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Subaru Brumby Surging

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 12:58 pm
by Robbo78
...so I have just bought a 1991 Subaru Brumby (great ute!!) and inherited a long standing fuel system problem the previous owner could not solve...

The ute idles nicely however I can't get it over 60km/h as it starts to surge badly as soon as I put my foot down. It has new fuel filters, new fuel pump, the tank is a clean and sediment free, the carby is clean and sediment free and set correctly.

so I don't know what to do now. My mechanic is going over it but is stumped by the problem. Could it be some sort of sensor problem??

Love to hear from you if you can help?

Cheers,

Greg Robertson
Benalla - Victoria - Australia
Mobile 0428 78 1978

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:07 pm
by BaronVonChickenPants
Have you checked the ignition system at all? ie: coil, leads, plugs, points, dizzy cap, rotor button

Other than that I would guess air filter or secondary chamber in the carby, you seem to have eliminated anything else.

Jordan

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:15 pm
by Robbo78
I've gone over the ignition system and detected no problems there, carby is all fine and have fitted a new air filter.

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:18 pm
by BaronVonChickenPants
Well then.....I'm stumped.

Is it maybe getting too much fuel?

Jordan.

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:23 pm
by Robbo78
I wonder if the choke set up is playing a hand in it ... Looks like a few more things to check out.

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:36 pm
by BaronVonChickenPants
If it's just you're standard carb'ed non turbo brumby then basically the only sensors it has are oil pressure and water temp, theres not much to them.

It's possible it could be the choke, I think later brumby's came with an auto choke, if theres a damaged wire or something it's possible the choke isn't opening, just take your airfilter cover off and have a look, you'll know pretty well straight away, it shouldn't take anymore than 20 minutes at most from dead cold to open up.

Jordan

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:38 pm
by xaymaca
If you're ever about the SE Suburbs then I could chuck my old Hitachi carby on and we can see if that makes a difference? Mine has a manual choke so would be able to count that out.

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:49 pm
by Robbo78
Thanks Jordan,

I'll have a look and see whats going on with the choke. We didn't think of that.

Thanks also Xaymaca for the offer but I won't take you up on it just yet.

Fingers crossed its a choke thing!

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 3:43 pm
by steptoe
Maybe you bought yours off the same guy I did. They obviously had similar troubles, and gave up, yet forgot to mention their woes. I did the carby overhaul thing, filters, rotor, cap , leads, plugs, fuel pump swap, tank inspection and then fuel supplier changes seemed to fix the problem
BUT... the real true fix was...

blowin' 90 psi down the fuel line from filter to filter then pump to tank and THWACK !! tiny bits of rusty crud musta been partially blocking the line and made the drama insanely worse in the cool of the night and fine by day [when one had time to phuc around] landed in the spotless tank

problem solved for good [in my case]

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 3:49 pm
by Robbo78
G'day Jono,

Mate I'll give that a try too!

Thanks,
Robbo

[b]The Solution to the Problem![/b]

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 7:08 am
by Robbo78
G'day,

The solution ot the problem was indeed blowing all the rubbish out the fuel lines (and changing the filters again - they filled up with junk prettty quick).

Thanks for all the advice. What was a nightmare purchase has just turned into a pleasure to drive!

Robbo.

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 9:52 am
by GTlegs
So how do you actually blow out the fuel lines?

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 10:46 am
by BaronVonChickenPants
Good to hear it's sorted, I'm sure you'll have plenty of fun in it.

So...when does the modding start :twisted:

Trust me, once you start you can't stop, I started with the hitachi wire mod and now I'm building an EJ road car and an EA off road car after that theres the sherpa.
So how do you actually blow out the fuel lines?
I believe the best way would be with an air compressor.

Jordan

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 10:49 am
by stinky
My mother can suck a golf ball through a fuel hose ... a talent that's rarely useful but a blessing when needed. :?

Planned Mods and blowing out the fuel line

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 11:47 am
by Robbo78
Air Compressor and Air gun jammed into the fuel pipe worked nicely with a bit of extra hose going into a large bucket to catch the rubbish (though you could leave out the bucket as stuff goes everywhere anyway).

Put a bit of fuel down the line then repeat until nothing else comes out.

Planned mods ...

1) Well it has the standard steel rims so I like to put a set of sunnies on it - very soon.
2) A tarp for the back would be good too - a trip to the motor trimmers for that one
3)Some better seats.
4)A performance enhancement would be nice...where do I go with that one??
... and the list goes on... there is some much to do - where to start :roll:

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:39 pm
by BaronVonChickenPants
Better seats: Apparently there's a series of mazda seats that that are a direct bolt in replacement for suabru seats, catch is know one knows for sure what series, I got some 929 seats but they weren't right and I don't know what year model they came from either.

Performance options: have a look here

Jordan.

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:43 pm
by BRUMBERTY
I have a 6 month old tarp which doesn't fit anymore due to my rear cage set up.
Cost me $220 to get made by a very reputable sailmaker.
Black.
PM me with an offer if you want it.
Matt

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 2:11 pm
by xaymaca
BaronVonChickenPants wrote:Better seats: Apparently there's a series of mazda seats that that are a direct bolt in replacement for suabru seats, catch is know one knows for sure what series
Hmmm, I have plenty of Mazda contacts. If the Subaru seats are a flat base, then you can count out any RX7 seats as they have bolts on angles and stuff. The Mazda Familia also has stupid bolt layout.

You may wish to try any of the Mazdas from R100, RX2, RX3, RX4, RX5, Capella, 323, 626, 929 (obviously not actually), 808 as they all have flat bolt layouts.

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 2:19 pm
by BaronVonChickenPants
The suby's aren't flat, the front of the brackets is basically vertical, 1 on the back is vertical and 1 is horizontal, from memory the inside one on each side is the flat one.

And as far as 929 not fitting I think I just got the wrong year.

Jordan.

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 2:42 pm
by xaymaca
I'll have to take a look closer at the rails and see if I recognise them at all.