skabidat Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Ok, my brother has a 95 legacy ls (nothing special) and he is having some trouble with it, and i just wanted to see if anyone had any ideas. First, it has problems starting sometimes, but sometimes it is perfectly fine. When it has problems, the car has usually had time to completely cool off, and i dont know for sure but i think it happens more often in the cooler months. It will take 20 seconds of starting (i dont know how, but i think the gas pedal has to be pressed just right or at the right time) to get it to hit and then it will run on like 2 cylinders for a few minutes and blow fuel out the tail pipe and sputter and do all the things that go along with running on only 2 cylinders. When it doesnt do that, it cranks up perfectly with no smoke no problems. The car is completely stock and its very quiet and smooth running normally. I am thinking it is either a bad water temp sensor (if the subaru water temp sensors affect the a/f ratio when the engine is cold) or a bad or dirty egr valve or something like that. Sound like reasonable ideas??? Second, I think it may have some tranny problems, or at the very least some shifter problems. For one thing, there is more play (side to side) in first gear than there is in neutral in my DSM (VERY loose). I think maybe the syncros are bad in 3rd and it likes to pop out of 4th, but 4th doesnt grind or act wierd or anything, the shifter just doesnt like to stay there. The tranny makes a bit of noise in all gears, and sounds sorta rough, like the guy that had it before us abused it. But i was wondering if there is an aftermarket short shift kit for it, or if an impreza short shift kit would fit it, so maybe i could just replace any bad bushings or anything like that with something that would make it feel a little less like a truck? Anyway, thanks for any info you can give me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skabidat Posted August 25, 2005 Author Share Posted August 25, 2005 Ok, so no body has any idea whether i would be on the right track or not? Nobody knows whether subaru uses the water temp signal to adjust the fuel mixture when the car is cold??? I know im a noob here, but i am not a dumbass, i am just not as familiar with these cars as i am with some others. Any input would be good, thanks. PS. I wave at any car that i think desrves one! But i am in Eastern NC and everybody waves here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleansubaru Posted September 3, 2005 Share Posted September 3, 2005 sorry , i have no idea thought i would confirm your existance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aczwild Posted September 3, 2005 Share Posted September 3, 2005 Well I can help you on the shifter, I think it would fit, but I would ask the guys at Cobb on it. http://cobbtuning.com/legacy/drivetrain1.html#shifter The whole problem starting issue, I have no clue, except that he is obviously flooding the thing when trying to start it. Try cleaning and checking over the fuel injectors. The only probs I had with starting my '97 was from a dying battery in the winter (friggin Sub and audio shit). Good luck with it and if you want to do the work yourself, but dont really know how to go about it pick up the Haynes repair manual on the 1990-98 Leagacy. Good luck and if you are looking for anyother parts, drop me a PM. JDM'd All to hell Thanks Jimmy @ Hkc-Speed.com! RIP Coxx & Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDII Posted September 3, 2005 Share Posted September 3, 2005 Your gonna find that a majority of the members here have a 04 or newer car. Its not possible to diagnose your cars issue accuratly with out seeing it in person. Spend the 50 bucks and have a mechanic look at it. come back with the actual problem and then try to find some help. Thats my two pence Need forum help? Private Message legGTLT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skabidat Posted September 3, 2005 Author Share Posted September 3, 2005 ok, i have been working on and reading about cars for a long time and i know more about most cars than most of the mechanics around here. Very few of whom are trust worthy. There are no mechanics here that specifically work on subarus and there are no dealerships within 100 miles or more. I can do the work myself, i just didnt want to dive into removing the egr valve if it might possibly be something else causing the problem. My brother isnt flooding the car, the car is flooding itself. Something is telling the computer to dump more fuel when it isnt needed. It will run rich, misfire, and idle sparadically for 5 or 10 minutes sometimes. Sometimes it cranks and runs fine. Doesnt matter who starts it or how it is started. There is a check engine light sometimes, but the code is just for random missfire on 2 & 3 and i would assume that is because the rich starts are fouling the plugs. Only other ideas i have at all would be that the coil and/or wires could be going bad, but there is no problem after the car is warmed up, so i assume that its something cold start related. The plugs have been changed, helps for a couple days, but doesnt fix the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melayout Posted September 3, 2005 Share Posted September 3, 2005 The MAF, O2 sensor(s) or injector(s)? I keed I keeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDII Posted September 3, 2005 Share Posted September 3, 2005 The MAF, O2 sensor(s) or injector(s)? + plug wires could be teh hole ECU has taken a shiznit, where are you from that you live 100 miles from a suby dealer? Need forum help? Private Message legGTLT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skabidat Posted September 3, 2005 Author Share Posted September 3, 2005 Bath NC 100 miles may be an exaggeration, but i dont know of any near by. Maybe one in Greenville NC, but i have never noticed it. Could be o2 sensor, but probably not, since car gets good gas mileage and runs fine other than at start up every once in a while. Probably not injectors for same reason and same with MAF. Are the O2 sensors heated? Could be that O2 sensor isnt heating itself and is screwing up fuel mix until the exhaust warms it up, but when it happens it is usually dumping too much fuel before the car even cranks. Which actually now that i think about it would point more toward the injectors. Maybe one or 2 are leaking when the car is off. But why wouldnt they leak every time? I havent looked at the MAF is it a flapper style? If it is, i have had problems with the flappers sticking on 2g rx7s, i guess that is possible. Thought about the ECU too, i would think its less likely, but i have known stranger things to happen. And realizing that the car is flooding before it cranks means it could be something with the ECU. Thanks for all the suggestions, i had thought about most of them, but it helps to type why or why not it might be each one. Kinda makes me think through it all alittle better. I realize that it could really be a number of different things, i was just hoping that someone would have had a similar problem. Thanks for all your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aczwild Posted September 3, 2005 Share Posted September 3, 2005 I got money on the injectors, let us know what you find and good luck JDM'd All to hell Thanks Jimmy @ Hkc-Speed.com! RIP Coxx & Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDII Posted September 3, 2005 Share Posted September 3, 2005 good luck! keep up updated Need forum help? Private Message legGTLT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acerx12 Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 I have the same problem with my legacy. It floods itselt only during cold start operations. I have just cleaned the MAF sensor and I'm leaning towards the 02 sensor. I was intermittently getting a check engine light last year that would go away. I'm wondering if any fault codes are being stored by the OBD II computer and how to get to them. I had a dodge once that you could get the codes from a special light on the dash after you enter a reporting mode by turning the ignition key on and off 3 times within a short period of time...does subaru have anything like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravencroft89 Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 on the first gen legacy under the driver side near the computer there is two wires ones green, one is black there is both have a female end and a male end if im not correct if you plug in the black wires together and turn the key to acc ur check light will flash with the long flash then short flashes for the number and to clear the check code u plug both the green and black wires into there male ends and start the cars for 10 seconds and will clear the check light. hope that helps a bit and im having the same problem with my legacy with the sputtering start but runs fine after word...would like to know the issue to.thanks I have the same problem with my legacy. It floods itselt only during cold start operations. I have just cleaned the MAF sensor and I'm leaning towards the 02 sensor. I was intermittently getting a check engine light last year that would go away. I'm wondering if any fault codes are being stored by the OBD II computer and how to get to them. I had a dodge once that you could get the codes from a special light on the dash after you enter a reporting mode by turning the ignition key on and off 3 times within a short period of time...does subaru have anything like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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