EA81T Health, checkup, etc.

[BratRod]

I'm just looking to probe the minds of Gurus... I'm finding it difficult to find much information on these beasts.

 

What are some good things to check/verify on my Brat. I know fuel pressure is a big deal. I put a new O2 in it. There's no ECS light on. It idles a little rough and bogs pretty hard. I'm pretty sure that's fuel related. Will an SPFI pump work? Or should I go the F-series approach? There's only 90k on the clock. I want to be able to take this thing out on the weekend. Spring is coming!

 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[rpholz]

I'd go f150 pump

 

Does it have vacuum/boost leaks?

Is it in time?

What's your base timing?

Compression/leakdown?

 

 

How are you certain it's fuel related?

Are there any misfires on any particular cylinder?

Have you checked the plugs?

 

 

90k doesn't mean squat when it's 30+ years old

[turbosubarubrat]

I would check the injectors since they go bad. EA82T injectors are the same. The pump you want is off a ford efi truck with dual tanks commonly found on f-250's and f-350's.

[colemanapp]

My buddy has his injector wires go bad on his ea81T. Check em out. He just tugged/squeezed the injector wires and it idled differently.  

[fastwagn]

need to make sure both vacuum advance and pressure retard are working on the distributor. also check the electronic maodule in the distributor, they can partially fail, which means partial spark. +1 on the walbro pump, found 255s for both of mine. fuel pressure regulators can fail, but so far seems a bit rare. +1 on injectors, but they usually set codes for either injector, or if the drivers go bad, which leads to...the ECM's are pretty fragile. #3 in brat 1, so far so good in brat 2...and then there's always the possibility of a failing vane air meter, they can get corrosion or burnt spots on the varistor. 

 

also, good name bratrod, that's what i call my turbo brat #2

[BratRod]

Fuel pump is making death noises. Works when it wants. Stalls sometimes when fuel pump whines bad. Have not done compression test. I hooked up a smoke tester when I was putting the motor back together and the only leak was at the inlet with the brittle hose on the maf to turbo. But I fixed that.

 

Are there connectors for setting base timing like EA82? I just set it to TDC and adjusted it till it sounded happy. Injectors ohmd out fine. I need to get a DSO and see if the driver is grounding them properly. They all have 12v

 

 

Vacuum advance is toast... Go figure. Guess I need one of those, too. What's the chances of sourcing one of those? Called all my local dealers. "our database goes back to 85"

[BratRod]

Inlet screen on the pump was clogged pretty hardcore. Compressed air and some carb cleaner seemed to clean it up pretty well. Tank needs a good cleaning. Car runs much better, now. 

 

If someone could tell me how to set base timing that'd be great. I cant seem to find it in the FSM.

 

Found a cardone reman distributor for just shy of $200. I tried to contact Philbin, but I've yet to receive a response. Still waiting to pull the trigger on that.

 

Progress is progress. Some better than none.

[beamsbox]

How to keep your Subaru Alive. Great info for a checkup and routine maintenance, and much more.

 

Aaaand...

Presto!

http://wombat.sevarg.net/Subaru/HTKYSA.PDF

Enjoy. Don't beat my server up too badly.

-=Russ=-