desertsubaru Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 My uncle has an 85 Ea82 2wd wagon with 207k on it.( I would have done it but I live 5 hours away) He had the Tbelts replaced by a mechanic that has never worked on a Subaru about two months ago. My uncle said it just shut off with no noise at all About a week ago it quit running, he said it just quit on him. He said the Tensioners were not replaced. He took it back to the guy and he told him it snapped a crank or cam after pulling the distributor cap and seeing the disty did not move on cranking and only sparked at the coil wire when he first turns the key on. but not when turning the starter to turn the engine over( My understanding about these cars is the coil wont keep sparking if the disty don't turn.) He wants to charge another $600 to fix it. I told my uncle it was probably a tensioner or idler pulley and should not cost that much to fix. My uncle told me I can have the car if I come and get it. Body is in very good condition. I plan on taking three other distys,timing belts,tensioners idler gear and cam tower with cam for the drivers side. My question is what else could it be if its not tbelt related? Pin on disty gear maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 It could be a rotten mechanic. The TB snaps that disty will stop spinning. It may have snapped something but better bet is that the idlers were old and should have been replaced. It could be what he said, it is hard to tell from a distance, but you can always get a 2nd opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted January 28, 2012 Author Share Posted January 28, 2012 It could be a rotten mechanic. The TB snaps that disty will stop spinning. It may have snapped something but better bet is that the idlers were old and should have been replaced. It could be what he said, it is hard to tell from a distance, but you can always get a 2nd opinion. Will the coil keep firing if the disty don't turn? usually when something snaps it makes a loud snap. I plan on checking it out next week. The body on this car is so nice it would be worth an engine swap even though it is an auto 2wd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Here is how it works, there is a primary and secondary ignition system. They overlap so to speak. The primary is the low voltage side. There is voltage that goes to a module in the bottom of the disty. That sends a pulsed signal to the coil (this is very simplistic ill post a link for more details). The coil makes a high voltage (secondary) spark which goes to the disty. The rotation of the disty points the spark to the proper plug. http://www.jetav8r.com/Vision/Ignition/CDI.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj7291993 Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 (edited) Will the coil keep firing if the disty don't turn? usually when something snaps it makes a loud snap. I plan on checking it out next week. The body on this car is so nice it would be worth an engine swap even though it is an auto 2wd. It could have stripped the belts from, as you said, a tensioner, or the oil pump. My dad's 88 was eating driver's side belts, first one lasted a few days, second one lasted less than one. It was losing oil pressure as well, had to keep the rpm up high to have any pressure, then right before it stripped (didn't snap, just ripped all the teeth off), oil pressure would drop to 0. The drivers side drives, well, everything but the passenger-side cam. Sounds like a bad mechanic, assuming something that major based the the disty not turning. Always check the last repair first, no matter who did it. Also, I don't think it will fire, as the sensor that tells it to fire should be in the disty. Edited January 28, 2012 by Dj7291993 answered other question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 My dad's 88 was eating driver's side belts, first one lasted a few days, second one lasted less than one. It was losing oil pressure as well, had to keep the rpm up high to have any pressure, then right before it stripped (didn't snap, just ripped all the teeth off), oil pressure would drop to 0. I'm curious, did you get to the cause on your dad's car eating belts? With the oil pressure and symptoms you described, it may have been that the cam was seizing up in the cam case due to lack of lubrication, or I've read about broken/seized camshafts every once in a while with the EA 82. If you have one with the belts off, try loosening a randam bolt or two on the cam case. I've done this and found that the camshaft can and will seize up under those conditions too. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted January 28, 2012 Author Share Posted January 28, 2012 I'm curious, did you get to the cause on your dad's car eating belts? With the oil pressure and symptoms you described, it may have been that the cam was seizing up in the cam case due to lack of lubrication, or I've read about broken/seized camshafts every once in a while with the EA 82. If you have one with the belts off, try loosening a randam bolt or two on the cam case. I've done this and found that the camshaft can and will seize up under those conditions too. Doug I had an 86 that the cam bearing seized up and stripped a belt. It made one heck of a squeal right before it seized. I didn't even think about the oil pump. I just cleaned my shed out and threw a bunch of parts into a car I junked, One of those parts was an oil pump. Knowing my luck it will be the pump. New ones are $136. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj7291993 Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 I'm curious, did you get to the cause on your dad's car eating belts? With the oil pressure and symptoms you described, it may have been that the cam was seizing up in the cam case due to lack of lubrication, or I've read about broken/seized camshafts every once in a while with the EA 82. If you have one with the belts off, try loosening a randam bolt or two on the cam case. I've done this and found that the camshaft can and will seize up under those conditions too. Doug It was the pump. We had thought about the cam, but the oil pressure dropped first. Now, it's possible that the oil pump caused them cam to strip it, but the pump was the problem. With the new pump, that things gauge tops out in the cold , no more tick-of-death, though. @desertsubaru You might be able to reseal it, but I'm not sure. Another family we know was kind enough to donate the replacement for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 1. if not belt related, the set screw on the rotor may have fallen out. 2. make sure the crank cogs for the belts are installed in the right order, so the belt is not offset being eaten on the edge or running off the pulleys. They do go on a certain way, although they will fit either way. One of the cogs has a lip behind it, and this one goes on the front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 You can get one firing pulse when you turn on the ignition system. There is a crank position sensor in the bottom of the disty that needs to spin in order for the ignition to work correctly. If the disty isn't turning either due to another broken timing belt or broken camshaft there will not be anymore firing pulses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted January 28, 2012 Author Share Posted January 28, 2012 1. if not belt related, the set screw on the rotor may have fallen out. 2. make sure the crank cogs for the belts are installed in the right order, so the belt is not offset being eaten on the edge or running off the pulleys. They do go on a certain way, although they will fit either way. One of the cogs has a lip behind it, and this one goes on the front. He said the Disty does not turn at all. Only thing replaced was tbelts. Lets just say it is only the screw that fell out. It would still get spark from the coil wire though wouldn't it? New Coil was put on after the car quit running by my Brother because he thought it went bad. This was before they took the disty cap off and noticed the rotor was not turning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
man on the moon Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Correct, if just the rotor has a problem, the coil will still spark. Been there, done that, paid $250 to find out it was a $10/10minute job. I add a vote to there being a problem with the belt. Even a loose rotor will turn a bit, though it may not start the car. (That, in fact, is why I took it to a mechanic--I checked that the rotor moved, but never fingered it). A non-turning rotor means the disty isn't turning, which means either the worm gear at the bottom is *completely* stripped, or the belt is gone--and considering it died while otherwise fine I go for the belt. When mine broke I didn't hear any noise, just sudden silence and lots of lights on the dash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 Pics of the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Got her home tonight. The Mech that worked on it took the drivers side Tbelt cover off and the broken stripped tooth belt was on the battery tray. I looked down at the Tbelt Idler gear to see a bunch of burnt rubber on it. Tried to turn the idler gear and its locked up tight. Will replace it with a used one tomorrow and a new one ASAP. This car has had $1000 dollars of work in the past month including new OEM axles, new front tires, Engine reseal, custom exhaust from the heads back to the free flow muffler with new after market cat, Brake pads/ shoes, water pump, vbelts and starter. Will have her rocking tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
man on the moon Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 That is a really easy fix. How did you get her home? An awesome car for almost no work (on your part). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 That is a really easy fix. How did you get her home? An awesome car for almost no work (on your part).Towed it from the Virginia/Maryland/West Virgina border (six hours:eek: ) with my 2002 Dodge 1500 van (5.2 Magnum) on a dolly. After she got rolling I didn'tt even feel it behind me. Got slowed down in the Maryland pan handle because of snow(45) until I hit Morgantown WV then it was just raining a little so i was able to hit 70 mph down I79 for the next two hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Put the new idler pulley and Tbelt on, bolted it all back together and she started right up. Had a little trouble with some broken vacuum lines and burping the cooling system. The alternator is making a rumbling so I think the bearings are going bad. I have a used one to put on for now. It has good power for an auto. Still plan on putting a nice Weber on it I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Good deal. Thanks for the update and enjoy the ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Had her out for her first highway run today. Hit 70 very well. ECS light came on. What is the ecs light for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyfun Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) Electronic Stability Control? Edit: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=29237 ECS is the computer "check engine" light on the ea81t. check for error codes on the O2 light. Edited February 9, 2012 by Cyfun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 For 1985 that is the check engine light Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Just looked and seen that it has an O2 sensor and craptachi feedback carb. Definitely going with the weber i have. Any Advantages or disadvantages with using the exhaust in these pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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