Weird Legacy problem, HELP!!!

[Guest johnd911]

situation: 93 legacy awd with 308k. Twice in the last month it would not start after sitting for a few hours. Spark yes, no gas shooting out of fuel line before gas filter. Next morning, starts and runs fine. Same thing happened last night. Either it is a weird electrical problem or signs that the fuel pump is going, right? But it runs fine all other times in stop and go and highway driving. Is this typical of a pump problem? the connections at the sender are all fine etc. I can't afford to be stranded somewhere far from home-I'm just going to go ahead and change the fuel pump but just need input into any other possible cause. thanks

[Guest pmonro]

Well this sort of thing can sure be annoying.If you suspect the fuel pump has an intermittent fault on starting then I suggest that you monitor that for a few days. If I remember correctly you should hear it run for a second or two immediately after the key is turned on but before it is advavnced to the start. It sounds like a faint hum. So you would get into the car, turn the key one click (I think) listen for the hum for about a second and then turn the key further to activate the starter.

Mind you it will need to be real quiet when you do it.

 

From memory Heinz says put your ear to the fuel tank fill pipe but this is a bit more difficult

One of the problems that Legacy has on starting is that it will flood if it does not start in the first few cylinders. I understand that this is because the EMU provides a fuel rich mixture at start and continues to do so until the engine fires. Consequently if it does not start then it becomes flooded and can be damn hard to start. Sometimes putting the foot to the floor works but it is still difficult.

This seems to explain your symptoms that it starts easily the next day.

So why then is it sometimes hard to start. I suggest you have a look at your battery. It may still provide spark but if it is on the way out it may be down enough to provide poor starting. There was a posting some time ago to the effect that even a new battery with insufficient grunt will provide poor starting

[Guest Legacy777]

Check the fuel pump connector plug. It's under the rear seat on the passenger side under some black cushioning sticky tape stuff. It's pretty notorious for going bad. If that's the problem, you can just cut the leads going to the plug and put new crimp connectors on.