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What am I driving, a Subaru or a SEWING MACHINE?!?


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Hi.

 

Did my head gaskets, radiators fine, didnt seem to have any other problems.. till I started it up.

 

Sounds HORRIBLE. Sounds like a sewing machine at all revs, Im too scared to drive it now. :confused:

 

I have no idea whats going on, I searched and found 101 answers, I only need one. The head gaskets were shot, everything else was fine, the valves were good for their age.. Nothing else seemed off at all.

 

So, should I be driving it "in" or have I killed my car? :-\

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What the ******* hell!

 

I drove it a few metres, feels like something is hitting the engine! The car will not idle at all, not even when up to temp

 

(There is one odd spark plug as well, the person guiding the HG repair broke one of my plugs, I have an old spare from the wreckers in there, just to get me to the local auto store.. didnt even last metres!) :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

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How easy is it to do the timing?

 

I have only limited tools, and worse, I just lost my home and HAVE to drive out in that car.. If I dont, I lose the car and can only walk with whatever I can carry..

 

When it rains, it pours..

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Is there anything else it could be?

 

The lifter rod thingies are loose in the holes, they cant get jammed in on the wrong angle can they? I mean, it seems like the timing to me from what I have read.. I really am not up to this anymore, I just want a car that works. :dead:

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Is it a hydro-lifter motor,or a solid lifter motor? Did the guy adjust the rockers after he put the valve train back on?

 

The push rods will be loose. Some of them anyway. Others not so much. Which ones are loose and not loose depends on the position of the valve train as it does its job opening and closing valves.

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Solid lifters, nothing was adjusted.

 

Took everything out as an assembly and put it back in the same way.

 

Can a maladjusted valve produce a dull shock through the engine? Didnt sound like anything broke at all, and the engine didnt change in pitch or anything.

 

I have some basic instructions, it says how to adjust the valves using the valve adjusting nut.

Edited by Fox
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Yeah,well, in that case,I'd start with a complete valve/rocker adjustment and I wouldn't start the engine again until that is done.

 

Search the proceedure. You need feeler guages and a 10mm wrench. And the 22mm socket I mentioned. Plus,a spark plug socket.

 

Its tedious work,but absolutely needs to be done and is most likely your problem. Or,at least part of.

 

Man,there's people on this board who are alot better at this than I am,but they ain't around at 2am. Sounds like your in a bit of a jam right now so I'm trying to help you. If you can wait awhile,you'd get alot better advice from a certain few others.

 

The seach button is your best friend right now. But,trust me on the valve adjustment.

It needs to be done.

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I would pull the rocker arm assemblies and verify that the pushrods are properly seated in the lifters. Then reinstall them and give it a valve adjustment.

 

There is no way to adjust the valve timing on the EA81 - it is gear driven and completely fixed unless you pull the cam out - which requires splitting the block.

 

GD

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Well, I have the covers off, the distributor cap is off, but I cant turn the engine anymore, Im not strong enough. I took the radiator out, cleared a path, put a socket on the nut on the main.. Umm, I dont know what its called, it turns all the belts :P (I know I have not said, but I am a female that knows little about engines) and I still couldnt turn it. The compression is too high. Can I turn it backwards or how can I let some compression out so I can rotate it. By the looks of it, the lifters appear to be seated perfectly. (The passenger side is running lean though, I know the ign timing is out a little)

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:confused::mad::confused::mad::confused::mad:

 

Ok, I found the right order. Long.. long day..

 

So the firing order is (from the front of the engine)

 

34

12

 

I turn the engine until the timing marks are up, and the rotor button is pointing at 1, do the gapping, then rotate the engine until it points to 3 (until it points to the next spark plug lead) and gap that one, and so on.

 

People here have said to rotate 15 degrees, gap and go on, but the manual says to rotate in the firing order. Which is it?

 

 

I have an electric distributor so I cant watch for the points opening like the book says. Any help is appreciated :confused: Thanks.

Edited by Fox
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Ok - the second diagram you posted is correct - but I think you're misunderstanding lies in what the marks you are lining up mean.

 

The marks are for ignition timing - they relate only to the TDC (or BTDC/ATDC) of the #1 cylinder. They are in NO WAY related to the other three cylinders.

 

So if you are looking for the TDC of the #2 cylinder then you have to do it by eye and by the valves. Both valves need to be closed (rocker arms loose), and the piston at the top of the bore - which you can check with a drinking straw through the plug hole.

 

Adjust all the valves when they are loose - with each cylinder at TDC for those two valves.

 

GD

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Well, I got it to TDC, did number 1, rotated to the second (3 in the firing order) and the spring has constant tension, I dont want to loosen it anymore in case the spring shoots off.. Every moment this job seems to get bigger and bigger, I have 40 mins to have this car done.

 

How far out can these adjusting bolts go?

 

Update. I had a stuck lifter, I loosened the adjuster then the spring shot out (stopped by the adjuster)

Edited by Fox
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Spring? What spring? The valve springs? No amount of adjusting the valve's will ever cause the springs to "shoot off" - they are held in place even if you remove the whole rocker assembly.

 

Anyway - just rotate the flywheel 90 degrees till each cylinder is at TDC. The valves for that cylinder will then be loose and you can adjust them. I'm not sure what you are doing so it's difficult to help.

 

Did you remove the rocker arms and make sure the pushrods were seated properly?

 

Hell of a time difference - it's 11:40 PM here - must be morning for you eh?

 

GD

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4 cylinders, 360 degree's in a full crank rotation, so 90 degrees per cylinder. Just look for both valves to close and check that the piston is at TDC using a drinking straw. Adjust the two valves for that cylinder and move on. When you get the process down it only takes about 20 minutes to do all 8 valves.

 

GD

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