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1997 Subaru Legacy Outback Limited sputter


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I have owned my 97 Subaru Legacy Outback about 2 weeks. Whe I went to test drive it twice before I bought it, it ran perfectly. After I got it street legal I drove it to work, it did great that morning driving to work however, on my way home that evening it did not want to start, finally got it started, gave it h*ll and it idled right, going down the road it started sputtering and jerking real bad for a short period of time. Got home let it sit for a day. Took it out again with a friend to see if it would do it again, on the way to town... fine... going around town started acting up again, didnt want to start, sputtering for short periods of time. Friend said maybe something is clogging fuel filter, so I replaced it. Let it sit for a couple days, took it to work again, did great on the way to work!... however again on my way home I stopped at a light, was acting like it wanted to stall out so I pulled into a parking lot, did not htink I was going to make it into parking lot. Turned it off for a while to let it 'rest'. Took forever to get it home this time, this time it didnt stop sputtering, kept stalling out. If kept it about 2,000 RPMs it did a little better. It backfired twice ont he way home. I have not seen the check engine light come on, but I can tell it was on at some point bc you can see the sticky residue left over from a piece of tape. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

The only thing I have replaced at this point is the fuel filter and rear brakes.

 

Going to get a mechanic to look at it today, but figured maybe I could see if anyone has had this problem.

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It could be a lot of things.  If you don't get a code, it will be really hard to find the problem.  You might check the code history which I think should still be  searchable to get a clue as to whats wrong.

 

I had a similar problem with a 95.  I finally, after stalling out and leaving me stranded 5 times, got a code indicating a MAF problem.  Changed same and didn't have a problem afterwards.  However, this is one possibility of many and I changed a lot of parts in a vain attempt to correct the problem.

 

By the way, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take out the spark plugs and check them.  You should do that the first thing after buying a used car, in my opinion.  It costs nothing, and you find out some interesting things.

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Thank you! I know it's not a very good excuse but this is my second vehicle. I have owned my first, a Ford Ranger, since 08 but I just had a baby so I need a car and I have read some really good reviews on Subarus. My grandfather sold me the truck and it was very well maintained. Should have been common sense to check those first though.

 

But I am kind of curious to find out why it runs perfectly after it has been sitting for a day or 2.

 

Hopefully mechanic can help me out before I go replacing things that are fine.

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Sounds like an unmetered air leak.

 

Check all the PCV and IAC hoses.....vacuum hoses.

 

May be something that is leaking after the hoses warm up.

 

 

^^^ good idea, if you can catch it sputtering at idle, open the hood and spray some Ether Start or even some propane around the vacuum hoses and intake manifold. If it smooths out, you may be near a vacuum leak.

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attachicon.gif91432ddd-b27c-4303-a874-0d1e05f3f13a_300.jpg

 

Handheld propane torch (unlit!) like one you'd use to do plumbing soldering or thaw a lock.

 yep - you can even take the tip off and fit a length of hose. just a small trickle of gas will do.

 

probably use a BBQ lighter too - just blow out the flame; refillable-butane-lighter-2-pack.jpg

 

I dunno if WD-40 would work, maybe some other solvents like brake cleaner would?

 

You could fit a vacuum gauge too - compare readings when the engine is running smooth vs sputtering.

 

384576-Vacuum-Gauge---Reading-and-interp

Edited by 1 Lucky Texan
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