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Hey the Sub. will go fine for a trip, no matter on distance. If I go in a place for 15  30 min . at most. the car will have a terrible time to restart. After repeated cranks it will. Last error code I saw was cyl. 3 misfired. It has 149000 miles or so.Timing belt  got replaced within 3000 miles or so.

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  • 3 weeks later...

OK error codes as I recall ;knock sensor [do see frayed wire] cylinder 3 misfire.I have had no luck finding a mechanic near corydon In. ie. louisville ky. would work. But have a guy that has a shop and going ot see if he can help.Off the top of his head he is thinking sounds like a coil overheating and not a temp. sensor so any opinions on that?

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Sometimes 2 issues can manifest at roughly the same time. So that's possible. Misfires in other cars are often coil related. Easy way to test is find a known good coil and swap it in. Be sure to pull the battery neg (-) cable to reset the codes. If the code doesn't come back after 100 miles or so, then the coil was bad. Coil sits on top of the engine and is easy to get at. Could also be something as simple as a bad plug wire or really old, worn spark plug. I'd replace the wires and plugs first to rule. Car will get better mileage and run better anyways with new plugs/wires so even if not bad, it'll be better in the long run.

 

Knock sensor sits directly below the cables for throttle where they connect on the throttle body. Easiest way to find it is look on the top of the trans near where it connects to the block. You'll see a single, white connector with one wire passing through it. The connector has barbing that's pushed into a hole. The sensor sits about 6" away with a single bolt running through it's center. It takes a 12mm socket to remove it and roughly an 8" extension on a ratchet. Some engines have an air box above the area.

 

I'd try and tackle the misfire first, then reset battery and see if you are still getting the knock sensor code. 

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Yeah, just get the basic plugs the engine calls for. Wires.... is a coin toss. I've always run cheaper wires and had good luck. One issue though is they have thinner silicone, so it can be easier to ruin them. Since we aren't talking some ultra hot spark aftermarket ignition system on a street/strip engine, I don't see the point going high-end unless it comes with a lifetime warranty and offers years of trouble-free performance.

 

Try Rock Auto . com for a coil. Need to navigate to your year/model by expanding each line, then expand "Ignition". They start at around $24-$26 then rocket in price. The ones with the little red heart icon are ones people buy more often than not and prefer. Any of the options should be good. I've bought a TON of stuff for my Saab and even the Legacy off there, and all have been great. Even with shipping factored in and getting a middle of the road priced item, it's almost always cheaper than Auto Zone or similar with their cheapest item.

 

You can also try your luck with a junk yard coil. Many cars when junked actually run. It's a coin-toss, but if you can get one for say $5-15, it might be worth it to you vs. buying a $25 one online then paying $5-7 for shipping that'll take a couple days to reach you. Can also get your knock sensor through Rock Auto for almost  $20 cheaper than Auto Zone or Advanced. Ijust priced them as I actually needed one for my 95' Legacy, and AZ wanted $51, Advanced wanted $47. Both places didn't stock it and had to wait a day. Auto Zone does price match though (so they'll sell it for $47 if you say Advanced was selling theirs at that price) and they carry OEM units. Think Rock Auto was selling their cheapest ones for $38.

Edited by Bushwick
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Hey thanks for the heads up on that! I can see sensor and it is frayed I moved it so not touching any metal[at least for now].Avg. price of coil? Do you know? and good spark plugs and wire set? I remember reading somewhere not to get the "fancy" plugs etc.

 If you watch amazon coil can be had for 30-50 USD :0D    and it is very easy to replace.  

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Ok got  a new coil on .After another 10 mile trip from a cold start ,parked at wal mart.Came back out 10 - 15 min. later no start sme problem,did restart a little quicker i guess.Error codes b4 worked on camm sensor,cat 1 sensor,and knock sensor.On way to shop the check engine light did flash as car was struggling a bit to get up to speed.But ran fine after I got going and on freeway.Mech. said that year when the light flashes that is a warning to stop driving for my information.We retaped knock sensor wire and put back on after cleaning the place on engine where it is mounted.Cleaned and visually checked cam sensors,looked good.Forgot misfire on 3 was on code .So we thought that coil misfire caused unburned gas to get to cat. converter which gave the cat. error code,and cam sensors also caught misfire and such?So he is thinking check fuel pump,pressure valve perhaps? Plugs looked fgreat no oil,ngk's ans wires all ok sprayed water and no effect on idle etc....Have not cleard codes yet want him t osee them,and can a really defective knock sensor cause weird stuff? Thanks y'aalll

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You need to get an ohm/volt meter attached to sensors that are appearing as codes and see which ones are actually bad.  Not sure what you "taped" on the knock sensor, but if there's a break internally "taping" it won't hold for long. Also, failing O2 sensors that are shorting internally can cause misfires and O2 codes. 

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Hi,agree on knock  sensor. Going to rockit auto and order.Misfire code gone,along with catyl.1 error gone.So coil may have been culprit.The codes left;knock sensor.And cam sensor bank 1 [parts place had said a crank sensor,and a cam  ]so 2 dif. ones?? None the less whichever 1 bank 1 is bad? Ohm meter read 2.4 ohm,thinking kilo.so they were in tolerance range.Mech. seems to think a possibility exist thst a wiring harness issue between computer and sensor? Car has stil lrun ok,although today it did die once while at light and restarted right up.Making progress! Thanks for the advice!update soon,if cam comes back up,timing belt chg. months ago btw.

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Ok so car is running ok for now.Can anyone tell me if the resistance on those sensors change drasticly from heat or something.The resistance on both cam [or crank sensor were within tolerances,ie. 2.4 ohms?Weather is cooling so wondering ,when I go order knock sensor if I should get bank 1 cam sensor,or both?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok finaly time to write.Car did not start after short trip at a fairly high rate of speed and a warm dAY,20 MILES APPROX.Cools down for maybe 15 min. starts no problem.Go get error codes read ;knock sensor [will buy soon] and cam switch bank 1 [crank sensor] .So misfire cyl. 3 gone with coil replaced.Should I go ahead and replace crank sensor ,fairly confident that would do it? Any more help or clues will be appreciated very much,got part on hold for Fri.

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Glad a new coil eliminated the misfire.

 

Crank sensors CAN have temp related issues. This is very common on some Saabs. But you'll need to probe the sensor's resistance when the car won't start i.e. unhook the crank sensor and confirm it's either out of range or acting like an open circuit then keep checking as the engine cools off to see if there are variations in the readings or not. I think Fairtax has mentioned coolant temp sensors in other threads. I know other cars have a no-start issue if that goes bad and I think it'll point to the CPS instead, but I'm not positive. Hopefully he'll pipe up.

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Thanks I got a new one cheap. So we will see! Sent fairtax a note also .Appreciate all the help !  CPS   ? coolant temp what sensor is that btw? Someone else said the coolant temp. near left side firewall /catalytic area?

Edited by Indianacolt
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Don't know what cam switch bank 1 is. If you got a code for it, post up the actual P0 code number so we can look up Subarus definition of that code.

 

If you have a code for the cam sensor, it's probably the cam sensor. Make sure it's plugged in tight and there's no dirt in the pins.

 

Coolant temp sensor could be possible, but usually takes a longer cool-down.

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