NorseKode

A bad ground that is common to both circuits, that's what. Sometimes I'm a little slow. Kalo

Yeah, I was wondering about the purpose of that sucker when i changed the coil. So... Coil is energized from positive side, through primary and out negative, which is connected to the collector (let's say) of the ignition amplifier. ECU sends firing signal through the base of same, which complets circuit from collector, through junction, through emitter to ground. Primary and secondary are hot, ECU discontinues signal, fields collapse. Yeah, worth a look. Think I'll get the original coil out of storage and pack it around for a while just to be safe. Kalo

The way my luck runs, that was _not_ the root cause of the problem, just the neccesary fix to get running again. I mean, I suppose that coil could have been a turd right out of the box, but is that the smart bet? What causes coils to burn out? Besides poor factory QC/QA? Voltage spikes? Nah, that'd blow out the ECU first. Dying spark controllers? Any thoughts? Kalo

That little afterthought about the coil was a nice addition. I just happened to have a new Accel coil in the back of the car (bought for a Chrysler that turned out to have a broken camshaft.... still trying to figure out how I did that) so I pulled out the _month_old_ Accel coil I was using in the Sube and measured from the output to the side terminal. Nothing... totally open circuit. Measure the new(er) one? 8.5k Ohm. Toss the new(er) coil into the gap and BAM! The little engine roars to life. Then it starts getting rid of the excess fuel I've been putting into the intake for the past three hours. I never would have suspected the coil because it's new. How stupid is that? Thanks again. When I start embracing the Honda dream you can be sure I am either depressed or low on blood sugar. Thanks to everyone that responded, and Calebz especially. Kalo

91 loyale ea82 no turbo The problem started last week. A little sputter at idle, not a big deal, but I noticed. Then it would hesitate from a stop. Let the clutch out in first and second and the whole car would buck and stutter for the first few seconds, then smooth out above 2000 rpms. Then it stalled and was almost impossible to start. It _felt_ like a lack of fuel, or maybe air. Like it was starving. When it did catch (after stalling) I had to listen really closely to hear it running... not because it was going so well, but because it was missing whole series of cylinders at a time (or just running at 10 rpms). Had to coax it up into the hundreds. Throughout all this, two things were solid: Cold startup was a breeze. Just as normal as can be. AND, highway speeds were fine. since these two states are 95% of my driving, I just increased the idle cam screw to give a base throttle of 1600 or so. If I never dropped below this range, everything was fine. Last night, I changed the O2 sensor, turned the rpms down and jerked the throttle cable a few dozen times. There was a slight hesitation on a couple of pulls, but basically, everything was great. So I left the idle rpms down at about 750 and drove it. Worked great around town today. Maybe 30 miles total. Then it died. Motor cranked just fine. No catch. Not even a hint. Someone pushed me over the crest of a hill and I bumped it to life. For the next mile, it stumbled and bucked at 3000+. Then it smothed out. I parked it for an hour. Started it cold. It warmed up. It died. It's been hours. Still cranks just fine. I have spark. Plenty of fuel pressure to the throttle chamber. ECU gives a single 6 (which is normal for a California car), Open air delivery chamber. But no catch. None. Just about ready to join the Honda revolution.

I'm a couple of hundred miles short of retorquing the heads in an ea82 (1000 mile target) in which I'll almost certainly remove the cam cases. Yes, I did grind a socket that will allow me to torque the heads with the towers in place, but the lifter noise is really getting to me. I cleaned all four on the drivers' side, split the retaining ring on two of them (don't ask) and am now running two cleaned and two new on that side. Sounds just like a Volkswagen. Not exactly what I had in mind. Also, my oil pressure has been acting oddly. At cold start, it jumps above the '45' mark and stays there until the coolant guage comes up. Then it drops to almost an eighth inch under the '45'. At idle, it damn near bounces off the horizontal. Anyway, at minimum, I'll have to look at the O-ring passages, if only for piece of mind. My question (at long last) is this: has anyone tried _not_ removing sealant from the cam case grooves? I mean, can I re-use the existing cam case sealant just like a good valve cover gasket? It's just that working that stupid groove with wooden q-tips and toothpicks gets a little time-consuming. Anyone? Thanks Kalo

For those of us who happen to possess a perfectly ordinary belt tension guage but don't have access to your fancy schmancy spanner adapter for Subaru ea82 cam sprockets (part no 998374598734-a), if I have new belts AND a new head gasket, BELT TENSION should be in the 35-55 ft lb range. And if either of those things is other than new, BELT TENSION should be 24-46 ft lbs. So far, so good. But where should I measure the tension? Right next to the tensioner? On the other side? And for new belts, when should I measure? Should I turn the crank a few times first? This is more than idle curiosity. After doing the full head gasket ordeal, I find the parts folks at Kragen have given me one correctly sized belt (#2), and something entirely different. Sooo.... I need specs and procedure for a half-assed job. Help? Kalo

The upshot is you don't _have_ to use either if you have gaskets. If and when you pull the cam cases, you _will_ need some, but that's a problem for another day. That said, to make assembly (and subsequent disassembly/inspection) easier on your patience, you should feel free to use a good, high temp RTV on the outside part in both cases. By this, I mean in the groove inside the valve covers (you'll see what I mean) will hold the gasket in place while you mount the cover to the cam case. Likewise, when you are rotating the oil pan to fit back under the block, it will be helpful to have a bead between the pan and the new gasket. If, at some later date, you decide to remove any of these pieces, you'll find the gasket and outside part come off and reinstall as a single, discrete part. Try the Permatex "Ultra-Black". No complaints here. HTH Kalo:D

Ground the coil? Why? I've always just let the coil wire hang. Without a completed circuit, the field should never collapse. Right? Kalo

I haven't actually _looked_ at my ASV stuff. From the descriptions in the other thread, I'd say taking the system completely off-line is your goal for the test. If that is what you've done, then great. Then try to duplicate the backfire conditions. If you can't make it backfire, leave the system off-line until you find your exhaust leak(s). HTH Kalo:slobber:

Just keeping you honest, Torxxx. Kalo

Try this : http://usmb.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6817&highlight=backfire+valve HTH Kalo

This is what the mounting looks like on mine.

This sounds like a short to ground. Odds are, it's either the switch, motor, or relay. If you have a loose wire with an in-line fuse, and another for ground, you can rule out the motor fairly quickly. Just run the ground side to a ground (block, battery, whatever) and the hot side (with an in-line fuse) to the positive post of the battery. If the fuse blows, the motor is gone. If the fan turns, remove and bypass the switch. If the fan still turns, replace the relay. It is highly unlikely the wiring is bad unless rodents have been making a home in your dash (it happens). It's also pretty unlikely a bad realy would blow a fuse. So, unless you know something about the problem you're not sharing, I'd suggest testing the motor and switch first. Kalo

I picked up a '91 Loyale 4WD wagon about a month ago for $1200. Very clean interior (except where the previous owner's dog had chewed on the seatbelts), a couple of minor dings, and a handful of odd mechanical quirks. It had 142k on it. I have fixed most of the mechanical stuff and put 3k on it in the past month. I have taken round trips over Donner summit twice. Basically, the engine feels a little underpowered on hills. I intend to make an intake (and possibly exhaust) change to see if I can squeeze some balls out of the top end. I have driven over several inches of slush and snow on I-80 and have yet to slip or skid. Underpowered or not, I feel entirely in control of my new ride at all times. If it were me, I'd buy the car. I'd certainly buy this one again. Kalo