiltons points too two possible causes of no starts regarding the Distributor. One is the coil and the other is the pick-up module in the distributor. On some moduls the ignition module is by the coil...

Book says too test the coil, if that is good test the module if it can be. Most, there is no way too test them.

 

I took a chance and tossed some parts and cash at it. My dist. was well worn, Refurbished dist. $170. Runs good.

It won`t be the computer.Even if your 83 had one,I don`t think they have enough authority to prevent the car from running.

 

They do actually. If it's a feedback carb, the duty solenoids can make it not run at all in some circumstances. My 84 would die when warm till I replaced the O2 sensor. But it would restart and run if you gave it throttle. But know that you *could* have a computer. Some did. Being that you looked under the dash, you almost certainly do not.

 

But it's more likely to be the coil or the ignition module. Start with the coil. Check it with a DMM, and then check it again after the car dies.

 

GD

Great info all. Thank you for the input. Sometimes it is so helpful to bounce things of others just to make sure you haven’t missed or overlooked something simple. This has given me several avenues of attack to go on.

This has been driving me crazy for a while now. I don't get a lot of time to work on it, its the second car you know. What with the price of gas and all, i miss having the Subie running. Plus its coming fishing season (added incentive).

I had another 2x4 85 Subaru GL wagon a wile back and it did have a computer. I saw that under the drivers dash. So, I was not sure if may-be they put it on the other side in the 4x4. In reading up on it, I believe the 83’s are the first year of the computer for this model. Probably switched half year or did models shipped to certain places first, or something like that.

Again, thank you for all your help. I will post again when I make some progress.

This site rocks.. (< i love that smilie)

Hello all...

 

New to the forum and what not, so be gentle.

I have a 83 4x4 GL that only recently began to show a problem. It starts great when cold. Runs well, kicks down to slow idle with a tap of the accelerator and runs until it gets warm. As soon as it gets warm, and without touching the car (its just sitting there running), it suddenly dies as if the spark quits. I mean like you turned off the key. Then it will not start again until it cools of for a while. Then it starts and runs till it's warm and does the same thing again. Its got to be a computer problem... right. Ok I thought it was under the drivers side dash. Didn't see it there. May be pasengers side dash.

Help plz..!

 

Thanks

 

 

I had a Ford Festiva that did the excact same thing. I went crazy trying to figure out the Feedback carb setup.

 

Turned out to be the Distributor. I hooked up a test light to the negative side of the coil, and watched it pulse with the spark as it ran. I watched as the pulse stopped EXCACTLY in time with the engine dying. Since the Pulse is generated by the disty, I figured it must be the prob. I let it cool off, started it, and while it was running, tapped on the disty with a big wrench. Died instantly. Replaced disty, no more problem.

 

So, While you're car is running, try tapping on the distributor with a wrench. If it kills it, you likely have your culprit. Even if tapping doesn't kill it, it seems like a disty issue.

I saw some photos of a subaru unit installed under the front seats(?)

I saw some photos of a subaru unit installed under the front seats(?)

 

Nope, All EA Subaru ECUs are under the column. XTs are in the trunk. EJs are next to it.

 

If you're 83 is 4wd, and not from California, you should not have a computer. Plus you looked and none was there.

 

I really think this is a Disty issue. The pickup unit(pick up coil) in the disty burns out once warm, stops pulsing the neg side of coil, car dies.

 

Coil is another possible culprit but they ussually sputter, not turn off *like a switch* as you describe.

Ok ... It has been a while, but I finally nailed it. I have been in and out of town, working on this a little at a time for quite some time now.

After extensive testing, wracking my brain, (and one $100.00 magnetic p/u) I have solved the problem. .... It came down to an intermittent connection within a connector block.

The wire for the solenoid at the front drivers side of the carb was pulling out of the connector plug. It would vibrate until it broke contact and shut the fuel off. Then, after sitting for a bit, for some reason, the connection would re-establish itself and the car would restart as if nothing was wrong.

I re-seated the spade terminal in the slide connector, verified the contact, and it works great. No dying unexpectedly. The Subie is back. Yea!

Happy days....

 

Thank you all for the help with the brain storming ideas. It always helps to talk something out with others opinions added.