ferox

The meter is set on the 2M ohm setting. The clips are connected to the spades in the disty. Am I testing this wrong? Haynes says 600 to 850 ohms. My car runs pretty decent, but with this kind of resistance it seems like it wouldn't work, so I suspect I am doing this wrong.

Well that makes sense to me too. Good to know. Sorry for the misinformation, thought I had something, guess I didn't. I've always done it by the book, but I don't always carry my timing light so I'll keep that in mind. You still might try re-installing the disty in case you're a gear tooth off. Good luck. I'll shut-up now

Is there a preferred type of lube for the disty shaft (i.e. silicon, lithium, etc...)?

I was just at Foster U-Pull-it and there is a Peugeot 505 that had (5) 14" steel pugs. I bought (1), there are four left. I took the lugs too, sorry I need them. $6.99 for the wheel, $7.99 for the tire. If you bring back the tire within 30 days of purchase w/ receipt they refund the tire price. So someone could get those 4 for < $28.00 net (screamin' deal!!!). I just bought 4 nice ones from mellow65 for $125 which I thought was a fair price. I wasn't feeling proprietary so I didn't grab them all at the JY, but somebody better go get them.

Is it cheating if I drive my Jeep? JK. My hatch is still in DD form with stock 13" wheels and new radials. I have 14" pugs, but no rubber on them yet, which looks like what you are running. I am doing some cash work this weekend unforunately...$$ for the 5 spd swap and Justy rebuild. Looks like I will have to wait til next time. Have a blast.

Don't fiddle with anything else until the distributor is installed so that the flywheel says 0btdc not 8btdc when the #1 piston is at tdc on the compression stroke and the rotor is pointed at the #1 tower. The 8btdc is only for when you are setting the timing with the timing gun, not when you are checking the distributor postion with the engine off. These are two of the most fundamental operating parameters for the engine and it will never run right if it ain't set right. If you start messing with stuff without having this set correctly you will just make it worse. I have a hard time believing that GD told you this incorrectly. It must be an initial misunderstanding that has now been perpetuated. That's part of the problem with long posts...they get skimmed rather than read throughly. Seriously, check this.

So I noticed that you have been posting 8btdc w/ the #1 piston at tdc checking the rotor position at #1 tower. This may be your problem. It sounds like a distributor install and timing set combined into one. Make sure that when the #1 piston is at tdc AND the rotor is at #1 tower that the flywheel is at 0 degrees (zero)(engine off). If it isn't, you need to re-install your disty to those settings (engine off), then set your timing to 8btdc (engine running). I apologize if I have misunderstood you, but if I haven't you can quickly get that sweet brat running much better. If the disty install isn't clear just give a shout, it's a quick walk-through.

Is that Goat Mtn. south of Estacada? I live just on the other side of HWY 211 from there. That's 15 minutes from my house! if even that far:grin: I want to check that. Give a post next time you go and I'll meet you out there. I can even bring some guns so we fit in...just kidding. Makes me wish my hatch was lifted already, but it looks like you did fine without a lift if I am not mistaken. Sweeeet. I haven't explored too much because I was waiting to burly up my rig some more, but that's in my backyard! Gotta love the public lands of the PNW

I think the ~$50 price might have been for a re-bush versus a rebuild, but I'm sure GD will give you the full low-down later.

Thanks for the input GD. I might swing by the Damascus yard soon to check out the '89. I don't really need any parts, but a last model year hatch is a tantalizing Siren. The Sherwood yard is really far away from me so I don't get there much, but people have always been cool to me with the prices. Foster and Damascus is totally variable. Sometimes they don't charge me at all for expensive parts that they can't identify and other times they go out of their way to charge me for every nut and bolt and go through my tool box. Whatever...they're human.

Just an update, ea81's are back on the east side. I'm not going to keep updating this thread, but since I got skunked at Foster and Damscus a week and a half ago I thought I would check and report. According to their records Foster now has an '83 (3/9), Damascus has an '89 hatch, also ,Tigard has an '83 gl and an '86 hatch, and Vancouver has an '86 hatch. Disclaimer: This is info from a phone call. I have not verified this in person as I did a week and a half ago. U-pull-it=503-760-5820

OK the spring rate difference of the vac. can. makes sense to me. I didn't mean to be a contrarian, I just didn't understand how they could be so different yet not different. Thanks for explaining that.

So aside from the advance curve debate, which I am not going to claim a full understanding and would welcome further enlightenment, why would the Hitachi disty lower my idle speed so much? Does the Hitachi shaft rotate slower or something?

With all due respect GD, and I do mean that quite sincerely, when I started refurbishing my ea81 I bought the reman Hitachi, then I read Subiemech's write up on the 2WD disty. I got a good ND disty from the yard and threw it in, and I have to say it performed exactly the way Subiemech described. I've been running it for the past nine months, and the power advance was very much shifted to lower rpms. I only switched back to the Hitachi because I like the way it drives better. The differences are significant. Now I know you must have good reasons for saying they are exactly the same, and I have to check myself many times over before disagreeing with you, but I have direct observational experience that says the advance curves are different...in my car. My car is straight stock except for the emissions stuff being removed. If I am not mistaken you run a Weber or SPFI on your car(s), and I am wondering if the differences are neglegible on those systems. I am expecting you to totally disagree with me, but I was actually surprised as to how perfectly the performance of the two disty's correlated to what Subiemech described. It's easy to compare the two disty's in my car because it consistently runs great (due in large part to advice I have vicarious gleened from you over the past couple years), but unless you can tell me a different reason for the differences between the two (which I would honestly be very interested in), I am going to have to respectfully disagree based on direct experience.

Well I adjusted my idle speed screw and the problem seems be to solved. I didn't realize that the two disty's would be that different at idle. I am guessing that is because of the steeper advance curve of the 2WD distributor.

Thanks for the info. I was running the 2WD disty for a while and just recently switched back to the Hitachi. I noticed some white crusty stuff (about the size of a pencil eraser) on the disty housing where the wires enter the disty interior. It was like the stuff that builds up on battery terminals. The rubber grommet is totally brittle, barely there, and going away fast, and while I was setting the timing I got shocked through my gloves while rotating the disty. The shock could have been from the high tension wire, but every now and then my idle speed drops really low ~400rpm, but when I get my timing light on it it's perfect. So it's episodic...not consistent. The ND Disty had a rock solid idle speed. What I think may be happening is that the 27 year old insulation on one of the ig. control wires may have a little crack in it that arcs to/from the disty housing. Since it's such a cheap and easy thing to replace I thought I'd just do it. The Hitachi disty is a reman that has about 2000 miles on it, but the wires are original. Any other thoughts on this would be welcome.

I want to replace the two old crusty wires from the ignition coil to the disty pick-up coil in my '81 Hatch 4WD. Does the gauge of the wires matter and if so can someone tell me what they are? I don't have an FSM yet, but the Haynes says I have a "late Hitachi"...the kind with two 90 degree female spade connectors that plug onto the Pick-up Coil/Control Unit. Thanks

Maybe I missed it in the previous posts, but did you try the ol' carb cleaner vacuum leak check? Since you can get it to idle no problem that's a quick and easy way to double check the vac system. Sorry if you have already done this, and I missed mention of it.

The 4WD uses the Hitachi pictured in the previous post. the rotor is kind of flat. The Nippon Denso one is the 2WD and the rotor electrode sticks out from the plastic part of the rotor. You could do an internet parts search for the distributor, rotor, and cap. Most parts suppliers will provide a little picture, and you can determine the proper parts before going to the parts store. Once you know what you need, call the nearest stores, see who has them in stock, and then you can go compare directly. I have had some trouble getting the right rotor myself, even after doing that. You have to be your own advocate, so know before you go, and you increase you chance of success. I have also found that the parts store person is a lot less dismissive if you demonstrate that you have done some research.

THANK YOU! Thank you grossgary for the solid search tips. I haven't tried them yet, but that's totally what I was looking for. I knew there had to be some "operators". I was making up my own to see if I would get lucky. And Thank you Subieguy, that is the exact thread I was talking about, and it looks like you found it using "alternator" as your search word if I am not mistaken. Another implicit tip. I have been so frustrated by this. It's been like some crazy puzzle box, but instead of a pellets of monkey chow on the inside its got tidbits of the collective subie wisdom and knowledge.

OK...I am at the point where I have to ask for help. My forum searches are totally ineffective. I have tried every combination of search preferences I can think of and I still get poor results. I lurked on this site for about a year and a half before I joined, and during that time of intense learning I just went through the thread stack manually, so I know there are some really informative answers and explainations in the archive, but I can't get to them. I have even typed in the exact title of threads just as a test and they don't come up in the results. A couple of weeks ago someone else posted a similar problem, but discovered the Relevancy search preference solved their problem, but that still didn't give me better results. I hate asking questions I know have been answered in detail many times over, so instead of troubleshooting what I am doing wrong, can someone give me an example done right? Or is there a sticky or tutorial I missed? I have been trying to get this to work for quite some time now, so I must be missing some little thing that's giving me useless results. Actually here's a real example: I have an '81 hatch that I want to switch to the 100 amp GM internally regulated alternator and remove the external voltage regulator. The thread on the alternator swap is easy to find manually, but someone posted a simple, but informative thread on the color coding of the three wires that need to be spliced after the external vr is removed. I can probably just take the EVR apart and figure it out, but I like second opinions. I have tried too many word and preference combinations to list, so how would you search for this information? Sorry for the long thread and thanks in advance.

If you interpret people's responses to this thread as a little frustrated it's because you are asking for help before you have taken the time to look into it yourself. Setting the timing and properly installing the distributor is really easy, and really important. I would suggest buying a timing light and a manual for your car. The manual will describe those procedures step by step. All you have to do is follow the instructions. Once you have done it a couple times it will seem so simple you will wonder why you didn't spend a half hour learning and doing it sooner. If you are frustrated with your car, you will have an overwhelming sense of satisfaction when you learn and do these two simple things and your engine smooths out and hums. You will also basically know the general procedure for doing this on any car. There are variations, but the basic principles are the same. Do this, and report back to us on how much nicer it drives. You are going to be absolutely stoked at how much better it is, and feel good that you did it yourself.

I just got back from the Foster and Damascus U-pull-its, and there were no ea81's of any kind (Wed. Feb. 27, '08). There were ea82's, but not as many as usual. Hopefully that changes soon. Sometimes I call ahead, but this time I didn't, so don't make my mistake. Usually they have at least a couple. Is it just me or have they increased their turn-over rate? Maybe I have hit their purge cycle just right so it seems like it.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one wondering about Jerry's kit. I have been searching the forum for threads, but haven't found anything albeit my search skills are not very effective yet. I have amassed all the parts I need to fab together for the swap (minus the driveshaft), but I would rather buy Jerry's kit. What all is included in the kit? I am assuming the driveshaft is not, but I would gladly be mistaken. I am converting a hatch to 5spd...would it be better/easier/cheaper to shorten an ea81 wagon driveshaft or lengthen a hatch shaft or does it matter?

Too bad my '88 is a different body style...it came with tow bar connectors attached. I could still send you a picture if you want. They bolt into the front crossmember from the bottom. The tow dolly with a come-along would be the easiest, but if you are not doing everything in 24 hours or would rather own a tow bar then it shouldn't be too difficult. I would bring some pre-drilled angle iron. There are tow eyelets on both of the front corners of my car that are relatively small. With some large burly washers you could probably mount to those, but it might be a bit sketchy. Break away chains definitely recommended.