81 gl wagon new weber carb/vacuum issues

[Murgen23]

I have  4x4 81 gl wagon with the 1.8 liter. new weber carb is is on and was told to take off all the un needed vacuum lines. this means the intake has to come off, but how do you plug the holes after the lines are removed? and the throtte return spring that came with the weber busted after 2 days of driving it. It was a  heavy spring, and I put the original on to get home. but now it idles faster than usain bolt, because the throttle bar that is supposed to stop on the adjuster screw is not touching it. Any advice on the throttle situation? and the vacuum lines, has anyone done this before?

[silverback]

You do not need to remove the intake manifold. I can't see your engine compartment but you need vacuum ports for brake booster, heater fan blower function selector. The unused ports on the manifold casting are sealed off with plastic caps that are available at auto parts supply stores just for this very purpose. Various sizes are available. Those ganged tubes are fastened to the manifold with screws.

 

There are many threads available that deal with weber conversion hell. Please search and don't panic and remove the intake manifold.

 

I am confused about the Weber throttle problem. Did you do this install? If you installed the Hitachi throttle lever/quadrant, you may have over-tightened the throttle shaft nut. There is a lever on the throttle shaft that is called 'Loose Lever'. The spring that runs vertically and hooks into the Loose Lever is called ( you guessed it ) Loose Lever Spring. If the loose lever is trapped from over-tightening, you have idle speed problems. Check for looseness. How did you anchor the original Hitachi return spring???

 

Patience now to prevent unhappiness

[Meeky Moose]

just unplug all the factory vacuum lines,    you need 1 vacuum line from the weber to the distributor.  if you have pushbutton 4wd you need vacuum to both of the 4wd solenoids.   otherwise  put caps on the leftover open vacuum ports that are on the intake manifold,    the open ports on the little metal lines that run all around the intake can be left open, they won't have any vacuum if all the ports on the intake are plugged.

[Murgen23]

thanks guys for the replies. Nice to see someone from grants pass and seattle, closer to home,Im originally from medford. I had a friend of mine do the carb install because he has done a few of them before. I think I worked out the throttle spring problem, at least for the mean time. there is no great place to anchor the other side of the spring on the intake. the spring is nearly verticle now. It does have idle speed problems with the new carb, I dont know what the "loose lever" is that u guys speak of. I will try and get a few pics up of the setup so maybe it can be pointed out to my ignorance. The vacuum lines,  know the one that goes to the distributor needs to be used, but how do I tell what other ones need to be used and which to not. My friend said its best to take the intake off and plug them from under neath to make sure there are no leaks. This idea sounds time consuming but seems like the best way to get rid of vacuum leaks. thoughts on why or why not? how do I tell which are the vacuum ports for brake booster, heater fan blower function selector? Im sure I can figure it out but there is a million of lines on this engine.

[TomRhere]

No need to remove intake to plug vacuum ports.. You only need to remove it to take off the un-used steel vacuum lines, and that's just to clean up the look of it. Not needed...

 

Brake booster vac line is the large port on the right hand end of intake.

Heater control vac line goes to any port on the left hand side of intake.

Plug all the remaining ports on the intake.

 

Disty vac goes to the right hand port on the front of the Weber.

EGR vac goes to the left hand port on the Weber. It may have a plug in it, it screws out.

 

Don't recall how I initially ran the return spring on mine. Someone on here drilled a hole in one of the clips for the air filter and hooked the spring in there.

[Murgen23]

I think Ive gotten all the uneeded vac ports plugged up. One issue it had was the distributor vac hose wasnt going to the carb. runs way better now thats corrected and other ports closed off.I know what the egr does because of replacing one on another vehicle, but I dont know what it looks like on my subaru, and does it need to be operating for it to run correctly? Is there any threads anyone can link on tuning this carb? its the K730

 

Thanks so much for all the help, you guys are great.

[silverback]

For tuning information, go to redlineweber.com and the menu on the left side has 'Tech Notes'. Go there and the drop down selection lists 'carb set-up'. Check that. You should find drawings of your carb there also.

 

Verify that your accelerator cable is not too short. The throttle shaft has to return to the stop via the return spring and not be held off of the stop by a 'short cable'.

[djellum]

EGR has 2 bolts mounting it to the intake manifold, and a round diaphram with one big line and one small line coming off of it.  plug the big line and hook the little vacuum nipple to the carb port.

 

with the throttle linkage check and make sure its pulling at the right angle.  the spring pulls in a straight line, but the linkage runs in a circle so if it doesnt pull from the right angle it can start to pull against the shaft rather than rotating around it.  

[Murgen23]

My engine has 2 egr's, one on each side. both are plugged up and did nothing when I hooked them up. I did get the idle down, it was the cable. Somehow it was too tight even after I adjusted it the first time.

[djellum]

theres only 1 egr.  its pathways are hard casted into the head and manifold so you cant add another one, or combine parts to get a second.  not 100% familiar with the EA81, but its likely behind the carb on the passenger side.  your probably thinking of the ASV valves which run to the exhaust from below, the EGR is built into the intake manifold.

[Murgen23]

and were should I connect the egr vacuum hose to? the only available port on my weber is the one the distributor goes to?

[silverback]

I am assuming that you are dealing with a Weber 32/36 DGEV? Electric or manual choke? There should be two brass tubes of different diameters sticking out from the carb. You have the distributor vacuum advance hose on the larger tube. To the left of the disty hose port is the smaller diameter EGR port. It should be plugged with a small screw. How does the engine run without the EGR operating? You might consider not using the EGR.

[silverback]

Also, when you adjust the throttle cable, make sure that the choke is 'off'.  

[djellum]

EGR isnt essential, but it helps at cruising speed.  if you are still having tuning issues I would leave it disconnected until you get them solved.  the EGR can have issues that mess with the motor function, so see if you can get it dialed in with the EGR unhooked, then hook it up and see if theres change. make sure the big tube is plugged off though. 

 

id hook a vacuum gauge up to it and make sure it doesn't leak at the minimum.  leaving that vacuum line unplugged basically shuts it off, unless its damaged on the inside and leaks. 

 

Ultimately you will probably want it active, but shutting it down is one less thing to worry about while finding other issues.