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stinking hitachi


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My 79 EA71 wagon really stinks(gas fumes) I don't have the funds for a webber upgrade.  I am running a generic electric fuel pump and have gone through my box of hitachi's to find one that idle's and accelerates good enough.  I have one that works, but its running way too rich.  It backfires when you shut the engine off, and the gas fumes insight the car are getting unbarable.  Any shade tree mechanic tips to reduce the fumes/richness?  

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My 79 EA71 wagon really stinks(gas fumes) I don't have the funds for a webber upgrade.  I am running a generic electric fuel pump and have gone through my box of hitachi's to find one that idle's and accelerates good enough.  I have one that works, but its running way too rich.  It backfires when you shut the engine off, and the gas fumes insight the car are getting unbarable.  Any shade tree mechanic tips to reduce the fumes/richness?  

 

Rebuild kits are around $30.

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About this:

 

... It backfires when you shut the engine off, and the gas fumes insight the car are getting unbarable.  ...  

 

Beside that the Gasoline Vapors are harmful for Human Beings, your car could Assplode in Fire if there is a considerable amount of Gasoline vapors, so I Kindly suggest you to Stop driving it 'till you fix that issue.

 

The "Backfire at Shutoff" you wrote, is known as "Dieseling" and is caused by fuel still running to the intake, which is burnt by hot spots inside the combustion chambers, the solution is to use the Fuel Cutoff Solenoid, which stops gasoline from flowing to the intake when you shut off the engine.

 

If the Carb does have one it must be failing and need to be replaced, if doesn't have one, you could either try to install one or swap carbs and use another model which has it already built in.

 

The Gasoline Vapors could be there either by that issue (Gasoline continue flowing after engine shut off) or by a disconnected vent hose from the Tank, so you must fix the first issue and see if vapors buildup continues.

 

Kind Regards.

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A backfire after you shut it off is usually caused by either way too high of an idle or less often but still sometimes by too much fuel and big air leaks in a hot exhaust.  Dieseling is when you shut the key off and the engine continues to run from compression ignition even though there is no longer any spark firing the plugs.  It's a completely different issue.

 

I don't think a 79 has or needs a fuel cutoff solenoid, but not looking at schematics or the car I can't say for sure. 

 

If it were my car, I'd check where the fumes are coming from -- Is it coming out the exhaust or is there a fuel leak someplace (check from the tank to the carb).  If there are no leaks in the tank or lines another simple check is the float valve.  Is the carburetor overflowing with fuel?  You should be able to see an air bubble near the top of the sight glass in the side of the carburetor.  Is the tank venting properly or is it blowing fuel out the filler cap (or someplace else)?  Does it suck in or blow out when you remove the cap after driving it when it begins to smell fuelly?  I think it should be mostly neutral with not a lot of air in or out.

 

The only Subaru specific advice here is looking for the bubble in the sight glass in the side of the carb.  Most cars don't have that feature.

 

Hopefully there's something helpful in this. :)

 

Dave

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On my 80 brat the feul vent lines on the purge canister in the ds rear fender hose had fallen off and was venting into the body could smell gas when driving but only with the window down i found it by useing air preshure to put sestem under preshure and see were it gos this was done with carb disconected and no more than 10 psi max.

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Make sure the bowl isn't overflowing, like Vwbrat said make sure there is an air bubble visible in the sight glass. If you can't see an air bubble then I would pull the top of the carb and clean the needle and seat and adjust the float and see if that fixes it.

Edited by mikaleda
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This is a hobby car not a daily driver, I went through about 5 different carbs before settling with this one,  all the other carbs I couldn't get it to idle right or other problems.  The car is not diesleing after shut off, just one big Ka-Pow, I will check all the fuel lines again but I have not noticed any leaks.  I've stopped driving it due to the raging headaches I get from the fumes, even with all the windows down.  I do have 2 other ea81 carbs that I have not tried yet, hopefuly I will get some free time to tinker with this car some more.  If I tried running the car with the gas cap cracked, or off completely would that stop any fumes getting into the cabin?

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The hardest part of rebuilding that carburetor is taking it off.  If you've had it on and off 5 times now one more time with a little extra time to carefully take it apart, clean everything, and put it back together is not a big deal.

I would start with just running it and walking around smelling to see where the fumes are coming from and then do a really meticulous inspection of everything that contains fuel starting with the tank and looking at / pulling / pushing / wiggling each piece.   Is the smell only when driving?  If so then look for holes where wind could pick up fuel vapors.  Does it stink coming out the tailpipe?  Does some area smell fuelly? 

 

The one big KAPOW when you shut it off is nearly always in my experience too high of an idle.  If it's idling under about 1000 rpm it shouldn't do it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

No Paul, you should hunt down the ellusive rear tent factory option for gen 1 subaru along with a first gen subaru bumper winch and sell them to this CT resident.

 

I'll try to get some new picks of the car up soon.

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