my buddy wants me to un-doo what he did, 88 turbo wagon. he did a tune up (plugs, wires, fuel filter, oil and filter) he took my advice and used Genuine Subaru parts. Now the car will only idle, and do none else. at WOT it will only rev to 1000rpms slowly, and it idles @ 500. all his work checks out as far as getting the plug wires in the right spot. manual trans. any ideas? I cant find my book.

Did the intake tube from the MAF to turbo get disturbed?

not that im aware of but i can have a look, damaged MAF? ill do a resistance test.

not that im aware of but i can have a look, damaged MAF? ill do a resistance test.

 

No I'm thinkin more like loose clamp, or a tear around one of the PCV ports in that rubber tube.

i'll have a look tomorrow and re post

Did he mess with the timing?

...or Maybe a Vacuum Leak!

I Fixed a similar Problem on an Ford`s EFi Engine, it was an Unplugged Vacuum Line.

vac. leak will still let it run, but sound funny

 

several times had a large "grub screw" by the PCV valve work it's way out

still made good boost!

 

disconnect maf harness and see what happens

The passenger side valve cover vent always pops out when I replace the air filter, and if it does, it runs like crap (obviously since there is a quarter sized vacuum leak)

New fuel filter installed backwards?

keep the ideas coming! i haven't checked the timing, he says that he didn't adjust it, everything looks good at first glance other that the ability to just idle. filter is going the right way, checked that! ill have a look when i get home from work.

keep the ideas coming! i haven't checked the timing, he says that he didn't adjust it, everything looks good at first glance other that the ability to just idle. filter is going the right way, checked that! ill have a look when i get home from work.

 

If he hasnt messed with the timing, theres a good chance the hose clamp is loose on the airbox. I would check them all to be sure.

If he hasnt messed with the timing, theres a good chance the hose clamp is loose on the airbox. I would check them all to be sure.

 

Yep. The first time I worked on my EA82T, I didn't tighten the throttle body clamp down tight enough, and the airbox popped right off. The car would idle, but really wouldn't accelerate much.

 

PS. So it's an airbox. I always wondered what that aluminum hoop-a-joop was called.

Edited January 26, 200917 yr by Sonicfrog

Yep. The first time I worked on my EA82T, I didn't tighten the throttle body clamp down tight enough, and the airbox popped right off. The car would idle, but really wouldn't accelerate much.

 

PS. So it's an airbox. I always wondered what that aluminum hoop-a-joop was called.

 

that aluminum chunk that says "4wd turbo" on it is called an air plenum.

Let me ask this, does the engine idle smooth, or is it a choppy idle? Also, what does it sound like when the engine rpms are increased? The reason that I ask is because in the time that I have been working on cars(which is about 12 years), I have learned that when troubleshooting a problem on a car that you can't physically put your hands on, every bit of information "tells a tale" so to speak. If you could provide us with a little more detail about the problem, it may make it easier to find the solution. From the info that you have provided thus far, I'd be willing to speculate that it has a leak somewhere after the MAF. Did he take the hose that runs from the air cleaner(air box) to the turbo off to replace the spark plug that is under it?

 

Patrick

Yep. The first time I worked on my EA82T, I didn't tighten the throttle body clamp down tight enough, and the airbox popped right off. The car would idle, but really wouldn't accelerate much.

 

PS. So it's an airbox. I always wondered what that aluminum hoop-a-joop was called.

 

that aluminum chunk that says "4wd turbo" on it is called an air plenum.

 

^^Correct.

I was talking about the the other end, where the MAF is connected.

Alot of times this clamp is loosened to get the airbox off so the airfilter can be replaced.

Could there be something between the air filter and the MAF, blocking the flow? One time I left a paper towel in the tube leading to the MAF when I had the air filter off, and it sucked up flat against the MAF and would only let the engine idle, and not rev any higher.

 

Was really glad it was on that side of the MAF, and not the other side, where it could have gotten sucked into the turbo.

Ok, checked all the hoses and clamps, their tight. here is the newest data

-idle is choppy

-with foot on floor it will run up to 1000rpms

-pumping the throttle gets you 2000rpms

-has typical top end clatter

-after holding my foot on the floor at 2000rpms the turbo and down pipe turned cherry red in under a minute

-unplug MAF, car dies

-unplug TPS, car idles up 200 rpms

-after i saw the cherry red turbo i shut the car off and herd bubbling noise from right side head.

-comp check 120,120,120,175.

-even with bad battery, car starts easy

-wires, plugs all correct

-vac lines all hooked up

-runs the same with down pipe off (not a blocked cat)

 

what should the fuel pressure be? i guess i should run a pressure check, with the hot turbo and what not, it must be running lean right? i got all the tools and the know how, i just need pointed in the right direction, this is my first turbo wagon to work on. plenty of ea81's some 82's under the belt and a EJ25, but no turbo business.

Sounds like it's possibly running lean (glowing up pipe) have ya checked the plug gap by chance?

 

Just throwing that out there.

no i haven't checked the gap, it seems to be more serious than that to me, but i could be wrong.

Red turbo/downpipe to me indicates excessive fuel burning in the exhaust system. Any idea where the timing is set?

no clue as of yet on the timing, ill check it wensday when i get back from out of town

Did he replace the disty cap and rotor?

It sure sounds like the rotor isnt spinning with the shaft.

Ask me how I know this

yeah he did the cap and rotor, would the rotor sinning out of sync cause it to run inconsistently? just a thought. How do you know the little tid bit of knowledge?

If the screw came out of the rotor, it could potentially be running over 20degrees retarded... but just the same, it may fluctuate between retarded and advanced, randomly. Definitely something to check, though, but I would suspect against the dizzy having something to do with this problem... Although you did just change cap and rotor, right?