scrap487 Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 well, so I left this morning to head up to the mountain to go skiing, well, about 3 miles outside of govt camp, on the last major curve before it and a fairly steep slope, my subaru DIED. had been running fine at 5k rpm in 2nd(got big tires on... ) for about a mile and then I hit that bigger slope and I was like huh... i'm not getting pushed back in my seat anymore. turns out it seams like I have a few problems. at first I thought it might be vapor lock... let it cool down, wouldnt start. so I go take off the air cleaner, and whattdya know, theres no gas to be seen through the float bowl window. I checked the fuel pump, it wasnt getting power and the fuses n everything were fine, so with my lack of tools I ripped apart the wiring for my lights and hooked the fuel pump up to that, fuel pump works(this was after about 2-3 hours of trying to rig up a bottle and some gass and what not). ok, so I got the car to start, SWEET, I move about 3 feet and it dies. so um, I think what now, fuel filter? I find i only have ONE fuel filter, and its by the gas tank, so I bypass that completely, start it up, rev it some, and then it dies. at this point I got help on the way with some parts so I thought I'd burn some time and take a small break and go for a small hike. I come back, install a brand new fuel pump, it puts out a LOT more fuel, so I step on it and head down the hill like I think it should be, after coasting for a minute or two or three I step on the gas, and NO GO, look at the tach and its dead. at this point, I park the car(zig zag) and ride with my dad down to sandy to pick up a coil and some other stuff and debate if its even worth going back to fix it or should we just go pick up a friend of a friends trailer. well we went to go get the trailer, and brought it back and finally got it home tonight around 2am. worst part is its raining, I hope it dries up cause i gotta make it back up to the mountain on saturday. anyways I guess I could just give you a list of symptoms but I felt like throwing in the story(readers digest version...) for free: will start up hard starting will run for a few minutes sometimes I can rev it and hold it at 4+k rpms and it wont die(engine cold) will idle for a long time before it dies othertimes I rev it high and it will shutdown fairly quickly(engine warm) I can idle along for a while in 1st, not quite so long when engine is warm when it dies, it doesnt really sputter, it just DIES, sometimes it will kick just a little bit but it doesnt sound so much like its starving for fuel.. right now the fuel pump is wired straight to the battery with a switch and a fuse possible carb problem too? carb never was quite right when I got it, I rebuilt it, was better but still hasnt ever really ran spectacularly good. 160k miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry DeMoss Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Check the fuel filters.Also check to make sure you have good spark.Sounds like it may be intermittant.Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 two things to try 1) leave the gas cap off, possible vacuum forming in the gas tank. Plus it would be good to verify spark after it dies, just to take it out of the equation. 2) when telling a story please use the "Enter" key more often. This is an excellent case in point The bottom half is very easy to read, the "story" well.... Guess some folks never proof read their post using the "Preview Post" option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 ...Well... I got EXACTLY the Same Problem, i mean EXACTLY the Same. It was the CrapTachi Carb. I got my Subie Running with a Nissan`s for a While... Bad Idea. it was too much Gas Consuption, and it don`t have enough power to do the engine revving above of 3K RPM without small explosions noise on it... (Small Venturi) So, I did Throw away the Hitachi Crap Carb, and put it on a Weber 32/36 DEGV. it is simply the best thing happens to a Subaru Carbed Engine since a good tunning. Far Difference... Even when it was brand New, wasn`t so quick and powerful like with the Weber. But, maybe you got another Issue there, try check the Rotor on the Dist. the main Coil, and everything between them... I just said the History of the my Carb Problems because: Maybe that is the Problem of your Car. Maybe you can obtain a Nissan`s Carb Just to Try if it starts and Goes fine (Remember, not fine at all, but it won`t Dies) also, Nissan`s carb (Of the sunny 1,600) are exactly the same base of the Subaru`s Hitachi Crap, (It`s another Hitachi Crap) so you just "Plug and Play" (Plug and Pray!) and easy verifies if it was the Carb`s Fault. I just wanna Help ya! So, Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrap487 Posted March 24, 2006 Author Share Posted March 24, 2006 ...Well... I got EXACTLY the Same Problem, i mean EXACTLY the Same. It was the CrapTachi Carb. I got my Subie Running with a Nissan`s for a While... Bad Idea. it was too much Gas Consuption, and it don`t have enough power to do the engine revving above of 3K RPM without small explosions noise on it... (Small Venturi) So, I did Throw away the Hitachi Crap Carb, and put it on a Weber 32/36 DEGV. it is simply the best thing happens to a Subaru Carbed Engine since a good tunning. Far Difference... Even when it was brand New, wasn`t so quick and powerful like with the Weber. But, maybe you got another Issue there, try check the Rotor on the Dist. the main Coil, and everything between them... I just said the History of the my Carb Problems because: Maybe that is the Problem of your Car. Maybe you can obtain a Nissan`s Carb Just to Try if it starts and Goes fine (Remember, not fine at all, but it won`t Dies) also, Nissan`s carb (Of the sunny 1,600) are exactly the same base of the Subaru`s Hitachi Crap, (It`s another Hitachi Crap) so you just "Plug and Play" (Plug and Pray!) and easy verifies if it was the Carb`s Fault. I just wanna Help ya! So, Good Luck! yeah... I know, sorry I was kinda um, out of it last night... but anyways, new fuel pump, new filter inline right before the fuel pump, I bypassed the one by the tank just to eliminate it. I have a nissan carbuerator off my 720, swapped in an l20 and took out the z24, trust me, we had PLENTY of problems with that hitachi too. It did run pretty good though after we took it to a shop to redo the carb. I'm going to get to work today and check for a spark. I'm just hoping its the coil cause I really dont want to mess with this today but i have to cause I'm taking people up to the mountain tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrap487 Posted March 25, 2006 Author Share Posted March 25, 2006 ok upon further inspection, I finally get the bright idea to check under the disty cap I havent yet cause i dont know anything about distributors and its imtimidating. anyways well, theres a couple ball bearings floating around, and I think that may be my problem... not looking forward to 160$ for a new distributor.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrap487 Posted March 25, 2006 Author Share Posted March 25, 2006 ok went back and check for spark... when it shuts off/dies whatever, its still getting spark, so a bad distributor isnt causing the problem... its the carbuerator... so I have a weber 32/36 dgev, but i dont have an adapter plate :-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrap487 Posted March 25, 2006 Author Share Posted March 25, 2006 de-emissions time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazmataz Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 don't rule out the distributor all together just because you got spark at that time you checked it. i had a problem with my 84 wgn intermittently dieing on me while driving, just go dead and i replaced all my fuel filters and pump then desided to do my coil too, including the wires from the coil to the distributor. still kept dieing but then in a matter of a couple of weeks it started getting worst. couldn't trust driving it even to the store. i too was considering the carb. then someone suggested the distributor and i said no it has to be the carb. because i had spark when i would checked it. well, in the end i had 3 different people tell me that it was the dist. so i went and put one in and i've been driving it for 3 weeks so far without any hint of a problem. so don't necessarily rule out the distributor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrap487 Posted March 25, 2006 Author Share Posted March 25, 2006 don't rule out the distributor all together just because you got spark at that time you checked it. i had a problem with my 84 wgn intermittently dieing on me while driving, just go dead and i replaced all my fuel filters and pump then desided to do my coil too, including the wires from the coil to the distributor. still kept dieing but then in a matter of a couple of weeks it started getting worst. couldn't trust driving it even to the store. i too was considering the carb. then someone suggested the distributor and i said no it has to be the carb. because i had spark when i would checked it. well, in the end i had 3 different people tell me that it was the dist. so i went and put one in and i've been driving it for 3 weeks so far without any hint of a problem. so don't necessarily rule out the distributor. thanks... I wont, it still disturbs me parts of it were falling apart, but the fact that it was doing its job at the time of death leads me to believe there are multiple contributing factors. this also happened suddenly, it most likely wouldnt run long enough to get me to the end of the block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subiemech85 Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 BTDT: fix = swap distributor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 coil perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subiemech85 Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 coil already listed in origional post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrap487 Posted March 25, 2006 Author Share Posted March 25, 2006 disty swap will come.. should I just replace it with a junkyard one? buy one form a parts store? use one from a differant vehicle? I replaced the coil... gotta admit the old one was gettin tired cause I got a bit stronger spark now. I'm taking all that emissions crap off the carburator and intake manifold tomorrow and then get things back together. the stuff thats vacuum controlled that has electrical connections, anyone know what i do with that? can I just cut the wires and rip em out and throw them away or what. other question is, once I demission this thing, how much tuning will it need for the carb? anyone got a good spare distributor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dxrflyboy Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 All that emissions crap funnels into one hose that pipes into the intake below the carb. Pull that one hose off and plug the port. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrap487 Posted March 26, 2006 Author Share Posted March 26, 2006 ok... I'm in the midst of cleaning up the engine bay, and its a bit intimidating, what tubing n stuff absolutely MUST remain for a good running car, I want to get everything else off, but there are also a lot of solid metal tubs and I have a hard time tracing them back to wherever they go. any help would be appreciated, even better would be someone to come over here and help me out and I'll buy you lunch. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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