What could it be? Fixed! New Question........

[jxavierf]

Ok, its been a problem popping up at random. Driving down the road, sometimes at 30 mph, sometimes at 60.......all of a sudden, the rpms will be at say, 3000, then will suddenly drop to zero, all torque power gone, then suddenly back to 3000 rpms......this repeats itself over and over, then either I will have to pull over, turn off the car (it ends up dying), or everything goes back to normal. I tried to figure out is this an electrical problem, fuel related, vacuum related, or mechanical. I know I have a slight vac leak.....I've tested this by taking off the air cleaner lid and blocking with a rag the opening to the carb....the rpms will rise about 100 - 150 rpms, which is evident to a leak. The disty is new, carb is new.....though I'm not confident that the choke is working properly. I replaced all wires, plugs, cap, rotor. The air mixture screw to the carb is turned out 5 full turns, otherwise idles too rough. Idle at neutral is about 1250, in drive about 850......which is all high compared to specs. Timing is advanced 4 degrees BTDC. Any ideas to a solution would be helpful. I've never been able to get this subi running right. Thanks!

[88HatchMonster]

Driving down the road, sometimes at 30 mph, sometimes at 60.......all of a sudden, the rpms will be at say, 3000, then will suddenly drop to zero, all torque power gone, then suddenly back to 3000 rpms......this repeats itself over and over, then either I will have to pull over, turn off the car (it ends up dying), or everything goes back to normal.

 

Have you tried replacing the fuel filter? Sounds like yours might be clogged.

 

BTW I'm still loving that hatch you sold me. Runs like a top (a slow but reliable top...) Anyway, good luck with your wagon.

[jxavierf]

I'm glad the hatch is running well!

 

I've changed the fuel filter twice in the last 5 months (both filters). So you think its a fuel delivery problem?

 

Thanks....

[rallyrx]

i would go with a electrical problem. if you know you have a vacume leak than try and fix that first to see how the idle goes from there.It's really hard to fix one problem when you know of other things that need to be fixed. i believe the engine should be 8 deg. Before. Check some of the grounds for sloppy conections, or rust.

[jxavierf]

I've heard of people who have crap in their gas tank, removing the fuel filter (the one underneath the car near the passenger rear tire) completely so that the particals and crap go into the 2nd filter (under the hood). This way they only have to change one filter, the easy one to get to, and all the extra crap that gets through can get burned up. Makes sense, but how, if you remove the underneath filter, do continue the gas line to the 2nd filter?

[idosubaru]

i agree with previous post - likely an electrical problem, but if you have others that makes it harder to diagnose.

 

first place i would look is your alternator and battery connections. a bad connection can cause your car to intermittently die just as you explained here. connections must be good, clean, and tight.

 

don't know that this applies to you at all, but 90's honda's have a common issue with the fuel pump relay that does the same thing. car is typically hard to start though, that's the main sign, but it can also cut out while driving due to a bad relay causing the pump to shut off.

[jxavierf]

My car is very hard to start in the morning. Ive checked the relays and their fine. So from the replies, it leads me to beleive that it is a fuel delivery problem caused by a mehcanical problem (clogged filter) or possibly do to an electrical problem that is effecting the fuel delivery.

[nipper]

It sounds like its the ignitor, or whatever they call the little electronic module in the distributor, I had the same thing on an 88 and drove me up the wall untill it finally died.

I ended up replaceing the dist and the module, since the dist had way more play in it then i liked.

 

nipper

[edrach]

I'm with Nipper and would put my money on the ignitor module. Unfortunately, it's a pretty pricey item (anywhere from $100 to $250 depending on where you buy it. If it's the hitachi distributor, the're pretty easy to remove and most parts stores will test it for you for free; considering how intermittant this one is have it tested multiple times if it doesn't fail the first time. Also, make sure the put the ground lead on it securely to test since that will give you a false fail reading. Also, be prepared to pay the price for a new one if it fails. I've found the cheapest ones at the local pull a part; I pull them and have them tested and only keep the good ones. I don't have any of the ND modules.

[nipper]

If you get it at a pull-a-part get two, keep one in the glove box. Murphys law, if you have a spare one you wont need it.

 

 

nipper

[subarunuts]

Replace the whole distributor - it's actually cheaper to get a rebuilt disty from most part houses than the ignitor module by itself. Then you also have new bushings, etc. I personally prefer the ND distributors as they put out a hotter spark, but they are more expensive.... if you find one at a local yard you can have new bushings installed pretty cheap. Just remember that the coil and the disty are a pair - you need a ND coil with an ND disty, and Hitachi w/Hitachi as the resistance values MUST match. Most of the ignitor failures I've seen were due to incorrect/aftermarket coils being installed. The ND ignitor is especially prone to this mistreatment, but it can damage either. Your symtoms are particularly pointing to the coil/disty as that's where the tach signal eminates. Dropping to zero with a loss of power indicates no spark durring that time.

[aba4430]

This is a shot in the dark, but I had similar symptons on a 1994 Nissan Altima and was eventually stranded and had to be towed home. The tach went nuts when I was driving, i.e. up and down etc. I found oil leakage into the electronics of distributor (oil leaked past the disty shaft o-ring). I dabbed everything and used some CRC sensitive parts electronics cleaner, cleaned everything up well, put in a new shaft o-ring and all is well now. So in your case, could it be that the distributor internals/electronics are contaminated?

 

aba4430

[jxavierf]

Ok....so I replaced the coil.....it runs and starts fine????? Unbelievable! Now, because its poor running before, Ive had to adjust the the air/fuel mixture and idle speed on the carb. I would like to get it back to specs......what are the specs on an 84 for the air/fuel mixture.....currently, I have it 5 full turns out (turned the screw all the way in, then 5 full rotations out). Thanks!

[1985GLWAGON]

My Hayne's manual gives the following method to tune the A/F mix: start by getting the engine warm then turning it off, then turn the mix screw all the way in, then turn like 2 turns out, if it will start and run then turn the idle screw until it's at the right rpm's, then turn the mixture screw out until it reaches max. rpms, then readjust the idle screw back down to where it should be, do that a couple times and it's supposed to be set. Oh, and the last time you adjust the mix screw you're supposed to turn it in about 1/2 turn then readjust the idle screw the last time.