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Subaru Crew Problems & Solutions

19283 messages,  Last post on May 01, 2013 at 9:15 AM

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What is this discussion about? Subaru Impreza, Subaru Outback, Subaru Forester, Subaru Legacy, Coupe, Sedan, Wagon, SUV


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Messages Page 596 of 1929

#5944 of 19283 Subaru Impreza 1993 Intermittant CEL by reureu

Nov 16, 2005 (3:15 pm)

I have a 1993 Subaru Impreza with about 150,000 miles. Car used to run great but here is the problem. The car has trouble starting or has rough starts. Getting gas getting spark but it just won't kick over. Leading up to the rough or no start the check engine light comes on. If I disconnect the battery it seems to reset everything and the car goes back to normal for a few days then the check engine light comes on and eventually the car won't start until the battery is disconnected/reconnected. FYI, I recently did a tune up replacing plugs, wires, filters...
From all that I have read it seems to be a sensor problem, not sure why resetting things seems to correct the problem for a few days? Any idea?

#5945 of 19283 Re: Subaru Impreza 1993 Intermittant CEL [reureu] by xwesx

Nov 16, 2005 (5:51 pm)

Replying to: reureu (Nov 16, 2005 3:15 pm)
I have a feeling this one is your timing sensor(s).... either crank or camshaft (or both). Is the car flooding (you'll hear the sound of the cranking shift to a higher pitch as the compression drops due to the fuel bypassing the rings/lubing the cylinder walls) during start up attempts? I had problems with my timing sensors at one point and I had to actually shut off the fuel supply / pump the peddle like it was carbeurated in order to get it running. The sensor(s) may just not be getting a good connection.
 
I'd read out the codes on an OBDII scanner to give you a starting point.

#5946 of 19283 Re: Valve covers - subaru 98 [surf5] by xwesx

Nov 16, 2005 (5:55 pm)

Replying to: surf5 (Nov 15, 2005 7:52 pm)
The covers themselves or the gaskets? These are very sensitive to oil overfilling, so if anything, run 1/4 quart low vs. 1/4 quart over. Also, I found that the gaskets are prone to leaks just because of the area they must cover and the low torque spec on them. This last time when I resealed them (I even reused the gaskets I had put in the time before... they had about 50K miles on them during this most recent fix), I supplemented them with NAPA Ultra Blue gasket maker. I only have 3.5K on the car since the work, but no leaks yet. I noticed ever so slight leaks reforming on them within a month last time (and it slowly gets worse).

#5947 of 19283 Re: Subaru Impreza 1993 Intermittant CEL [xwesx] by fibber2

Nov 16, 2005 (7:30 pm)

Replying to: xwesx (Nov 16, 2005 5:51 pm)
Good idea, but probably will not work on a '93 - pre OBDII period. Not sure what common protocol Subaru used with OBDI. You probably would have to go back to a dealer to get it diagnosed.
 
Steve

#5948 of 19283 2001 Outback Legacy (2.5) won't start by jkeegan1

Nov 17, 2005 (11:10 am)

Hello all..
 
Just this week, I changed the spark plugs & wires on my 01 Outback Legacy (2.5). This was my first time doing this, and got some good advice from this forum...Everything seemed to go very smoothly...had to remove the battery and the washer fluid resevoir to access the driver side plugs, so I took care to make sure the battery was removed carefully, and made sure I kept track of all the leads.
 
So I reconnected everything, and the car won't start. No power at all whatsoever. Turn the key, dead silence, no lights or antyhing.
 
So I went back and sanded off all the contacts on the battery poles, the leads and the ground contact. In my zeal to make sure the connections were tight, I broke the grounding bolt head off, leaving the stem in place. Not too big a deal, as I was able to screw down the two grounding leads onto nearby bolts going into the chassis, and I made sure to sand down the paint on those, so there are nice clear contacts.
 
Still nothing. So I took out a voltmeter, and tested the battery. Totally fine. The ground leads are fully grounded as well. I chacked all the smaller fuses in the hood fuse block, and they were fine. I looked closely at the larger fuses, and they also appearewd to be intact.
 
So I'm at a bit of a loss to explain why the car isnt starting, though it's clearly with the battery it seems. I'm planning on trying a jump start next....
 
Any ideas?
 
Thanks
 
-Jon Keegan
Brooklyn, NY

#5949 of 19283 Re: 2001 Outback Legacy (2.5) won't start [jkeegan1] by once_for_all

Nov 17, 2005 (11:22 am)

Replying to: jkeegan1 (Nov 17, 2005 11:10 am)
it doesn't sound like the battery. You checked the ground leads and connections. All ok.
 
Probably either a connnection off the positive terminal, the wire itself, or a main fuse. Work your way from the terminal out. Play detective.
 
Jumping won't help if it is a poor connection, wire, or fuse. Jumping helps only if the battery is down.
 
John

#5950 of 19283 Re: Subaru Impreza 1993 Intermittant CEL [fibber2] by xwesx

Nov 17, 2005 (1:31 pm)

Replying to: fibber2 (Nov 16, 2005 7:30 pm)
Oh, right.... I suppose it would help to read close enough to catch the year of the car!!!!

#5951 of 19283 Re: 2001 Outback Legacy (2.5) won't start [jkeegan1] by samiam_68

Nov 17, 2005 (1:40 pm)

Replying to: jkeegan1 (Nov 17, 2005 11:10 am)
Check the fusible links in the fusebox under the hood. Also - do you have an alarm with some kind of ignition kill or immobilizer?
Finally - this may sound a bit far fetched, but did you connect the (+) terminal to (+) cable and (-) terminal to (-) cable?

#5952 of 19283 Re: 2001 Outback Legacy (2.5) won't start [samiam_68] by jkeegan1

Nov 17, 2005 (1:58 pm)

Replying to: samiam_68 (Nov 17, 2005 1:40 pm)
Checked all the fuses in the fusebox under the hood....all in tact. No alarm, just keyless entry...And I was VERY careful to make sure that positive (red) went to positive, and negative (black) to negative...
 
I cannot trace much on the positive lead, since it just wraps around to the back of the engine...

#5953 of 19283 Re: 2001 Outback Legacy (2.5) won't start [jkeegan1] by samiam_68

Nov 17, 2005 (2:04 pm)

Replying to: jkeegan1 (Nov 17, 2005 1:58 pm)
You can try substituting another battery. You can also try disconnecting the battery, and use an ohm-meter on the cables to check that (a) there isn't a short across the (+) and (-) cables and (b) it's not an open circuit - there should be some resistance with the door open (dome light).

Messages Page 596 of 1929

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