hatchsub Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 Hey Everyone. Im a poor college kid and i think ive got a big expense coming to me. I drove home this weekend from college and on the way every time i came to a stop sign my car would idle really low and then die. When i got home i turned the idle up a ton to keep it running at idle but it would idle rough still. Then i went around the engine looking for vacuum leaks and low and behold i think i found the culprit. I sprayed some carb cleaner on the throttle shaft of the carb and my idle picked up a tad. I also shot some down the carb and my idle picked up and smoothed out then too. In the past the car would want to stall out if i shot some down the carb. Im figuring my carb is leaking major vacuum at the throttle shaft and maybe somewhere else....so since im sick of rebuilt carbs not working and have wanted a weber for a long time anyways i think its time to get one. What do you all think? Second is my radiator. Recently i replaced the lower radiator hose cause it looked really old and crusty, but if i wiggle the part of the radiator that fits into that hose it moves around pretty freely and dripps coolant on the ground. Im thinking i have a rusty radiator that needs replacing as well. After i noticed the drip i moved my hand across the radiator to feel for cold spots and the whole center section of the radiator (the part where the air can pass through) was cool to the touch and the side parts were hot. Clogged up radiator? Sorry to write a novel but this is whats going on with my car right now. So i guess my questions are...do i need to get a weber (im not going to waste my time with a hitachi again) and do i need a new radiator? If so where can i get a radiator cheap? Thanks for the great help guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshorts Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 Hey Everyone. Im a poor college kid and i think ive got a big expense coming to me. I drove home this weekend from college and on the way every time i came to a stop sign my car would idle really low and then die. When i got home i turned the idle up a ton to keep it running at idle but it would idle rough still. Then i went around the engine looking for vacuum leaks and low and behold i think i found the culprit. I sprayed some carb cleaner on the throttle shaft of the carb and my idle picked up a tad. I also shot some down the carb and my idle picked up and smoothed out then too. In the past the car would want to stall out if i shot some down the carb. Im figuring my carb is leaking major vacuum at the throttle shaft and maybe somewhere else....so since im sick of rebuilt carbs not working and have wanted a weber for a long time anyways i think its time to get one. What do you all think? Second is my radiator. Recently i replaced the lower radiator hose cause it looked really old and crusty, but if i wiggle the part of the radiator that fits into that hose it moves around pretty freely and dripps coolant on the ground. Im thinking i have a rusty radiator that needs replacing as well. After i noticed the drip i moved my hand across the radiator to feel for cold spots and the whole center section of the radiator (the part where the air can pass through) was cool to the touch and the side parts were hot. Clogged up radiator? Sorry to write a novel but this is whats going on with my car right now. So i guess my questions are...do i need to get a weber (im not going to waste my time with a hitachi again) and do i need a new radiator? If so where can i get a radiator cheap? Thanks for the great help guys. I just replaced my radiator, mine was shot and covered in that stop leak stuff the previous owner had smeared all over it. Changing it was really easy and cheap. I got the radiator at radiatorbarn.com, shipped in just a few days. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted March 18, 2007 Author Share Posted March 18, 2007 yea ive replaced radiators before on these cars..it should take me about 15-20 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 yea ive replaced radiators before on these cars..it should take me about 15-20 minutes. If you need a radiator, I got a used EA81 in my shop. I got an acutal radiator box that I can put it into and ship it to you for the cost of shipping if you need it bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 If you need a radiator, I got a used EA81 in my shop. I got an acutal radiator box that I can put it into and ship it to you for the cost of shipping if you need it bad. Hey that's cool! Was it raining during the trip? If so check your distributor for moisture under the cap. And check again for vacuum leaks. One of the vacuum solonoids may be bad, or other components, or even the distributor vacuum diaphram so don't just check the lines. Intake gaskets too. Is the oil and coolant ok? (head gasket failure) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted March 18, 2007 Author Share Posted March 18, 2007 Hey that's cool! Was it raining during the trip? If so check your distributor for moisture under the cap. And check again for vacuum leaks. One of the vacuum solonoids may be bad, or other components, or even the distributor vacuum diaphram so don't just check the lines. Intake gaskets too. Is the oil and coolant ok? (head gasket failure) Sorry forgot to post everything else i checked. I sprayed some carb cleaner around the intake gaskets and it had no effect so my intake gaskets are good. No oil in the coolant and no coolant in the oil so no headgasket failure. It never runs hot either. I checked under the cap and everything looked good and clean to me so no moisture as far as i could tell. where are the vacuum solenoids that your refering too? Are they under the cap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted March 18, 2007 Author Share Posted March 18, 2007 Ok well im getting the radiator from Russ so thats taken care of. Anyone else have any opinions/advice. How do i go about checking if the distributor is the culprit and not my carb? I just assume carb because of the above issues and the fact that i can turn the idle up a good amount and it still idles lower than it should for that setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 Well, I've never had an 83 so I don't know exactly. My 89 hatch has the feedback carb with two solonoids on the intake manifold, theres two on the firewall behind the right strut tower too. It does sound like the carb though. Try some good fresh gas with a quality fuel system cleaner. You may have just gotten bad gas too. I think all Hitachi carbs have worn throttle shafts but still idle within reason. SeaFoam will be good in this case, they claim it revitalizes old gas. Also, remove the air cleaner, cap all hoses and lines to it, remove the stud from the cemter of the carb throat, then rev the engine up with one hand on the throttle cable(or linkage), then place your other hand over the carb throat but just momentarily so the engine almost stalls but doesn't. It will create an insane vacuum on all jets and ports and may pull out whatever is clogged up in there, if that's the problem. When you spray carb cleaner down into it, look to the side of the throats and you'll see the air corrector jets, or emulsion tubes(not sure) and spray some directly in them. The red tube on the spray can sits inside them quite well. Alos some down the big vent that sticks out into the throat on top, that will get it right into the bowl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 A good sign of a bad distributor is a jumping tach, or a screaching noise from the disty when cold, or stalling while turning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted March 18, 2007 Author Share Posted March 18, 2007 Ok thanks Frank..Ill give that a try when i get a chance. I just went and parked my car for the week..and there is no way im getting out of the spot im in as i barely got it in..lol. The vacuum solenoids your talking about are called the Duty solenoids. My car was originally a Carter-weber one barrel but i didnt want that carb i wanted the hitachi. Unfortunatly the wiring didnt exactly line up and deleted the duty solenoids. that was about a year ago though and the car has run mint up until a few days ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 Just some of the things that have worked for me when I was too lazy to pull the carb off. That's gets old after a few times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted March 19, 2007 Author Share Posted March 19, 2007 A good sign of a bad distributor is a jumping tach, or a screaching noise from the disty when cold, or stalling while turning. Hmmm when you say jumping tach do you mean the idle of the car changes around or just the tach? Cause my tach does bounce around at idle...but thats following the idle. It was doing it a little before and now its worse. Also it wants to die when making a 90 degree turn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted March 20, 2007 Author Share Posted March 20, 2007 bumpity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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