HELP!! I'm at my wits end! Hitachi carb rebuild.

[Mantis_Toboggan]

I have an EA82 w/ the hitachi 2bbl.

First mistake, I took it off to rebuild it.

Second mistake, I used rtv on the gaskets.

 

So when I put it back together the first time, the damn thing was running great! Then it developed a leak between the throttle body and carb mid-section. It was a really hardcore leak, fuel was pouring out on the outside, and there were gas puddles on top of the butterflies. When I took it apart, the bowl vent and air control vacuum valve were full of gas.

 

So I've taken it apart and tried to do as good a job cleaning the damned thing as I can, put it back together and stuck it on the car. Now, when the car is running, it's dumping gas into the primary venturi. I'll attach a video.

 

So I'm wondering if some rtv got itself suck in some bleed passage, blocking flow to the idle circuit and overflowing the bowl, or if the gas in the emission lines... I dunno, something.. I'm not versed in carburetors.

 

HELP HELP HELP!

[hatchsub]

So wait you RTV'd every gasket in the carb?!? If you read the outside of the RTV package i think it states clearly that it should NOT be used where gasoline is. What you think happened probably did in that the gas broke down your RTV gaskets and shoved pieces of them into places they should not be. You have three choices that i can see with this....

 

1. Pull the carb completely apart...blow out all passages with compressed air to clear whatever is gumming it up...re-assemble with proper gaskets

 

2. Get a weber and be done with the Hitacrapi

 

3. Do GDs SPFI swap.

[GeneralDisorder]

Gasoline dissolves RTV. Turns it into a huge mess. Probably want to find another carb or swap to a Weber at this point. From the sounds of it you shouldn't open up anymore Hitachi's - buy a reman, get a good used one, or swap to a Weber. That's my reccomendation.

 

GD

[Mantis_Toboggan]

Anybody in the seattle area have an EA82 with a working hitachi?

I just want to make sure I have everything routed the way it should be.

 

If I were to convert to a weber, I will need a new airbox?

Do I still use the bowl vent emissions stuff?

[monstaru]

take it apart......as far as you are comfortable.if you have to number parts, then number them.

put safety glasses on, and or a shield.spray the livin hell out of everything.

 

it s not uncommon for me to use three cans of brake cleaner.the green kind.

put the little hose on, and go to town.....pay attention to where the orifces' are directd (if your a ********************* and do not wear a shield, or glasses.)

 

i have dousched myself directly in the eyeballs before.just thinkin, oh, it'll be alright.....

 

clean everything.get the proper gaskets, or cut them out of gasket material.

with a miniature ball pien you can cut them from the part itself....just as a razor blade and piece of wood will get you farther than you think.and just do it.don't let wonder boy^^^^^ talk you out of it.

carb resealing is not that hard.most often times a good reseal will get you another ton of miles.and perform.yes they are persnickety, but can be handled.....

sure , it may still have a problem, or not act right but run...because something is out of spec.but, the replacement parts are abundant now because people are tossing them to use webers.

 

 

but , you should read ************ before you use it.mixing or even using the wrong chemical on a part cannot only ruin the parts sometimes, but also deem the user inoperable for an undisclosed amount if time.

 

oh, and remember it all depends on what kind of money you want to spend.you can buy gasket material, brake kleen , and some towels for like 15 bucks....add the inhouse items of q-tips, razorblades, razorknife....

i usually just use a blade, after tracing with a good ball point pen.so you can leave an indentation to follow.

whatever, to each his own...

cheers, brian

Edited June 27, 2010 by monstaru

[Mantis_Toboggan]

Yeah, I had to cut a few gaskets after the second take-apart.

Anybody have any pics of their carbs assembled? Preferably from with the air cleaner off and a rear view of the carb (from the spare tire well towards the front of the car), that'd be super helpful!

[GeneralDisorder]

I know it's hard to swallow, but you aren't going to easily find pictures of an EA82 Hitachi that will help you out here. There isn't enough people left that both have such a thing (not to mention have it in a state where a picture could easily be taken without dissasembly) and also own a digital camera and know how to use it effectively. That's a tall order around this forum - from experience I'll tell you that your request will probably go unfilled.

 

That being said - you are dealing with a situation I have dealt with myself on a few occasions - the last one being a '69 GMC truck with a Q-Jet that (near as I could tell) was from an early '80's Dodge of some kind and had been apart and back together half a dozen times by folks that shouldn't have been touching carbs at all. So I had quite a situation - not knowing how it should go together having never seen but this one example that I knew was already wrong.....

 

My $25 solution was to hit the junk yard and find an unmolested copy of the same carb (from an '83 Dodge Ram ), and then carefully dissasemble it and find out what the proper technique and process was. I also bought a book on Q-Jet's and read it cover to cover. I was then able to reassemble the original carb using a few choice parts from the junk yard unit and..... it runs like a dream.

 

A proper rebuild kit for your Hitachi will contain all the right gaskets and save you a bunch of time - plus it will have a sheet with a detailed parts breakdown that might help you in the reassembly process. But if I were you I would hit the yard for another carb that hadn't been dissasembled yet and start the process over with a more careful eye for detail.

 

Or just get a Weber and have better performance and like-new functionality without all the headache of that silly excuse for a carb that your car came with.

 

GD

[Mantis_Toboggan]

I know it's hard to swallow, but you aren't going to easily find pictures of an EA82 Hitachi that will help you out here. There isn't enough people left that both have such a thing (not to mention have it in a state where a picture could easily be taken without dissasembly) and also own a digital camera and know how to use it effectively. That's a tall order around this forum - from experience I'll tell you that your request will probably go unfilled.

 

That being said - you are dealing with a situation I have dealt with myself on a few occasions - the last one being a '69 GMC truck with a Q-Jet that (near as I could tell) was from an early '80's Dodge of some kind and had been apart and back together half a dozen times by folks that shouldn't have been touching carbs at all. So I had quite a situation - not knowing how it should go together having never seen but this one example that I knew was already wrong.....

 

My $25 solution was to hit the junk yard and find an unmolested copy of the same carb (from an '83 Dodge Ram ), and then carefully dissasemble it and find out what the proper technique and process was. I also bought a book on Q-Jet's and read it cover to cover. I was then able to reassemble the original carb using a few choice parts from the junk yard unit and..... it runs like a dream.

 

A proper rebuild kit for your Hitachi will contain all the right gaskets and save you a bunch of time - plus it will have a sheet with a detailed parts breakdown that might help you in the reassembly process. But if I were you I would hit the yard for another carb that hadn't been dissasembled yet and start the process over with a more careful eye for detail.

 

Or just get a Weber and have better performance and like-new functionality without all the headache of that silly excuse for a carb that your car came with.

 

GD

 

Yeah, I figured as much, worth asking though.

I'm not new to getting my hands dirty, I actually have a lot of experience swapping motors and upgrading, but I was raised on F.I. So this is my first time with carbs. I actually took a LOT of pics of this carb during my first and second rebuild. I started off with a hygrade (standard) rebuild kit and went to town on that ***************. It ran great the first time, until the rtv dissolved and plugged everything up. It's totally one of those ridiculous absent minded moments.

:mad:

[Mantis_Toboggan]

Funny how hitachi rebuilds turn into weber conversions, isn't it?

[Yo'J]

Funny only to those who have had a hitachi apart, and only later on!

[GeneralDisorder]

I fought with them for a long time and made quite a few of them run very well.... Till I learned enough about them to realize there was no way to eliminate the complexity due to them being fundamentally designed to be used with computer controls. Even those that are jetted and setup for non-feedback use are still the same carb but with "mechanical" mixture control systems.

 

Ultimately what kills them for me is their non-progressive linkage and small venturi sizes. Their performance potential is negligable and that's not ok with me. Driving with a Hitachi is painful and scary.

 

GD

[Mantis_Toboggan]

Yeah, I knew my hitachi was on the fritz, and a poor design for the kind of person I am. I just figured I'd try spending $30 on a rebuild kit and a fuel filter before I reached in the coffers for a Weber. Haha, I would've nailed it if I didn't use that damned rtv. :bang:

 

I've gotta chase down some vacuum problems tomorrow. This thing idles like my old racecar!