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I assume this still has the Quadrajet carb on it?
It’s been many years since I’ve messed with a QJ but you might inspect the secondary and choke linkage carefully.
I vaguely remember a tiny pin in the linkage (passenger side) that can become dislodged and when this happens the secondary butterflys will not open even if the primarys are wide open.Quite often you will not see smoke from burning oil because it’s being caught on the substrate in the catalytic converters. The converter is so hot it turns the oil to soot which is gradually blown out the tailpipe.
This can be seen in a converter which has been cut open. One can eyeball chunks of the substrate while holding it up to the light and see many of the openings clogged up.
Oil consumption can be caused by extended oil changes (one reason of many) and running an engine chronically low on motor oil just makes a bad situation even worse. These reasons can cause the oil control rings to seize in the grooves in the piston and this in turn prevents the oil from being wiped off the cylinder walls during the piston downstrokes.
Given the age and miles I Would advise running both a dry and wet compression test on it.
Many times the oil control rings stick in the piston grooves due to any overheating episode, wrong type of motor oil, running the oil chronically low (say a quart…), or due to extended oil changes.
A compression test will not check oil control rings but if it shows an issue with the compression rings then the oil rings are a moot point.
A PCV problem or worn engine can also cause oil leaks due to blow-by.
You should make sure the glow plugs are working first.
If the glow plugs are operative and fuel pressure is present then you might consider a low compression issue. This would require a special compression tester to verify.
4.9 but that’s based on a very fuzzy memory. I haven’t pulled codes on an old Subaru like this since the 90s.
You really should learn to pull the codes suggested in the link. It may seem awkward at first but once you get the hang of it then it’s no big deal.
Odds are the first part of the code reading will provide what you need to know.It may take a few cycles to learn to read those blips on the blinking diode. Basically there’s short and long. Ford used the same methodogy. Almost.
A VOM could be used on early Fords and codes read by needle sweeps.Personally, I think it’s very foolish to never change the transmission fluid. The car manufacturers make a lot of what could be called shaky recommendations.
These shaky recommendations are done for one reason only; to promote the notion that the cars they build need very little in the way of maintenance. It’s a sales tool.A percentage of people will have cars that run their entire lives on the original fluid with no problems. The remaining percentage will end up with a failed transmission. Changing the fluid regularly helps to assure that you remain in the segment with a transmission that doesn’t fail.
Around the early to late 80s I was working for Subaru. I can tell you that there was a problem with the Throttle Position Sensors.
We were getting brand new 1986 model year cars fresh off of the transport trucks with defective TPS units.
I’m not saying that’s the problem as I don’t know with limited info and without hands on. I can only tell you that that the TPS was a big issue at the time.You might not like what I have to say and may even vehemently disagree with it but those compression readings suck.
Ninety-five is way too low. You state the others are “well over” but did not state how well over. If you mean 120 or what have you then those numbers suck also.
An engine is great shape should produce about 190 on each cylinder. A somewhat worn engine should be 175 or so.Is this model carbureted or fuel injected? Subaru was changing over around this time to fuel injection so an ’86 could be either; all depending.
Have you carried any diagnosis out as to what code or codes may be present?
I’ve worked on a bunch of these back in the day but it’s been so many years the memory has gotten a little fuzzy.I’m a bit hesitant to blame the shop at this point. If it’s out of oil they either;
A. Neglected to add oil when they did the oil change.
B. The engine is worn out and consuming oil like a tanker grounded on a reef.Thin oil and reeking of gasoline can damage an engine. If they had neglected to add oil the engine would not have run fine for several days.
I tend to think the engine had major issues when you bought it. The smell of hot oil, seized plug, cracked head and so on could point to an engine that was severely overheated at some point. That in turn could lead to major oil consumption issues. Best of luck anyway.
The magnetic drain bolt won’t tell you much. The bearings are made of non-ferrous metals so particles will not stick to the magnet.
I was in the dealer rat race field for a long time. At one point I said enough is enough and went to work for myself.
If you MUST get into the auto repair field try to hire on at a decent independent shop or get into a fleet job.Over the last dozen years or so it seems that the car dealers are in a headlong race to the bottom by trying to compete with fast lube facilities and chain operations like Firestone. The end result is that the flat rate mechanics are the ones who suffer financially.
At car dealerships there is also a fair amount of backstabbing and politics. Things are tough enough without bringing those factors into the equation.Buying any used car is a crapshoot. Even a very thorough inspection is not a guarantee of a problem free car. It helps your odds a bit is all.
Used to be a compression test was done first to verify the health of the engine top end but spark plugs can often be difficult to access and many people would rightly not want someone to go dining around with their car.
One thing that can help to easily verify engine top end health is to use a vacuum gauge. Those can be connected easily to an intake manifold vacuum source.
Start the engine and allow it to idle.
The gauge reading should be about 20-21″ of vacuum at idle with the gauge needle being rock steady.If all is good there take a lengthy test drive. No radio on, no gabby people with you.
Just pay close attention to how the car shifts, for various noises, vibrations, pulling, and so on.
I didn’t watch Eric’s video so I’m just reciting a bit of what I would do.An alternator rated at 75 amps should be more than enough for your Mustang unless you have it loaded down some very high watt amps and so on.
To get it at TDC on the compression stroke you need a remote starter or having someone quickly bump the starter motor as you hold a tingertip on the No. 1 spark plug hole.
The minute you feel air start to huff out stop bumping the starter.
Rotate the engine in the normal direction of rotation by using a socket on the crankshaft balancer bolt until the piston is at TDC. Reinstall distributor while making sure the rotor is pointing at No. 1 on the cap.The broke ears would be of concern to me. Unless he had the ears off and wedged due to the bolts being tightened down. I would hope this did not cause the timing belt to jump. May need to check all of the marks once the No. 1 cylinder is at TDC of the compression stroke.