etlsport Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 I have a 97 Legacy outback with 156k miles.. i was driving it from maryland to new jersey and it was running fine as soon as i slowed to pay a toll i felt the car start to shudder and the CEL started to flash at me when i dropped below about 30 mph the car ran horribly, shaking so badly that a drink in my cupholder was spilling, after the toll booth once i hit about 40 the CEL stopped flashing and stayed on steady and the car ran fine, no obvious power loss, next time i had to slow down for traffic the same thing happened, terrible running and flashing CEL so i pulled over and had the car towed... its just sitting there now, it starts slow, idles terribly and the CEL flashes until i rev the engine to about 3500 rpms then it stays on steady.. anyone have an idea before i go to the dealer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudrat79 Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Easy culprit could be Coil Pack.... Are you in a Situation where you can get codes checked.....? I had a 97 Impreza Sedan do this to a Customer and The dealer Couldn't figure it out...... Codes that came up were Bad O2 Sensor, Mis-fire in 1-3 Holes, and failed TPS All this stemmed from the Coil being bad...on the 1-3 side At low speed, your car isn't producing enough amperage to make the coil fire correctly.At higher speeds, your Alternator Is turning enough to produce proper amps, but because it was stumbing so bad at lower RPM's, your O2 gets a bad read, and other sensors get a false read..... I scratched my head for several hrs over this when I got a List of all the Codes they gave me, but it All came back to the Misfire in 1-3 replaced the coil pack, cleared Codes, and she has been driving it worry free for over a year now .... Hope this Helps you........John P.s. If you can't get your Ride to somewhere to check codes, Call around and see if you can rent one from a Car parts Store.....Just tell them your Ride is Not driveable, and See if they are willing to allow you to take the Tester to your car or not......? Its Worth a Shot..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etlsport Posted April 23, 2004 Author Share Posted April 23, 2004 i pulled the spark plugs out and the #4 was in really bad shape, so replaced that... it ran decently.. still not well so i took it to the dealer, cylinder valves were corroded thanks for the help though, i appreciate it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcspeer Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 I agree with mudrat sounds like a coil pact to me. My 97 Legacy done the same thing as yours when the coil pact went out. Just maybe the coil pact failure caused the other problems you have found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alia176 Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 Hey guys, Just curious to see what's the latest? did you replace the coil pack? If not, I need to talk to you off line and troubleshoot thing issue. I have the same problem but more intermmitent. I'd love to have this opportunity to help you troubleshoot yours. I even have a coil pack that you can try to see if it helps. Thanks. Ali alia176atyahoodotcom I agree with mudrat sounds like a coil pact to me. My 97 Legacy done the same thing as yours when the coil pact went out. Just maybe the coil pact failure caused the other problems you have found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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