Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

New owner of 85 dl wagon, needs advice...carburetor issues?


Recommended Posts

Okay, I am brand new to this, but I just bought a Subaru, an '85 DL wagon. It has a 3"lift, and the original transmission was replaced with a dual range (still 5-speed) other modifications too.

The guy I bought it from said the car was running rich, might need a carb adjustment. When i got it up to the mountains (bought in Denver), it runs poorly-stalls when it's cold and just started, coughs and chokes trying to accelerate, dies the first few times I stop and start it. Once it warms up, seems to run better overall, but it still has this thing where you hit the gas and the first thing it does is act like its going to die on you, have to give it lots of gas and just the right clutch maneuver to keep it running. Is the carburetor bad, or just needing an adjustment, or is it something else entirely? The car has 144K on it. Also I was wondering does anyone know what kind of gas milage these cars get? I've only driven it for a week now, but it seems to be using more than a car of it's size should be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome a-board fellow Colorado Roo owner,

I'll take a few stabs at this, but am not good on the carbs as most people on this board...

But sounds like your Choke might not be working correctly, and very possibly you might need a rebuild on the carb, and defintely get the air/fuel mixture tuned in for the higher elevation. You may just want to slap a correctly jetted Weber Carb on it...which you can search for on the board for info on that.

Or even better do an EFI swap if your good with wiring/mechanics (that's what's going on my lifted GL sedan eventually, will be much better suited for elevation than any carb really).

These cars tend to get pretty good gas mileage but you mentioned your's is lifted so what size tires/wheels are on it? And while running rich your going to eat gas like crazy pushing large tires around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a carbed '85 wagon. At about 200k miles the carb developed internal vacuum leaks, and wouldn't idle any more (promptly stalled whenever you took your foot of the gas, even after warmed up and everything. Would start immediately if you gave it gas). Still ran great on the main circuit -- just no idle circuit any more. If the leaks were due to gaskets coming apart due to age instead of miles, your's could be having the same problems -- only slightly different leaks. Don't know what to suggest, other than a rebuilt carb ($$). I do know a shop in Ned that's pretty good at keeping old suby's running well after other places declare them dead. If it's just tuning, he can probably do it pretty quick, or tell you what it does need.

 

I've gotten about 24-27mpg on all my EA-82 subys -- fuel injected and carbed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

... I do know a shop in Ned that's pretty good at keeping old suby's running well after other places declare them dead. If it's just tuning, he can probably do it pretty quick, or tell you what it does need.

 

I'd be interested to know the name of that shop in Ned, or the number, or....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...