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I think it's pretty funny that there are several Lamborghinis, at least on DeLorean and a bunch of Porsches around. Here we are out in the midst of cornfields with folks cruising in fancy, high-powered imports! I'm not real clear on what the idle air control does. What function does it have beyond controlling idle air? It really doesn't idle badly, it only messes up really bad when you're trying to get moving and stay moving. Will check the throttle body and the pcv and it's hose. If this was an old vehicle with a carb., distributor and points, would think it might be timing thrown off by the full 4-cylinder misfire. Wouldn't off-timing explain the backfires? But too lean or too rich fuel to air ratio? Or the brand new fuel filter might be bad and the engine isn't getting the right amount of fuel... Or the sending unit might be going out. Then there is the MAF. Argh. This is giving me a huge headache.

There is a guy in a nearby town who has been known to work on Subys. He is the only person around who does Lamborghinis, Porsches and so forth. I may decide to haul it up on the trailer and pull it over there for him to look at. It's only 10 miles buy the way the car is running it wouldn't make it even half way without stalling out multiple times. Or losing speed. A further question? What would cause the contact on the ignition coil to burn like that?

Turned out to be the rear struts. Replaced them and the noises stopped. Thanks for all your help! BTW, check enginge light still indicating problems, see here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=101724

Or maybe I should call it my Outback Agony... 2.5L losing power, regaining power, backfiring, stalling... Suby shop said p0301 - 0304 cylinder misfires, replaced the ignition coil, plugs and wires. Replaced fuel filter and air filter... front cat would appear to be fine, good blow out the pipe. (No. 2 connection on the old i. coil was burned, btw.) It's running so badly now that we can't do a drive cycle reset to finish the codes. It will start fine, will idle for a few minutes until it starts warming up and the rpms drop fast, go back up, drop, go up, doing this repeatedly. Pull it out onto the road, it will run fine for a few minutes at low rpms but when gaining speed (anything over 30) it bucks, stalls and backfires. Even driving at low rpms for more than 10 minutes or so will cause stalling and the whole mess to recur. Oxygen sensor? PCV bad, clogged or hose plugged? Low fuel pressure? Sending unit? Throttle positioning sensor? When the air filter box was pulled apart, it was about 1/4 full of dead bugs, dirt and road grunge (no oily mess, though. Former owner evidently didn't take very good car of the car.) Changed the filter, reassembled everything and it ran ok for about 20 minutes, then started messing up, again. The Suby tech. says that since we can't do the drive reset he has to go through every last component, all relays, hoses, filters, etc etc etc to find out what's wrong with it. I honestly can not afford to pay upwards of 3K to fix this car. Would appreciate any input you folks can give.

OK, will check those, as well. We'll get this figured out. Thanks everyone.

Will advise DH to check the struts for sure. He took the car to work this a.m. so will have a bettr chance of figuring out just what is going on. Would be nice to do something about that blasted shield. Thing is annoying, it isn't a big mechanical problem but makes a lot of noise. He may try fastening the thing up tighter before spot welding it. Have a good friend who is a welder by trade and he might do it if I ask nicely and make him a big batch of shrimp etouffee... When we get the autoxray on the car, will take note of the codes and let you know. I haven't checked the manual that we usually rely on for such thing so don't know if subys are listed or not. Yay or nay, will reportback.

All right! I didn't realize that the struts needed to be changed out... Will do that as soon as possible.

169k.

OK, will check those out. That would make sense, too, because (at least to my untrained ear) it sounds like some type of a suspension issue. Almost as if the shocks or what were shocks years ago are bad. Will be sure to check the exhaust hangers, as well. The whole length of the shield around the exhaust has been rattling for some time. It may be that one of the kids, driving on gravel, bottomed the car out and is not 'fessing up to it. DH believes he can either reweld the shields or take them off? Has anyone done that?

I bought this Roo used so am not sure about accidents. It came back clean on the carfax report, though. The mechanics at the Roo dealership believed that everything was original, though. (I don't know how they could tell but they seemed to be sure.) DH was in a "minor" accident in the car last July. Backing out of a tight space he clipped the rear bumper of a Yukon who was haulin' thru the lot (tore the bumper right off the suv.) Didn't do much damage (we thought) at the time but it may have thrown something off and we're seeing a landslide effect. The noise seems to come from the point where the axle joins the wheel assembly. We think... It behaves just fine when driven in a tight circle. No weird handling, no odd noises, it's only that hard metallic whamming sound when going over bumps. It's louder on the passenger side than on the driver's but present on both. It doesn't always do it when "bounced" by two people pushing down on it at the back, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. We have found that, when the rear tires are off the ground and moved to partially rotate them, we do hear a clunking noise. It's present on both sides, but again, much louder on the passenger side. There doesn't seem to be any wetness of any kind in the rear end. That's one of the first things we looked for and when we checked again, nothing anywhere. The engine light is still coming on for a while, sometimes as soon as the key is turned, sometimes a ways down the road and, more oddly, sometimes it doesn't come on at all. Haven't' had a chance to get the OBD on, yet. DH is currently replacing the engine in one of the kid's cars and is tearing his hair out about that. (nothing like a ford for having a weird-o electrical harness.) He will get the lube done ASAP but why would a low level cause the noises on bumps? This is weird. I'm not a mechanic by any means but none of this fits into any reasonable explanation I can come up with. I sure do appreciate any advice, though. Love that car!

Ok, thanks will do. I had a 4wd at one time with u joint problems and I remember the sound of that... bad! This isn't quite like that. Don't feel any vibrations, the little beast rides like silk. First thing will be check that lube. Then will proceed from there. I'm glad for the guidance as I have very little mechanical ability... DH is good, though. He won't work on the engine or the tranny on the Sube but lubes and such things he will do.

The car has suddenly started making a load whamming and thumping noise when going over bumps, even at low speeds. DH jacked it up and, after checking to see if there was any wobble or movement in either rear tire (there wasn't) crawled underneath and checked the differential. Apparently there is no grease that would indicate a leak anywhere but as the shaft is turned by hand something is making that clunking noise. We also heard it when either of the rear wheels were turned by hand. (it's an automatic. 1-2-3-D) Is this indicating a problem with the differential? DH had noticed once or twice in the last weeks that the car didn't shift into high gear immediately. I haven't noticed that problem but don't doubt he did. The old girl has 169K miles on her and everything is original and, up recently, working fine with no weirdness. ETA: Now the check engine light has turned on, then off, then on a while later. Will get to OBD out and see what pops, will check diff. for fluid level and check back with results.