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1983 1800 4Wd dies.......

We have a 1983 1800 4WD wagon. It has been very reliable over the last 5 years and only required regular maintenance. Over the last month it has taken to dying without warning. Leave it for 5 minutes and try to restart and it is fine for a another few days when we have the same problem recurr. As you would imagine this is pretty frustrating. Initially I suspected fuel - but I have tested the fuel pump and it is perfect in terms of pressure and flow rate.

Last night I was out in the car when it died (half way across the highway!) and I had some tools in the back. So whilst I was waiting to get towed home I tested the ignition and found NO SPARK. I had a good battery and the engine was turning over, I also had 12v at the coil but when I put an earthed plug on the COIL lead there was no spark (ie I wasnt just checking whether the spark was getting out of the distributor cap).

So to my way of thinking this eliminates the fuel system (obviously!) and the distributor cap and rotor?

Here's the thing. I put the car in the garage and shut the door....when I came to start it today everything was fine again..it started first time .and when I checked the spark on the coil lead it was HUGE. So my questions are:

a) Any suggestions as to what the problem is? - ignition coil? - electronics within distributor? - ? b) Has anyone ever heard of an ignition coil intermittantly failing and then recovering - I mean could it fail when hot then recover when cold?

Any tips would be appreciated. Al Blake, Canberra, Australia

Reply to
Al Blake
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Oops, Should clarify the car is manufactired 11/1984 (not 1983) and has the electronic Histachi type distributor. Al.

Reply to
Al Blake

Absolutely. If it doesn't cost too much, just replace it (and and the ignition wire from the coil to the distributor cap), and hope the problem is fixed.

Reply to
David

Don't know if Subaru used this on the 84 models but it was used on the 85 and newer models. Next to the coil there is bolted to the strut tower something called an ignitor. Small in sixe and I think it has 2 wires. Anyways when this part fails, or not well grounded to the body, the coil will not produce a spark. From the description of the problem I would remove the ignitor, check that it is grounded, and reinstall it.

Reply to
johninKY

Try replacing the high voltage wire between the coil and distributor. I seem to remember such a problem on my 1982.

Reply to
Ed Fortmiller

I have seen this before, if the coil is not expensive, I would at least try that first.

Al Blake wrote:

door....when I

questions are:

Reply to
etienne

Most probably it is the distributor (the modules inside, anyway). Coil is less likely, but possible. 12VDC at the coil pretty much eliminates every thing else. Find another distributor at a junkyard and see if that doesn't fix it. Install is casual; pull the aircleaner box, one

10mm bolt, and two wires from distributor to coil. Note where the rotor is pointed, and re-install replacement with same orientation. Set timing. IIRC there were two kinds of distributors used on these cars, Hitachi and NipponDenso (?) 4X4 had one, non had the other (??). Either will work, but they use a different cap and rotor. Hope this helps.

ByeBye! S. Steve Jernigan KG0MB Laboratory Manager Microelectronics Research University of Colorado (719) 262-3101

Reply to
S

The fact that there is 12V at the coil does not mean anything. If the coil starts heating up, that is what the oil inside is for, to cool off the coil. It will not produce enough voltage to provide spark for the plug, no matter how much 12V exists on the primary side of the coil.

Reply to
etienne

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