Gaffa Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Hello forum, this is my first post. I am a long-time fan of the japanese 4wd cars but have stuck to Toyotas earlier, as I was left without a car I did buy an old Legacy though just to get to work while I save up some dough for a better one. My car is a 1993 with a 2.0 engine and it has run well for a couple of months since I bought it and seemed well worth its measly 400 bucks. It started nicely in the cold but once it hit 16 deg F it suddenly would be impossible. After a couple of hours on the engine heater and plenty of starter gas I have been able to start it but today I failed and I am asking you for advice on what to do and what it may be. It is not an intermittent problem, it changed all of a sudden and has stayed like that since. The symptoms are: starter motor spins forever and it will not ignite, then it may ignite but just for a split second. What I have done is injected starter gas through a small hole in the air intake, try to start, inject more starter gas, rinse and repeat several times. Sometimes when it ignites I am able to press the gas pedal all the way down and it will struggle along on like 100 rpm for a bit with the occasional backfiring and then start. Sometimes I am able to pump the gas and get it to remain running. Once i have gotten it running for 20-30 seconds it is all normal again and it runs like a charm. Last time I failed though and had to walk to work.... It will run for a second but only on the starter gas and once that is burnt it stops again, it seems not to get enough gas. I have searched a bit and you get all kinds of different options, faulty thermal sensor, air mass sensor, crankshaft sensor and so on (http://community.cartalk.com/discussion/1996611/93-subaru-legacy-check-engine-light-hard-starting-trouble-codes). Anybody has specific experience with this model maybe? The check engine light is not on so as far as I can understand I can't get any error codes to work on. I have replaced quite a few parts on my cars (including a timing belt) but am not too skilled on the diagnostic side of fiddling with cars, usually I just ask around on the forums and do what people recommend. One time when I finally got it started in the cold after plenty of spraying and using the engine heater I noticed the cooling fans started running straight away, before the car had heated up. Does this suggest a bad thermal sensor or no? Well, I know questions like this has potentially many answers but I am thankful for any advice I can get. If any additional information is helpful, just holler. =) Thanks from chilly Sweden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaffa Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 Well... I haven't found out anything new. I thought it was worth a shot so I bought an engine temperature sensor. I figured it may be the problem since the fans are running constantly and the car seems to "believe" it is warm when I try to start it. When I use the engine heater and it is nice and warm it starts nicely. It also uses lots of gas which isn't a problem for me since I don't drive many miles a day but it may also be a symptom of something. Anyways, I did replace the sensor which was a bastard since a ratchet and deep socket wouldn't fit and not much else either but after a while it worked out. Tried starting it without too much high hopes of improvement and there wasn't any either... Still the same symptoms, even disconnecting and connecting the sensor doesn't change anything at all. I understand the appropriate response is "roll to either a skilled mechanic or the scrapyard" but I am throwing one last hook out here. If anybody has some interesting tips they are very welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gergeek Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 ...Have you brought it to advanced auto etc and had them check your battery? Has the alternator been checked?? Have you checked your spark plugs?.... It is an old car so you have to expect to have some issues with it, I pretty sure other members on this site will help be able to help you out. Try re-posting this on the generation specific forum, there are more knowledgeable members there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaffa Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 Thank you, I was not paying attention and missed the correct forum. Now fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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