ev0014 Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 a couple of friends of mine and myself bought a '79 1600 last night, and though it's not pretty(and the interior reeks of dog) it ran pretty well once it got warmed up(the previous owner said it burned oil and the clutch needs ot be adjusted). well we get it, cruise it around for a bit, everything was fine, until it started running strangely.. so we check the engine mroe thoroughly than we did when we bought it(doh!) and check the air filter.. and it's got a lot of oil in the whole assembly. well it was too late to get a new filter(walmart didnt have the right size) so we just cleaned it up and called it a day, drove everyone home and parked it. This morning my friend tried to start it and it wouldnt start. after taking off the whole cleaner assembly and checking the carb out, it appears that a seal on the front(radiator) side where the throttle hooks up to.. it looks kind of like a shifter boot, but really small, seems to leak a little gas, and there's not enough gas getting into the carb. well he put his hand over the carb where it would intake the air, and tried to start the car, and it started. as long as he was pushing the gas it'd stay running, until it got warm, then it ran fine. Well we figured that was good enough, and we needed tog et a new air filter. so we got get it, put it in, and it ran well enough, so we decided to test out the 4wd. we headed out to the dunes and ran it for about half an hour to 45 minutes, and when we were finished it didnt want to idle that much, nor did it rev when we pushed on the gas. this is kind of hard to explain, but if we pumped the gas, then the initial push revved it slightly, but it'd immediately start dropping rpm's and it'd do that each time we pushed the gas. well we pulled over and let it sit for a bit(it was only a little warm) and popped the hood and checked the air filter.... and it was all clean, though it looked like there was some oil that had shot out from somewhere on the back of the engine(like it shot out of the dipstick hole). well we didnt have any other way of getting in to town so we had to give it a shot. we started and it ran, and idled for a little while, but still sputtered a little and jolted every once in a while, but when it wanted to it would run almost like normal(it would top out at about 4k rpm) to we drove it into town hoping it would die, and parked it at a friends house. popped the hood and there was more oil everywhere(it was tough to tell where it was fresh and where it was just gunk because the bay was pretty dirty) but there was enough to tell that it had shot out from somewhere(seemed like it was or was near the dipstick, it shot up and an angle at the spare tire from behind the engine) so we let it cool down some more and checked the oil, which read 3/4-4/5 full..(btw, we had checked it the night before and it looked about 1/4 so we added some.. I think a quart or so, and it was up to what appeared a half, so we added another half of a quart and then it was about 3/4.. this was when the car was warmed up too.. but when we checked it today it looked full and a half or so, so it might've been overflow from the dipstick that just shot up..but the dipstick is really tough to read, like the oil wont stick well enough to get an accurate reading. also, that wouldnt explain the running problem would it?) anyway, so we then just started it, and it ran but wouldnt hold and idle very well.. would hold about 500 for a few seconds.. parked it at his house, and there it sits. My questions are where could the oil be coming from? could it just be overflow or could I have a leak? what carb do I have? and do they have a rebuild kit for it? is the carb even the problem?(I'm pretty sure it has something to do with it though) do they have a rebuild kit for the engine? this is my first subaru and I dont want to go tearing into it without some knowledge of the engine first(which, by the way, is really.. really small, but I like it;) I dont know what it is, it looks like an ea-71(if that was the code, I looked at one online a little while ago but dont remember the code)I checked quickly in the owners manual but couldnt find anything to help me on the engine or the carb... then again I only did a very quick check and didnt look very well, just a quick scan to see if anything jumped out at me.. but now the car's at my friends house and I cant go look at it just yet, I might be able to later though.. I looked at the carb but couldnt find any numbers or letters or anything on it.. but it was pretty gunked up, I wiped up what I could see and get to, but couldnt find anything.... well pretty much I need all the help I can get, if anyone has any information that may help me out, feel free to share:D thanks!! also, regardless of the problems, I love this car! ev0014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev0014 Posted February 27, 2006 Author Share Posted February 27, 2006 wow.. I apologize for it being so long, it didnt seem that long when I was typing it! dang... I hope that doesnt deter people from reading it though! I need help!! ev0014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Next time, use the key labeled: 'Enter' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Sounds like you need to rebuild the carb - definately have some problems there. The EA71 Hitachi carb's are not as bad as the EA81 versions - pretty simple. The "shift boot" looking thing is just the seal for the accelerator pump, and they usually look a little wet from fuel when they get old. First thing I would do is replace the PCV valve (get from the dealer only)- you probably have pressure building up in the crankcase and it's blowing oil out from everywhere. Powerwash the engine bay at one of those DIY car washes. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev0014 Posted February 27, 2006 Author Share Posted February 27, 2006 thanks general, that's what I needed to hear... where's a good place to get a rebuild kit for the carb? or is there some all purpose ones or something? also, where do I get the PCV valve? should I just go to schucks and pick one up or do I actually have to get one from a subaru dealer? yeah, thanks mike, that was kind of a run on paragraph, I'll keep that key in mind next time I type up a long story:P ev0014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 thanks general, that's what I needed to hear... where's a good place to get a rebuild kit for the carb? or is there some all purpose ones or something? also, where do I get the PCV valve? should I just go to schucks and pick one up or do I actually have to get one from a subaru dealer? yeah, thanks mike, that was kind of a run on paragraph, I'll keep that key in mind next time I type up a long story:P ev0014 Best to get them from the dealer, yes. They are not expensive. Aftermarket ones tend to not work correctly for some reason. Lots of people have reported oil being sucked into the air filter with them. Best to spend a couple dollars more and not worry about it. Carb kits - Napa sells the Elgin made kits (will be Napa branded, but Elgin is the OEM). People sugest these are of good enough quality that you should not be dissapointed. Be prepared to spend approx. $40, and a solid afernoon doing the rebuild. Get a nice clean work area - old white sheets are nice as you are not likely to lose anything. Also make sure you drain the coolant a bit before removal as it runs through the manifold to the bottom of the carb. Be careful during dissasembly to not lose the plastic accelerator pump check ball - it's small - about the size of a BB. The kit will come with another, but you should note it's location for reassembly. It goes under the accelerator pump spring. Also invest in one of those carb dip cans - the ones with the basket built in. Very usefull if you can afford it. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 If you would like some pics on rebuilding the stock carb, I have a factory service manual that I bought for my '78 Brat. I also had a '79 4wd wagon as well. I'ev gotten to know these cars like the back of my hand so feel free to send me a PM if you need any help as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev0014 Posted February 27, 2006 Author Share Posted February 27, 2006 thanks! the price was what I figured I'd be spending, and your right PCV's arent that expensive, but I hear of dealer marking things up by huge margins... so I've never really checked it out. I'll get this started as soon as I get the time, which will be probably next weekend. thanks again! ev0014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev0014 Posted February 27, 2006 Author Share Posted February 27, 2006 actually one last question.. how do I know what kit I need? is there a part number on the carb I need to find? and if so where about it is located? or does it depend on whether it's a wagon or whatever? I dont know the codes(if that's what they are) that subaru uses.. I'm a very very new person to subaru's, but everyone has been very very helpful and it's greatly appreciated! thanks again! Ev0014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev0014 Posted March 1, 2006 Author Share Posted March 1, 2006 hmm, well according to napaautoparts.com there seems to 4 "different" carb kits, but they have the same item number.. does that mean it's just a universal kit? or am I missing something? thanks again everyone! Ev0014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev0014 Posted March 3, 2006 Author Share Posted March 3, 2006 anyone? thanks! ev0014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev0014 Posted March 3, 2006 Author Share Posted March 3, 2006 *edit* scratched out this reply so I didnt get off topic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now