Some Tuenup ???'s for you

[joebmx]

I have an 87 GL,4wd, Carb'd w/201k. It is getting a much deserved tuneup and had some questions in regards to product quality of the parts I will be using. I trust the NGK plugs I purchased but am a bit skeptical about the bosch wires and YEC cap and rotor.

I did some YEC research and it is hard to find any info on them but what I did find said the company was a popular japanese aftermarket manufaturer. Is it decent stuff?

 

I also got some bosch wires which since I had a toyota at one point that ran like poo with bosch products has left me reluctant to run their stuff. 1st thing i noticed was that the connector going into the cap isn't actually mated to the rubber boot properly. The connector doesn't have a bend in it, it runs straight and hits the side of the boot. Also the wire gauge is 7mm. The wire set I removed was 7.5mm and some of you guys mentioned using 8mm wires. Will I notice a performance difference with the smaller wire?

 

Also, I read somewhere in the forums that changing your gear oil can actually improve your MPG. Did this guy have mud in there that it improved it 2-3mpg? Will it make a dramatic improvement?

Regardless it should be done.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Joe

[Turbone]

Not to many choices on cap and rotor, altho I've never heard of the YEC brand. If its from Japan, it cant be all bad (?).

I found a set of NGK plug wires on Ebay, look around there. Mine are 7mm and seem to be working fine.

Theres a concoction out there called "Scotties Cocktail".

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=920674&highlight=scotties+cocktail

I have it in my 89 RX and its working better now.

[GeneralDisorder]

NGK plugs and wires. Cap and rotor really don't matter. Unless you have a problem with the engine missing, you probably aren't doing much good replaceing all that stuff. Cap and rotor are cheap though. Plugs you can generally gap, clean, and put back. Wires.... it's pretty odd to see them fail on an EA series carb engine. The spark isn't very hot so they don't really degrade much.

 

I would be spending more of my initial time and money doing the cooling system, timing belts, carb rebuild, etc. Unless I had good reason to suspect the ignition components.

 

GD

[Andy FitzGibbon]

I have run Bosch wires on two cars and haven't had any problems with them. Odd, though that I bought them only a couple months apart, and one set was red wire and the other was black.

Andy

[joebmx]

I got the car used a while back. It sat for a few years before I bought it and has quite a bit of corrosion around the engine and some of the electrical pieces. Corrosion in the white flaky sense, not the rusty falling apart way. So Last week I start the car and I hear a clicking and immediately thought I had a something arcing in the engine. Low and behold my coil wire was coming off the coil and was throwing a spark, I winded up taping the wire to the coil because it wouldn't stay on. Problem solved!! A few minutes later I am driving down the road and and the car starts to rough idle and I think now something isn't firing. Today I pulled the plugs while the engine was on and found that my #2 wire, maybe the #4 had no spark at the plug. I made sure it was on the cap which it was and no difference. The engine ran no differently with the wire in or out. when I pulled the wire from the cap there was a faint spark, so I figured I would replace all of it. I had issues with the wire in the past, the connector ripped of the wire when I replaced the plugs and had to be spliced.

It ran me $32 for the parts, not a big deal.

So consensus says that Bosch.....fair...good....great?

Also, I have already flushed the cooling

 

Turboone,

YEC is from Japan and I figured the same as you. If it's Japanese it can't be all that bad.

[joebmx]

PS... as i started to replace the wires I noticed that they were not going on in the same order they came off. The new Cap was labeled, the old one wasn't, and if I was doing everything correctly the wires were actually going to the wrong cylinders before. The 2 and 4 were reversed. I have driven the car about 2k and haven't noticed that it had been sucking. It was getting 26mpg on the highway. Can anyone diagram where the wires go on the cap and what the cylinder numbers are in the engine. Just as a precautionary measure.

Thanks

[opus]

I drained the gear oil in the tranny and put straight ATF in. Works great, especially when its cold.

[Turbone]

I drained the gear oil in the tranny and put straight ATF in. Works great, especially when its cold.

 

Well, Spring is here. I dont suggest running that in your gearbox for long. You will be looking for another one shortly.

[opus]

Well, it was suggested here and I have been doing it for a couple years now, I do believe.

[Turbone]

Well, it was suggested here and I have been doing it for a couple years now, I do believe.

 

Do you run it year round? I can see using it cold, sub freezing temps. But when it gets warmer out I think a thicker viscosity lube would be better.

[opus]

Year round. If I recall, it was a lengthy topic. Basically both fluids had the same shear factor....and thats about all I can remember. I do recall researching it quite a bit, being reluctant of course.

 

I briefly tried searching for it, nothing yet.

[Bill90Loyale]

Magnecor.

[aba4430]

I recently tuned up my 87 Brat after @25K miles from previous one. Replaced wires (NGK, @$16 from sparkplugs.com), Denso plugs (NGK or Denso, both are OEM), PCV (use OEM if you can, I used aftermarket), OEM air filter (I have OEM vapor sep. and fuel filter that I need to install after another @5K miles), OEM cap and rotor (however - your JP parts should be comparable), OEM thermostat (replaced a 180 deg one, and this one change made a significant positive difference in driveability). All OEM genuine Subaru parts were from worldpartsexpress.com (excellent outfit to deal with). Also see if your vacuum hoses need replacement. I replaced about 10 feet of vacuum tubing, and the Brat is much happier. Good luck. aba