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bluegrasssboy

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  1. Today I stopped at AutoZone and bought a PCV valve and a can of SeaFoam. The old PCV was black and cruddy. It still moved around and you could hear it, but it wasn't the nice quick clicking noise the new one made. I proceeded to remove the IAC as well. I've never removed one before so It took a little extra time to just make my way through it and remove other stuff to get them out of my way etc... When it came off, it looked black and dirty too. It wasn't "stuck" though, I could move it. So I sprayed it out. The gasket stayed on the manifold and looked fine so I figured I was alright there. Put it all back together, started it up and poured the SeaFoam into the PCV hose, proably ran about half a can through it. Unhooked the BAT while I messed around outside enjoying the nice weather. Hooked it back up, drove it about 20 miles including about 5 miles of interstate and it acted fine, with no CEL. The problem is all I did was take some stuff apart and put them back together. I just don't trust it. lol The PCV is new, but I wouldn't think that it could have been the cause of all my problems. So, I guess, up for sale it goes. I've already got a couple of folks in the family inquiring about it. I'm sure if this episode gets straightened out it's got quite a few miles left in it. But where I'm a field rep for an insurance company and I travel and visit policy holders everyday -about 600-800 miles a week I need something a little better. It does have a rebuilt title, and hail dings on top of that and bondo on the driver's quarter is cracking open etc.. But for someone that's just looking for cheap travel, it's a heck of a little car. I've gotten 32mpg on highway trips before. And the AC still works. I was looking to buy another Sube, but in my price range, there'd be a lot of the 96-99 2.5's. And reading this list has made me not want to buy any of them. Thanks to the forum and to all who pitch in.
  2. I started to drive it to work today, when I got about 10 miles from the house, sitting at a red light, it was like someone flipped a switch and it started to idle low and rough. When the light turned and I took off it had no power and there was a slight shudder to it. Since the wife was about 10 mins. behind me I just pulled into a parking lot and got in with her. Later this afternoon I got in it and drove it to Autozone, this time it drove fine. They come out and I'm watching they're scanner and up came P1507. that was the only one. Their computer says that is a Idle Air Control Underspeed Error. On the way back to the parking lot, it ran fine. I went to pick the wife up from work, came back to get the Subaru and from the moment it started it was idling rough and had no power and shuddered all the way home. So, that's where I'm at. The current symptoms are totally different than when it started acting up in the first place. Changing the MAF had something to do with it. Like I've mentioned though, the connector plug on the orginal MAF had 4 male connectors, this one off ebay has 5. But the plug on the wire on the car, while having slots for 5, only has 3 female connections in it. I don't know if this is causing the difference or not Any ideas about the idle air control error?
  3. The Impreza has been sitting in the drive for a number of weeks now as cold weather and waiting on parts has slowed progress. And yes, those are Wally World hubcaps. But they are MUCH MUCH better than the 5 star fake chrome ones it had on it when I bought it!! It had ran fine for me since I had bought it two years ago. Then one day it started running bad, bucking a lot, dying at idle, hard to start etc... You could start it and it would move, but you couldn't trust taking it anywhere. After some poking around on here I decided to go with a new coil. I replaced the plugs, wires, coil and fuel filter too while I was at it. None of it made any difference. So then I pull the MAF and was cleaning it when I broke it. DOH! Got a used one off ebay and it arrived today. Funny thing this one, it looks just like my old one, the numbers on the side are the same, except for the 4 or 5 digit stamped ones, which I figured were some kind of date code. The plug on the side of my old MAF has 4 male connectors. The one on the ebay has 5. Hmmm. I look at the plug on the car and there's 5 holes, but only 3 female connectors. Ok, so we'll split the difference I guess. So, I clean this one too, but carefully as to not break it. Put it on the car and it runs like crap. It sounded like a briggs and stratton. I go around to the back and the exhaust was pop, pop, pop,pop, pop,pop. Except a lot faster, like a fast idling motorcycle. Now what???? So I cut it off and start poking around, take all the plug wires off the coil and put them back on and start it again and PRESTO, the ol' girl seems right back to normal. I drive it down the street and back- fine. So I drove into town(10 miles) and back. Everything seemed fine. The engine light is on though. Which doesn't surprise me too much cause over the last two years it's been on and off numerous times. Come home, take the neg. bat. cable loose for awhile, put it back, start it up and the light's off of course. While I'm still sitting in it the engine barely bobbled, andthe light came back on but it continued to run fine. Later I ran it back into town just to see how it'd do(I'm paranoid now) and it ran fine. Stopped to fill it up, get back in it and the CEL was out and stayed out all the way home. So, I guess(hope) it's fixed. Looks like it was the MAF after all. I may or may not keep the new coil, I might put it on ebay. That was almost a $100. It took awhile, I figure I got less than $200 in it. It's been a good work car for me. But as my job has changed and I drive everyday for work, I think it's time to upgrade. Thanks for this board and others like it. Thank goodness for the internet.
  4. My 97 Impreza has the newer coil with the intergrated ignitor. I believe the difference is, the older coils without the ignitor are a little smaller than the newer ones and have femal ends for the plug wires. The newer coils have males ends for the plug wires. I just bought a new one for my car and it didn't help. I'm going to sell the car so I'll probably take the new one off and put it on ebay to try to get a little of my money back.
  5. The plug for the wiring harness is screwed onto the side of the housing. Once I got the cover off I could see the connectors for that plug were soldered to the part of the circuit board inside. So it appears the element and related parts were put in from the top, the plug from the side and then they were soldered together. There was no way I could see it coming out without breaking those joints. I was hoping the used MAF I've got coming would have shown up by now. But I'm still waiting.
  6. Mine isn't built that way. There's a flat plastic "cover" on top of the housing. I took that cover off. There's a circuit board with soldered connections to the electical plug on the side of the housing. The element can't be removed without breaking those joints.
  7. the screen on the end of the MAF tube was black. Rubbed my hand across it and it was bright and silver again. It's had 143k miles worth of air going across it, it just stands to reason it will get dirty. The element was a dull gray before I cleaned it. It was a little brighter looking when I got done and the head of the Qtip was a little dirty. When I get the used one in, I'm going to clean it, but not break it this time. I wonder too about the oil leak and smoking that this car does. With a new oil change, it's not bad at all. You might smell it, but it's not visible. But it'll let you know when it's time for a change, cause it'll get much worse. and come wafting out from the front of the car. So, I'm wondering about oil smoke going through there as well. Was the black film on the screen just years of accumulated dust or a few years of inhaling oil smoke?? Of course the whole deal about them getting dirty I guess is the fact that enough of these contaminants can "cover up" the element and cause it not to be able to provide an accurate measurement of the air passing through there as it was designed to. Similar perhaps to putting a coat of paint on a fire suppresion system water sprinkler head. It changes the amount of heat it takes to do it's job. So I could see how properly cleaning one could help. We'll see. I'm about to buy a 2000 Chevy Prizm. Cool car I know, but hey, the price is right. And besides, I just need a work car, something clean, good on gas and reliable. Not living in Northern Indiana anymore, the AWD that came in so handy is really not an issue to me anymore. The Prizm, being a Corolla underneath the bowties, fits the bill nicely.
  8. Well, I've got a used one on it's way. So we'll see how it acts once I get it on there. I'm afraid the little Sube's days are numbered with me. I've had it for over 2 years and put over 30k on it. Never a problem until now. My job has me on the road 4 days a week. This impreza is really just a work car. But I have to drive FOR work and I need a little better car. It's also got the oil leak/smoking problem. If I only had to putter back and forth to work it'd be different. But I drive about 700 miles M-T and I need something a tad better. I'm shopping for a little newer/nicer car.
  9. I'm from near Ashland. But I live about an hour south of Lexington these days.
  10. Well, I was cleaning it -and broke it. Bubba move on my part. Was even trying to be careful. Got a used one on the way, so we'll see how it acts once I get them changed out.
  11. I know on a ford forum I used to be on guys talked about cleaning the MAF, using a Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol. Reasoning I think was the element becomes dirty basically and no longer functions like it should. At least that was the thinking. Anyone else do this?
  12. Yep, it's on. I have to drive about 10 miles to the nearest Autozone. I'm not sure if it would make it there. I was hoping it was the ignitor/coil pack, but that wasn't it.
  13. My 97 Impreza 2.2 with 143k has developed a bad bucking, not running right problem. This weekend I installed a new coil pack( with the integrated ignitor), new NGK plugs, wires and fuel filter. It had no effect. What are the symptoms of the mass air flow sensor going out? Thanks.
  14. They look the same....might be dumb question but are the coils on late 90's early 2000s 2.2 and 2.5's interchangeable?
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