agentargo

Well after cleaning everything I don't think it really helped. The issue did not occur again but since it's so intermittent I guess I have to expect that. I drove it around quite a bit and the only problem was the idle was quite low (550 exactly at idle) and it seemed quite underpowered but it never stalled. My mechanic said he was willing to take a look at it again so that's where it is right now. Haven't heard anything back. edit: sorry did not see your reply on a new page. The battery is about 3 years old but tested fine. If I get it back and they still can't find any issue I will start there with new cables and replace the battery itself. thanks again everyone

Well I can't seem to attach images but here are some pictures: http://imgur.com/a/Sr93r

Well I just cleaned the battery terminals. They were quite covered with dust and grime and little bit of build up from the battery. I also checked the ground connections. All of them were also quite covered with dust and dirt. I cleaned them off as best I could. Some were also rusty/corroded. I'll put some pictures up of them shortly. I'm going to test drive it now to see if any of this did anything.

It is actually not a Subaru specific shop. I just moved to the area from a few states away and don't know a soul so I relied on Yelp, though they seem to do a lot of Subaru jobs. It's Superior in Ballard. I just want to say I'm not really upset with them or anything, I realize it's quite hard to pin this sort of intermittent thing down. Just frustrated at not being able to trust my car at all right now. Also, the more I read about what might be causing this sort of issue I see other systems electrical systems being mentioned. This might be totally unrelated but my keyless entry has recently almost completely stopped working. I thought it was the keychain battery but replacing it did not help. It now rarely works so I have stopped using it.

I actually tried to check the ground wires, but: I'm not really sure what I'm looking for, is it just rusty, falling apart usual type corrosion or something different? and if I know where they all are. Is there any sort of guide or image with all of them highlighted. Another problem is that everything is quite dust caked under the hood. I used to live in Denver and it's a dusty city. Is it OK to clean all the grime off the wires to see them better? I should also add that if it dies while I am rolling I can usually press the gas and it sometimes pops the engine back on. Thanks though, very much appreciated.

I have a 1999 Legacy Outback automatic with 130K. I'm having an issue and it seems my mechanic is not able to solve. At random times when I am driving my car, it stalls at slow speeds or when stopped. Sometimes it will go days with no issue, other times it will happen a dozen times in one trip. It has always started right back up. How it happens: I've noticed before it happens my engine will start to idle exceptionally low, almost bottom out the tach. One time I could hear the accelerator through the radio (as I pressed the accelerator, a buzz would get louder on the radio). Then, usually when stopped, the car with completely shut off, radio and and all. The electrical stuff will turn back on immediately because the key is in, but I need to restart the engine. Sometimes it will die almost immediately again, other times it will last a few minutes, sometimes a few days. One time, I had the issue multiple times, but managed to get it home. A few hours later I tried to start it to bring it to the mechanic and it would not start, the battery was fine because all the elelctrical stuff was working, but it just clicked when I turned the key. The next morning, it started fine. When the stalls happen, usually the check engine light will come on. My mechanic says it is showing code P1100. The first time I brought it to my mechanic, he said it was the ignition switch. They replaced it, but it did not help at all, 2nd time driving the car after I got it back it had the issue. It happened a few more times so I brought it in again. They claim they checked it up and down and could find nothing wrong, nor could they replicate the issue. Just a day after I got it back the second time, of course the issue happened again. My mechanic said he will check it again, but I am loosing my faith and think he will again insist it is fine. I know it is not fine and it's getting to the point where I fear driving the thing because it might break down or get worse. some recent repairs: At about 90K I had the head gasket problem and had that repaired. 100K new starter 120K body work, front right side, headlight (hit deer) 120K plugs/wires, CV boot 130K (3 months ago): Timing belt, water pump problem developed just a week after the timing belt/water pump job. 2.5 months ago: new ignition switch did not fix problem So anyone have any idea?