What my L Series needs, what I've added

[2nd Hand Yank]

My car now has new engine oil, rear diff oil,
a heater core flush, a new thermostat and a broken vacuum hose fixed.
It's probably best to say "I helped TOONGA fix it" rather than him helping me fix it.

The motor is quieter now, even though it had full oil before.
Heat ouptut in the cabin is a little better for a given engine temp
and my coolant temp actually rises off cold within 1 minute of driving
and is at operating temp within 2 minutes; 1/3 the way up from Cold.

Before I could drive for a half-hour and it'd still be near cold.

Because of the broken vacuum/emissions hose being fixed,
the motor might be slightly quicker now, or not as terribly sluggish.
If this broken hose was making me lose power, it will probably also show up in fuel economy for a full tank.
So far I've been unable to reach 10.0 L/100km or lower on a full tank.

[El_Freddo]

So far I've been unable to reach 10.0 L/100km or lower on a full tank.

Glad you've got more sorted on your ride. Unfortunately with a tired EA82 and/or lead foot driving with these engines you're going to have fun trying to get the majic 10/100 figure. I think you'll find that you will achieve this on a long run at cruise.

While different in setup and efficiency I got 730km from a tank (yes Jonno, a tank! I was on fumes by this stage!) between Adelaide and Woodend, Victoria. I was stoked, but this was a fresh engine and the MPFI (fuel injection) version of the EA82. I wasn't taking it easy until the last 200km when the fuel indicator was low. By the time we got to wooden it was well off the bottom of the "E" mark!

Cheers

Bennie

[2nd Hand Yank]

Glad you've got more sorted on your ride. Unfortunately with a tired EA82 and/or lead foot driving with these engines you're going to have fun trying to get the majic 10/100 figure. I think you'll find that you will achieve this on a long run at cruise.

While different in setup and efficiency I got 730km from a tank (yes Jonno, a tank! I was on fumes by this stage!) between Adelaide and Woodend, Victoria. I was stoked, but this was a fresh engine and the MPFI (fuel injection) version of the EA82. I wasn't taking it easy until the last 200km when the fuel indicator was low. By the time we got to wooden it was well off the bottom of the "E" mark!

Cheers

Bennie

Well I'm surprised to never reach 10L/100km for a tank
because I do very little slow, inefficient driving (under 60 km/h)
as Bunbury/Australind is quite small so the traffic is almost always moving the speed limit.

730km? In an L Series?
I know MPFI stands for multi-point fuel injection; better than TBI.
Mine doesn't have an E mark, just a 3mm wide red mark near empty.

I'm not so much annoyed by how much it costs to fuel my L Series
as I am that I can never reach 500 km before it goes to red,
so I could see that being very annoying on road trips into the Outback.
Too often I have to keep my eye on the fuel gauge imho.
I like going to Geraldton and further north.
Might want to visit Kalgoorlie.

I think I'd like to see Karijinni NP near Tom Price, WA now that I have a 4x4
only I wonder if my fuel tank is smallish vs. consumption.
Seems like I should by 1-2 10L jerry cans if I wanted to do that.

My 08 Civic could go 550km-600km before I'd want a fill up.

[MTB92]

well are you actually putting close to 60L in when you fill up, coz its not beyond the realms that your gauge is off. L series fuel guages do funny things, i have never seen one that works properly. if you only reaching 500km, but actually still have 10L in the tank then your about right. also, if you have the 14" wheels on you are probably actually driving further than the odo reads.
also, its never a bad idea to have 20L Jerry of fuel when you are 4wding, especially in Aus. it could be a fair old hike to the nearest servo if you get the calcs wrong. i always carry one off road, and even though i have never had to use it i have had a couple of friends cars depend on it.
how much is it costing you to fill, coz it should be up around $80 for a near full tank. but compared to some of the other small 4wds with only 40-50L tanks, they can go reasonably far. obviously will never compare to a big diesel 4wd with 250L of fuel on board.

[Venom]

I'm not sure what you've done but these are all the things i went through sorting out my poor fuel economy on my wagon.

So the timing is set correctly and it doesn't jump around at all when idling? It advances when applying throttle? Are the spark plugs looking healthy? E.g white/grey half way along the curve and not fouled/black at all. Are they all getting good spark? What about cylinder compression? Someones mentioned on here you can advance the timing a little more on cars with low compression. A can of upper engine cleaner never hurts either.

I'd be checking all of those things if my car wasn't getting the fuel efficiency i was after. I went from 12l/100km on the high way to 8.25L/100km in my wagon by sorting out the timing, which finally allowed me to tune the carb correctly, and then replace the spark plugs for the 3rd time in 1000kms for good measure. Carb, coil, leads, distributor cap etc all brand new.

If you are pretty sure all of that is in good health, then pretty much all that is left in the engine itself and the carburettor. If the hitachi carb is in poor shape then i don't think there's much you can do with it. The bin is a good place for it. I don't know if there's anything you can check/adjust on the EA82 to improve efficiency.

[apg39]

Damn, just worked out my car gets about 300km & then I put in at least 45L. Eek.

[Silverbullet]

Damn, just worked out my car gets about 300km & then I put in at least 45L. Eek.

Same here

[El_Freddo]

Well I'm surprised to never reach 10L/100km for a tank
because I do very little slow, inefficient driving (under 60 km/h)
as Bunbury/Australind is quite small so the traffic is almost always moving the speed limit.

What you need to do is gauge how many litres you put in the fuel tank to the distance you've travelled, this is the only way to accurately gauge how far you're actually going to the amount of fuel you're using.
As MTB92 has said - you're running on oversized tyres so you'll be travelling further than indicated on the speedo and you'll also be pushing the engine harder to get the L going. Anything that's stop/start driving is always going to screw with your best possible economy.

Having said that my L series got 730km in one trip, I didn't do this regularly as I wasn't always driving for 8 hours straight with 95% of the driving in the top gear. Around town on this fresh engine I would regularly pull 10.5 or 10.8L/100km But I still wanted more power and am happy to pay for the extra fuel around town for the luxury.

Damn, just worked out my car gets about 300km & then I put in at least 45L. Eek.

Same here

This may be true, but you also need to look at your driving style, habits and the traffic situation in which you drive in. All of these will change your fuel economy some degree if everything under the bonnet is checked out and in top condition.

Driving in stop start peak hour every day, morning and night will kill your fuel economy.
Cruising at speed for the majority of your drive will improve economy so long as you're not speeding or trying to push the engine to maintain a set speed. Apparently 80km/h is the most efficient speed generally for the aerodynamics of the body, combine this with top gear and a light foot you'll come out tops. That said, I know I can't cruise all day at 80 when I could be doing 100km/h.

Cheers

Bennie

[2nd Hand Yank]

I'm not sure what you've done but these are all the things i went through sorting out my poor fuel economy on my wagon.

So the timing is set correctly and it doesn't jump around at all when idling? It advances when applying throttle? Are the spark plugs looking healthy? E.g white/grey half way along the curve and not fouled/black at all. Are they all getting good spark? What about cylinder compression? Someones mentioned on here you can advance the timing a little more on cars with low compression. A can of upper engine cleaner never hurts either.

I'd be checking all of those things if my car wasn't getting the fuel efficiency i was after. I went from 12l/100km on the high way to 8.25L/100km in my wagon by sorting out the timing, which finally allowed me to tune the carb correctly, and then replace the spark plugs for the 3rd time in 1000kms for good measure. Carb, coil, leads, distributor cap etc all brand new.

If you are pretty sure all of that is in good health, then pretty much all that is left in the engine itself and the carburettor. If the hitachi carb is in poor shape then i don't think there's much you can do with it. The bin is a good place for it. I don't know if there's anything you can check/adjust on the EA82 to improve efficiency.

I have not checked the timing. Do I need a timing light for that? I have a Gregory's manual, so I can refer to that. Spark plugs have not been touched either, though my motor is the quietest L Series I've heard so far. You have to be looking at the motor when it accelerates to see the throttle advance?

TOONGA mentioned my leads look factory-original, so I want to swap them out for fresh ones.

8.25L/100 km in a L Series, or Liberty?
That's actually closer to what I was expecting from one that's in good condition.

[Venom]

8.25L/100km in a MY series wagon, so its older than your car and running P/S and AC. Its got a weber, but that would make less difference than the fact its new and not a 20 year old carb.

You need a timing light to check timing, but it's a good thing to have. Certainly better than paying someone else to do it. I'm not sure if L series has a vacuum advance or not, but you check it my watching the timing/timing light on on the flywheel while you tweak the throttle on the carb.

Take off your distributor cap and look for deposits on the metal contacts in that, also check the state of the rotor button in the distributor. Ideally they're free of any build up, but they're constantly degrading so they won't be perfect. You can clean them with a bit of sand paper for a quick fix.

For what it costs i'd just replace the plugs (I prefer regular copper plugs), distributor cap and rotor button. Buy a timing light and make the timing is spot on. Then there isn't much else you can do, like i said above.

[steptoe]

A little prep on the timing marks on flywheel likely needed too as the timing marks only go to 20 on the fly? Add more to say 30 35 and with handbrake on, wheels chocked, no walls or obstacles nearby for car to sqwuash you (I know a mechanic who got his timng leads caught up in accelerator linkages now missing finger tips)
With timing light connected you can watch the rise in advance as revs go up to certain point. If dizzy got vac advance you can suck on other end to see if you can induce vac advance also by watching flywheel timng marks with timing light.

baby rabbit just hot footed it past my window , next'll be a baby fox or a neighbours unwanted cat visiting

[2nd Hand Yank]

Damn, just worked out my car gets about 300km & then I put in at least 45L. Eek.

So mine is doing all right then.
I think I usually get less than 11L/100km on a tank.
Never reached 12L/100 km...

except on that Preston Beach gathering.
I was at full throttle for maybe 20 minutes and more than 1/2 throttle another 30 minutes?
Plus a brisk drive on the 110km/h freeway to and from Australind.
Just for grins, I topped up my tank to see how bad was my economy.
I think I got 15L/100km after that arvo in the sand.

^^ In case I decide to swap the motor, and someone here wants my old EA82.

[2nd Hand Yank]

I need a multimeter to do some repairs not on my Subaru,
but thought it'd be worth buying one that's most versatile.

Jayco electronics has an automotive one with these extra, unique features:

-RPM
-Dwell Angle
-Frequency
-Duty Cycle %
-Alligator clips (better than plain probes imho)

Is it worth an extra $30-50 for that, over a more affordable multimeter?

I just realised that I need to look for one that can measure at least 10Amps.

[tony]

personally i prefer an analogue multimeter they are hard to find now.
my l series does about 600k per tank, tested it once drove to empty and repeated .
when timing don't forget to remove vacuum hose to dissy and block the end of the hose so it does not leak vacuum.
the timing light make sure you get the type that clips over the lead not the ones that you remove the lead and clip the light in between the lead and the spark plug. these are old technology and with more modern cars with electronics can cause the electronics to fail.

[El_Freddo]

I'm a fan of the test pins rather than the clips - while the clips would be handy I find that I'm probing electrical plugs etc more often than the clips would be used...

I've got a digital multi metre - new for me as I'm used to dad's old analogue units (awesome AWA unit from memory). My new unit came from dicksmith and does the job well. Has a back light for night use as well

Cheers

Bennie

[2nd Hand Yank]

I'm a fan of the test pins rather than the clips - while the clips would be handy I find that I'm probing electrical plugs etc more often than the clips would be used...

I've got a digital multi metre - new for me as I'm used to dad's old analogue units (awesome AWA unit from memory). My new unit came from dicksmith and does the job well. Has a back light for night use as well

Cheers

Bennie

I bought a $9.95 one from Jayco with test points. I'll be trying it out shortly. According to the listings, the only downfall is that it cannot measure more than 1M Ohm input impedance. Some units measure 10-15M Ohm input impedance.

[2nd Hand Yank]

personally i prefer an analogue multimeter they are hard to find now.
my l series does about 600k per tank, tested it once drove to empty and repeated .
when timing don't forget to remove vacuum hose to dissy and block the end of the hose so it does not leak vacuum.
the timing light make sure you get the type that clips over the lead not the ones that you remove the lead and clip the light in between the lead and the spark plug. these are old technology and with more modern cars with electronics can cause the electronics to fail.

The only analogue meter I saw only measures 200mA,
so that wouldn't be enough current range to measure headlight wires.

This is an EA82? I'm impressed, and motivated to try further tuning.

Thanks for the tip on timing lights.
I think i understand the differences between the two timing light designs.

*Does anyone in SW WA have a timing light btw?

[TOONGA]

Yes I do have one, why didn't you ask the other day

Now I will have to get permission to do more car stuff

TOONGA

[Brumby Kid]

From memory someone said that for automotive an anologue is better?
Don't get the $10 jaycar, a bit mickey mouse (i have it) they have some good ones though!

Cheers Cam

[tony]

i did not say the analogue was better for cars, just that i find it easier to use, old stuck in the mud i guess. accustomed to analogue and don't want to bother with modern stuff.
actually i tend to use a test probe much more often. only cost about $5 i have several of them keep one in each car and a couple in the shed. modified one to suit electronic by fitting an led as the light apparently they use less current and are safer for electronic circuits.
i have both types of leads, some with clips some with points, makes a selection easier.
why bother to measure headlight wires?they are too thin anyway just bang in thicker ones.
word of warning..my l series got 600k to a tank but always pinged and eventually melted 2 pistons so economy may be at the cost of running too lean..