erikvr Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 I have had two wierd situations with my 89 GL 4WD Wagon that my mechanic doesn't understand. Guys, any help diagnosing would be appreciated! My car stranded me on the highway the other day. The engine died, I started it and it ran for 3 minutes, died again not to be started again. I could crank the engine and the battery was just fine (so I could play music waiting for the tow-truck). Dropped it off at the mechanics and the next day he started it fine. He ran the car for three hours and all seemed fine. I drove it around town, 3-5 miles at a time no problem. But today I get on the freeway and drive 25 miles. I got out of the car at the bank and when I returned the car wouldn't start. I tried it for an hour, got towed and when I arrived into the shop 45 minutes later on the towtruck, my mechanic started the car up just fine. What is going on with this car?? Ideas?? Oxygen sensor, fuel pump going out? Help!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 My first thought was ignition electrical... like overheated coil or flakey ignitor. But reading your full post I am thinking fuel pump issues. Is yours a carbed engine? If so, when it won't start remove the air cleaner and work the throttle linkage and see if the accelerator pump squirts gas. And/or get some starting fluid or carb cleaner and spray into the carb or air filter inlet and see if it will try to start then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverhelme Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 I went through almost the same thing with my wife's 84. It would die and by the time I got there to rescue her it would restart. I have actually run into this several times, it turned out to be the igniter in the distributor. It is ceapest to by a good junk yard dist than to get an igniter or rebuilt dist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 its the igniotr in the distrubitor. I had this in my GL and it drove me nuts till it finally quit all together. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 89, so his ignitor is not in the distributor - it's under the *coil* in a seperate unit. Distributor is just the crank angle sensor, but you may have a problem there too.... although I've only ever seen those fail completely (ie - no spark at all). *edit - I meant to say coil here - not distributor - hehe* GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 crank angle sensor itself never fails since its in a nice dry happy home, unless the dist beariings go bad then it will just give you an odd idle. Still the ignitor. Try and get them from a scrap yard from a bent car. If the car is straight a bad ignitor may be the reason its there. Otherwise they are a bit pricey nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikvr Posted July 1, 2006 Author Share Posted July 1, 2006 crank angle sensor itself never fails since its in a nice dry happy home, unless the dist beariings go bad then it will just give you an odd idle. Still the ignitor. Try and get them from a scrap yard from a bent car. If the car is straight a bad ignitor may be the reason its there. Otherwise they are a bit pricey nipper Thanks all. Seems like consensus is the ignitor. If that is the case and if in 89 GLs it is under the distributor, does that mean I can find it in any EA82 89 and later BUT NOT before 89?? And yes, my 89 is fuel injected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 As GD says, the ignitor (really, just a specialized transistor) should be mounted on your coil bracket. May be wrong, but any 87 (87+?) or later vehicle should have the same ignitor. One thing that you might check is ensure that the coil bracket has a good ground, as I am told that the ignitor grounds through this bracket. (I haven't seen a schematic, so I can't say for sure.) A flakey ground could give you your flakey ignition. Clean the coil bracket mount points and see waht happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 I had the exact same problem a couple years ago. Swapped distributors and the problem went away.. Took about 10 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikvr Posted July 2, 2006 Author Share Posted July 2, 2006 I am going to my local soobie junkyard to pick up a replacement breakerless distributor. Sounds like the easiest thing to do! Thanks! I am not sure if I have a hitachi or nippondenso distributor (my cap on this 89 GL is extra "spikey" compared to the one on my 85). I figure 88 and later I could use either type, right.... Does it really matter which breakerless one I replace it with? Logic says "no", but you know what sometimes happens when logic and subarus meet............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 You do not have a "breakerless" distributor - you have a crank angle sensor distributor - it's just a sensor for the ECU - like the O2 sensor. Other than providing a path for the spark from the coil and ignitor via the cap and rotor, it doesn't directly do any timing or spark. ALL the crank angle sensor distributors are the same internally - some have different connectors, but they are all the same. All the fuel injection cars (ALL of them) use this same unit. The ignitor is a more likely (and cheaper from the junk yard) culprit. Try that first. It's under the coil on the coil bracket. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverhelme Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 I went through almost the same thing with my wife's 84. It would die and by the time I got there to rescue her it would restart. I have actually run into this several times, it turned out to be the igniter in the distributor. It is ceapest to by a good junk yard dist than to get an igniter or rebuilt dist. Sorry misspoke mine was actually the pickup in the dist. On the older (83-84) this tends to happen when somebody hokes up the coil backwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 Thanks all. Seems like consensus is the ignitor. If that is the case and if in 89 GLs it is under the distributor, does that mean I can find it in any EA82 89 and later BUT NOT before 89?? And yes, my 89 is fuel injected. You can probably get the parts you need from someone local to you. If not, the PAP on 112th and south tacoma way used to have lots of EA82 stuff. As far as the wiring and stuff goes, 87+ FI, turbo included were all the same so far as I have seen (all of mine have been) 87 has a different wiring plug, but that can be changed in 10 minutes or less with just a phillips screwdriver.. Couldn't hurt to grab the ignitor and bracket. Probably cheaper. Personally, I would probably just throw down with the cash and get that and the distributor at the same time. Along with a new cap and rotor since its all out anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikvr Posted July 2, 2006 Author Share Posted July 2, 2006 You can probably get the parts you need from someone local to you. If not, the PAP on 112th and south tacoma way used to have lots of EA82 stuff. As far as the wiring and stuff goes, 87+ FI, turbo included were all the same so far as I have seen (all of mine have been) 87 has a different wiring plug, but that can be changed in 10 minutes or less with just a phillips screwdriver.. Couldn't hurt to grab the ignitor and bracket. Probably cheaper. Personally, I would probably just throw down with the cash and get that and the distributor at the same time. Along with a new cap and rotor since its all out anyway. What does the ignitor look like? Neither my "how to keep your soobie alive" nor the haynes manual actually have something called the "ignitor". Is it actually mounted to the coil itself or is it something that leads to the coil? And thanks for the local parts tip (you live in texas and know the tacoma,wa subaru parts deals....?!?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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