fdgwolfeboro Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I am fairly new to this site but have been on here looking at posts to help me with my 1987 Subaru XT coupe, it has the 1.8 EA82T motor. I have had this car in the shop since July 2008 and NO ONE there can figure it out....So I am hoping that all you subie motor heads can give me some advice on how to fix this car. FYI, this is my second Xt, I had one when I was in school and loved it so much. I came across this one and thought "why not" . Okay here is some history of the car. The previous owner bought the car with a blown motor. He bought a motor from a salvage yard and gave up after he couldnt get it running. I bought it from him and removed the salvage motor because after I got it from him, I did get it running but it was making a really bad squeal. I had my friend who is a ford mech listen and he said there was something internal wrong. So I bought a rebuilt motor, put it in the car and hooked everything up....then, coolant fluid everywhere!! It was coming from the back of the turbo unit...so I sent the turbo out to be rebuilt. I got the turbo back, still coolant fluid everywhere. I sent it to the shop and here is where the story gets good. They looked at the motor and found a crack in one of the heads, no problem, I had four extra hanging around. I took them up to him and they took the motor out, replaced the heads, all the gaskets etc. Now it has no coolant leakes, but it runs very rough, it will not idle, you have to keep feathering the gas to keep it running. The shop is stumped. They replaced: the distributor, wires, cap, rotor, coil, plugs, fuel filter, air filter, air flow meter, fuel pump, checked timing belts and timing, made sure the wiring harness was the right one for the car, tried another ECU. They have tested all the connectors at the CTS and TPS and say those check out. They gave me codes that were noted: 21,23,34,35,42 and 44. NOW, here is what I was wondering? I saw that someone had an issue close to mine and they found that the fuel injector wires were crossed, does this sound like it may be possible? Also, I did ask if they drained the gas tank....they did not...could this be the problem?? The shop has given up and I have a car that still does not run right !! I love this car and want to get it running!!! PLEASE HELP!! I KNOW IF ANYONE CAN HELP ME IT IS YOU GUYS!! and it only has 76,000 miles on the body..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivantruckman Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 are you sure the timing belts are correct, one tooth off can cause similar results. i have never had a turbo engine so i cant help you out in the fuel injetion, there multi port injection arnt they ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdgwolfeboro Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 They said they have double checked the timing belts and yes it is MPI. I am trying to attach a pic too! I dont know if it will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdgwolfeboro Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 http://s54.photobucket.com/albums/g98/starsky_photos/ here is a link to the photos of the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naru Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 That many trouble codes suggest an engine/ECU grounding problem.Incorrectly installed belts won`t give all those. Best way to check CTS circuits etc., is to unplug the computer harness and measure there.I`d look for high resistance somewhere between the ECU ground,Battery -,and the engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akc Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Have you tried premium? mine runs awful without it. keeps sputtering and you have to keep the gas depressed but runs great and normal on Premium or with a fuel additive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Because of the location of the ECU in the XT body, it is somewhat common to have the wireing loom become corroded and damged where it runs through the body and door sills, etc. At this point it is almost a sure bet with the amount of work you have had done. You should remove the carpet and trim to access the wireing loom and inspect for corrosion damage. The stock wireing loom has "splices" that consist of bare wire crimped with copper rings then covered with a rubber sleeve and electrical tape. The tape gets old and hard, then the water leaks in and the copper turns to copper sulfate (green stuff). GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Are they familiar with older Subaru's? They might "say" they checked the belts and it would look right based on how all the newer subaru's of the past almost 2 decades have been. But for an older XT, it would be wrong. They need to know that the cams are aligned 180 degrees out of time with each other, not the same like all the newer cars. Do they know that for sure about the EA82 engines? Also - those codes are probably not legitimate. They need to clear them all then check the codes and see which ones come back. Next, they need to do a basic spray test. Just squirt some fluid around the engine and check for leaks. Next - is the distributor lined up properly and the wires installed int he right spot. With the engine having been apart multiple times they have to make sure the distributor is lined up right and the wires are installed at hte correct spots. Easy to screw that up. Next - how old is the fuel? Have they tested for fuel, spark and compression? Lots of things to double check here. If it ends up being corrossion of the wires it's probably under the passengers side seat, so at least it's not hard to get to and check. We have an XT specific site too - subaruxt.com/forum, hope to see you over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdgwolfeboro Posted February 26, 2009 Author Share Posted February 26, 2009 Thanks guys, I will check the wires this weekend. I know that the shop only had ONE mechanic that knew what he was doing with the older subarus because he had worked on them in the past, they have double checked the timing. The gas is regular, so I will do a couple of additives this weekend and I know they did "spray" around the motor to check for vacuum leakes. They did check compression and double checked the distributor to make sure everything was right. I think the interior coming out is a good first step, I appreciate everything and will keep you posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I think the interior coming out is a good first step, I appreciate everything and will keep you posted.no need for the interior to come out, just pull the passengers side seat and start there. actually - over on the subaruxt.com forum there are photo's of actual wiring issues like this. might want to check those out, probably a good place to check first on yours if that's the direction you want to go. they need to clear the codes and see which come back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdgwolfeboro Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 Okay guys, I had some time yesterday to take a look at what the shop had done. 1) I started by removing the timing covers and locating the timing marks at the back of the motor. They did install the timing belts correctly as they said they did. 2) I checked the vacuum hoses to make sure there were none off the motor, they were fine. 3) I checked the firing order on the distributor and 1-3-2-4, they were fine.....but wait, something didnt look right!! I removed the number one spark plug and brought it to TDC. The timing marks lined up okay but after removing the distibutor cover the rotor was pointing to the drivers side rear of the motor. My manual said that number one cylinder should be the passenger rear side of the motor. I came to the conclusion that the distributor was incorrectly positioned, so I decided to pull it and relocate the rotor to align with what my manual said. I reinstalled the spark plug, made sure to change the spark plug wires at the cap to coincide with the rotor and decided to give it a try. YEAH!!! IT FIRED RIGHT UP AND AFTER A FEW MINUTES OF PLAYING WITH THE TIMING IT WAS IDLEING!!!! I HAVE FOUND THE PROBLEM!!! THE DISTRIBUTOR WAS MISALIGNED!! I let it run for approximately 10-15 mins, it came up to temp and continued to run great, great throttle response and everything!!! Now here is a question, how do I clear the old codes that were showing up??? If anyone knows please let me know. Thanks for the help and I will have the car back on the road very soon!!!! I am so excited! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 actually - over on the subaruxt.com forum there are photo's of actual wiring issues like this. might want to check those out, probably a good place to check first on yours if that's the direction you want to go. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=67331&page=4&highlight=injector+trunk Actually you can find it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87glsubie Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 i know on the 85 el camino i had to clear the codes u just have to disconnect the battery for like 10-20 minutes and the brain will clear the codes reset everything and then itll go through the process of relearning everything which will trip the codes if any come up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpholz Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 (edited) i know on the 85 el camino i had to clear the codes u just have to disconnect the battery for like 10-20 minutes and the brain will clear the codes reset everything and then itll go through the process of relearning everything which will trip the codes if any come up. what motor is in your elky? any sbc from that era i usualy scrap the quadrajunk, block off the egr and scrap the comp. throw in some cheap sunpro guages and no worries lol! very glad you got it running, wish i read this sooner, it definatly sounded like timing. got an xt myself very neat cars! and as far as clearing the codes not really sure, know the green connectors in the trunk will throw it in "d mode"(i think?) and i believe that's what you connect when you time it. but hey, if disconnecting the battery for 15 min in my dads 03 J-spec STI works, should work for an old suby! Edited March 20, 2009 by rpholz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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