Scooby96

I have a 96 OB 2.5 with 165,000 mi. It all started about 5 months ago when it would hard start and rough idle for a couple of minutes upon starting. It would not do this every time and sometimes it would start right up as if there was no problem at all. It did not seem to matter whether or not the engine was cold or hot, this occurred in both instances. It would run "fine" once it was in gear and no problems until I went to start it again, although I did notice I was getting worse gas mileage than before. Changed the coolant temp sensor and the plugs which seemed to cure the problem. Couple of weeks later... same problem. Pulled the plugs again to find that they were black and soaked with gas, as they have been every time I have pulled them in the last couple of months. EGR valve has also been getting clogged up and needs cleaning about once a month. Then it just stopped starting all together one day. The engine would turn over but would not fire. I checked the fuel pressure going in and coming out of the fuel filter... good. All four plugs showed spark. I did everything I knew and could not get it to crank. It sat in the driveway for about a month because I had no spare time or money to get it to someone knowledgable. One day I went outside, put a charge on the battery, cleaned the plugs and away she went. Like a brand new car... for about a week. This has been the cycle for the last couple of months. Cranks and runs fine, then hard starts for a bit, then won't crank at all.. Parts recently replaced: -PCV (8 mo ago) -MAF sensor (4 mo ago) -Coolant temp sensor (non-OEM, 7 mo ago) -Fuel filter (8 mo ago) -Plugs (Lots) -Alternator (3 mo ago) **I dont know it makes a difference but I am running the car without a thermostat** Anythin thoughts will help, I need her up and running and I don't want to have to admit defeat and take her to someone that will charge me out the a!%.

the codes are P0400 and P0100

96' Outback 2.5L 163,000 Auto Last couple of months I have had trouble with hard starts. At start it will act like it is going to choke out (around 400-500 rpm) then it will rev up to 2000-3000 rpm before it idles somewhat normally (still low aroun 700-800 rpm). As I am driving I will completely loose power (no matter the speed) erratically for about 5-10 sec upon which it will recover and run fine. Sometimes it will just do it once and other times it comes in series of power losses. Sometimes the power loss causes the car to stall and other times it will continue to run. Exhaust smells like 100% gasoline and I'm getting poor gas mileage. Went to Auto zone to get my codes puled and they gave me a print out indicating blocked EGR valve/passage and possibly MAF sensor malfunction. The EGR valve has been continually dirty in the past few months, I have cleaned it multiple times but I think it is still working because I can always see a small hole through the crud from which it looks like it is still opening and closing. Could some other problem be causing excessive build up on the EGR? Any thoughts? Work done in the past 6 mo.: -New PCV -New fuel filter -Cleaned EGR (multiple times) -Air filter -Cleaned MAF -Cleaned intake -New coolant temp sensor -New Alternator

It seems that it was the coolant temp sensor. Just changed it a couple of days ago ( I have been really busy and couldn't get around to it til now) and it has been running great. THANKS NIPPER. Also changed the plugs (AGAIN) and even though they were new (about 1 month) the rich running must have fouled them, they smelled like they had been soaking in gasoline for a couple weeks (I guess they have been). Also changed a few of the hoses running from the PCV which I realized were almost blocked by oil gunk when I was trying to get to the colant temp sensor. Thanks to all of those that helped me out and Scuby thanks you too.

Thanks for all the great ideas. I guess I will start going down the list one by one (startin with the cheapest of course) to try to get her purring again. And yes, I put in NGK platinum plugs (which is what I've always used). I'll post again if I have any more questions or if I can get her fixed. Thanks again

Yes, when the check engine light came on it was blinking, but since I changed the plugs about 5 days ago it has not come back on yet. would a bad coil pack cause it to idle rough at the start up. I am going to try to clean the idle air control and the mass air flow this weekend if I have time. Do you guys think that would be the easiest place to start? One last thing, 2 days ago I had absolutely no problems whatsoever with the idle, but yesterday they started acting up again. So it went from bad idle one day to fine the next day and back to bad idle the day after that. Any thoughts?

Do I have to drain the coolant in order to replace the coolant temp sensor? I just have such a hard time trying to get the air out of the syst after I refill it and I did this about a week ago.

Thanks for the quick replies. Imdew, I did have a check engine light about 3 days ago, took it to auto zone and the codes read misfire of piston 3 and 4. Had to disconnect the battery to change the plugs on that side and the light has not come on since. I have had the car for about 4 yrs now and the check engine light has been a regular occurance with the same misfire codes. The second time I pulled the plugs I only replaced the left (looking at the engine) 2 because they were the easiest to get to and I was short on time. They both looked ashy and almost like they had some sort of crystal like deposit on them. When I changed these two it got rid of the problem but for only a short while. I have yet to look at the other two. As for the wait time, it doesn't matter it does it every time. When I crank it cold it does seem to be a little worse.

My 96 Outback 2.5 recently started to idle very rough right after I start her up (hot or cold) almost like she is going to choke out (lasts approx. 10 sec) then it would rev up to 2-3000 rpm for a few seconds before finally reaching a normal idle of about 1000 rpm. This happens every time I start the car and some episodes are worse than others. Once I'm out of the driveway there are no problems until the next time I try to start her up. Idles fine at traffic lights, drive-thru's, etc.. Problem started about two weeks ago so I checked out the plugs (which were fairly new) and they didn't look great so I replaced them. This seemed to fix the problem but only for about a day or two. Problem came back, A little worse now so I pulled the plugs again and again the plugs looked fouled. Replaced, better for 10-15 starts and now it's back. Also replaced the air filter, fuel filter, oil change , coolant change, and PCV valve. Any thoughts.