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won't idle............


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found a carb at the junkyard that looked relatively new. The old had to be replaced so I purchased and swapped the new one into the car. When driving the car feels better and has more power. However, the car wont stay idle and dies almost immediately. It also hesitates often. About the only time I can get it to idle for even a remote period of time is when I rev the motor around 4-5k. I sprayed carb cleaner around the hoses to check for vacuum leaks but couldn't locate any. Whats my next step? EA82

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You don't need a rebuild kit to clean the jets, but if your are going to tear it open you might as well. The Haynes manual has an ok section for carbs for the ea81s I would assume that is true for ea82s as well. If you have never rebuilt a carb before the Hitachi is not a good one to start on. It's doable, but expect to spend a lot of time trying to get it right and get your car running correctly. Most people would tell you to spring for a Weber carb, which is sound advice, but if you have the time and inclination, or zero dollars then tackle the Hitachi. Just expect your patience to be tried. You may never get a steady idle, but you can make it driveable. I swear half of the old carbed Subies in the yards are there ultimately because the carb needed rebuilt or replaced.

 

Do a search or ten. These basic questions get asked literally every other day. You would normally get more responses, but people are probably suffering from answer fatigue on hitachi carb questions. All your questions have already been answered in the archives.

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haha. yeah I've seen quite a few, just not what I'm looking for. I'm just surprised because this carb looks virtually brand new, and 1000 times better than the one that I pulled out. I just cant imagine having to clean the jets with the condition that its in. I've rebuilt a motorcycle carb before but it was also not as complex. On a side note, a few times I was able to get the car at idle around 2k rpms for a few minutes, even pulled a vacuum hose at idle and it stayed there. But then eventually it slows until it dies. If I get it to Idle and then rev it then it wont go back to idle, most of the time. The choke is working because at one point it started revving up to about 3k for awhile, however when this happened the motor was completely warmed. I'm just frustrated at this point. I feel like this could be a simple thing that is being overlooked.

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dont let these guys scare you off from rebuilding a hitachi. mine was the first carb I've ever tore apart and it was very easy. the most important thing to change on these carbs is the needle and seat. and make sure to spend the extra time setting your float level.

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Jet's and passages can easily be clogged by the air and/or fuel comming into the carb. Regardless of the outside appearance of the unit it can be clogged from particulates that get through the filters. This can happen to a brand new carb if you have contamintated gas or a bad filter. Perhaps one of the reasons the car was in the junk yard.

 

Before you go all-out and rebuild it, just pop the top off, soak up the fuel from the float bowl, and blow out all the jets and passages with compressed air. Remember to hold your finger over the accelerator pump spring to keep the spring and check-ball from flying across the room never to be found. I've fixed more than one crusty, old, misbehaving Hitachi that way. They ARE a pain in the rump roast, but they are also very reliable and well built carbs. The problem with them ultimately is their overly complex design that rely's on external systems to optimize the air delivered to the air correctors. Weber's are just so much more simple.

 

GD

Edited by GeneralDisorder
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dont let these guys scare you off from rebuilding a hitachi. mine was the first carb I've ever tore apart and it was very easy. the most important thing to change on these carbs is the needle and seat. and make sure to spend the extra time setting your float level.

 

Good advice, I would also add that if you remove the choke plate and choke shaft assembly, when you reassemble make sure the pawl and all the levers in the choke housing look exactly like the diagram in the manual.

 

The Hitachi was my first carb rebuild project as well, and I certainly don't want to discourage anyone. I just try to be as realistic as possible when advising people. It is easy to say pull it apart, clean it, rebuild it, but the first time on a carb of unknown history could lead to some frustration and it may or may not come together in one afternoon if ever. I think I have rebuilt about 10 of them now, and four of them turned out to be runners, the others are parts. I think the tricky part is knowing when the carb itself has issues or if you did something wrong during the rebuild or haven't tuned it right. That ability has to come from practice and experience, which I am sure has confounded many a first-timer. I will say this though, it is very satisfying to rebuild one and get it to run really well.

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