95 Legacy wagon weird engine/accelleration issues

[carryonplease]

Hey all, first post here. Sorry i don't have a sporty legacy

 

My legacy (auto) LIGHT BLUE hah! is at about 197,xxx. Its been running strong in most seasons but it hates the winter. Some issues I have in the winter are

 

1. Frozen locks. this happens only in the extreme cold but I almost broke my key once. I guess this is something i just have to deal with.

 

2. Another weird issue is that when it gets cold my shift lock does not unlock. I used to sometimes have to sit in my car for like...a half hour for it to unlock. I took apart the device and now I have no cover but it works all the time. Just looks funny. Big orange phallic looking device.

 

Now my major issue is something that happens all year round. Sometimes if I am on the highway and I get to an incline, or I accelerate too quickly for a certain period of time, my engine will flood or something and I won't be able to go any faster. My check engine light flashes (usually it is just always on) and a horrible smell comes from somewhere. Usually, within about 30 seconds, everything is fine though.

 

The other day this happened, and it was a bit more serious. I wasn't even able to maintain my speed and my car started to die. By the time I got from the left lane of the highway to the exit, all my dash lights were on and my engine was dead. I couldn't turn the wheel much but i managed to part on a side street. I checked my oil and the car was not overheating. 60 seconds later I started it up and the "at oil temp" light flashed. but I drove on without a hitch and drove the rest of the way home, on the highway.

 

Stuff like that has been happening for at least 2 years now but that last time scared me. Should I check my fuel filter? or something?

 

sorry for the wall of text.

[Zues Marine]

how are your cats?