Log1call

Try here.... http://endwrench.com/images/pdfs/SuppRestFall01.pdf

Yeah, that will effect idling. You definately need to fix that and then see what happens. Seems a bit strange though that it sometimes cranks but doesn't start. Might be some other factors at play as well.

Whow, that is a bad case! Perhaps a main battery lead? I have seen them with bad connections where the wire goes into the terminal before. They would start and everything.... when they wanted!

Interesting!

The fuel pressure needs to be checked at idle to make sure the regulator is working, then again with the vacum hose off or the motor reving to be sure you have full pressure. As has been suggested, if the regulator has a hole in it's diaphram you will get high fuel pressure and a leak of fuel straight into the motor. The maf sensor is only one input to the ecu and should be over-ridden by the O2 sensor, so I'd doubt it is the cause, but it may contribute if the problem is a combination of factors. The small hose going to the fuel regulator... you say it's a loose fit, that could be letting the vacumm excape and that could do it. You don't actually say you have checked for fuel in that hose either... it may be a good idea to do that. If you could get it onto a laptop you could check what the IPW is like and that would help decide whether it's a sensor playing up or a fuel injector/regulator problem.

When you push your foot down onn the clutch the front shaft of the gearbox stops turning. When you let it up the shaft turns. The noise could be the front of the gearbox. There is also a bearing in the back of the crank that follows the same pattern. When you put your foot on the clutch and put the car in gear, the bearing's inner race is stopped by the front gearbox shaft and the crank keeps turning so the bearings outer race turns. If that bearing is noisy you will hear it when the clutch is down and the car is in gear but stationary. Once you let your foot off the clutch that bearing all turns together and you won't hear it. The difference/way to tell is... if you can hear this noise you can hear when the car is moving I'd say it's the front gearbox bearings.

I'd tend to agree that flushing doesn't do anything usefull to a failing transmission. Delay into gear is generally due to worn clutches. If it is the firt start of the day it might just be fluid draining away overnight and not be so serious a problem. If it does it all day... worn clutches. Transmissions can be diagnosed fairly accuratly and easily. there is a pdf called 4EAt_diiagnose_test.zip here... http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/subaru_manual_scans/FSM_Scans/ If you don't have the gauges you can still do the torque converter test and the time lag test to get a good idea of what's up. Other than that go see a transmission shop who can test it in half an hour or so.

I'd be suspecting the key switch first. If it cranks for a while then it's not likely to be the battery. The intermittent no go sounds like a key switch problem. The hard starting could be caused by the key/no start signal. The high idle could be caused by the no start.

Yup. I've seen the valve bodies come loose. Get underneath, off with the pan and filter, tighten all the heaps of bolts to torque and they come right sometimes. If you want to be really thorough you could drop the valve body , dismantle it, take the (probably) damaged gaskets out then put it back together(without gaskets,it will be fine) tightening all the bolts at the top and the bottom. If the first start and into gear of the day has a big delay, then ok after that, that's a sign the valve body is loose and draining over night. If the first or first few have about the right delay then the delay gets worse with a warm up, I'd suspect the pump or bushes/seals or worn valve body. If it's only one gear that's slow then some worn clutches, if it's all of them then bad pressure. Since all your pressures are low I'd check them cold and through a few quick changes, then I'd warm it and repeat the tests to see if it's temperature or just filling everything up that makes the difference. Oh, and congratulations on being the first person on here to have ever put a gauge on their transmission. If anybody is interested in how to diagnose a transmission, there is a pdf called 4EAT_performance_test.zip here.... http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/subaru_manual_scans/FSM_Scans/

There is meant to be a start signal going into the ecu as you turn the key to crank position, without that signal they are hard to start. It should set a code though. The start signal tells it to use a set figure for ignition timing because the signals from the crank and cam aren't reliable enough at cranking speeds. That could explain hard starting. The high idle might be a result of the hard start. the ISC valve may get cranked right over to high idle as you are trying to start then it could take a while to get moved back down. It should really be able to get wound back to the right idle speed fairly quickly but if it's a bit stick at the end of it's travel.... See if they can check the start signal is getting to the ecu. Prolonged cranking can set cam, crank and MAf codes too by the way.

The charcoal canister isn't made to take fumes of the quantity that you get filling up, that won't be the problem. It could be that the breater that comes up from the tank to just below the filler is crimped causing fuel to back up in the filler tube. It could be fuller than you think as has been suggested. It could be that the filler is a smaller diameter than you are familiar with and you need to put the pump nozzle in there straight up and down. Some cars, if you run the hose around the back of the car and poke the nozzle in at an angle to the vertical they will cut off. Try parking next to the pump so the nozzle reaches easily and then put the nozzle in with the handle straight up and down and see if it's better.

It might narrow it down if you can figure whether it's the car lurching that makes it play up or whether it's the engine rocking on it's mounts. If it takes the whole car moving to cause it, then more likely to be the body wiring. If just letting the clutch up abruptly without actually moving the car... the engine wiring. Starter main cable might be a good start. You could also leave the car idling and get around it wriggling wires till it dies or the lights flicker. You might need someone in the car watching the dash while you do it.

It is actually easier than it reads in that horribly long discription. The cable will work with evoscan and that ssm software as well so they are fairly handy. Once you have the link up and running you can check all those parameters that are in the "diagnostic" pdf file and log figures directly to a spreadsheet as you drive then analyze them later. They are a handy supplement to the trouble codes and all the standard tests and quite often the logged data will confirm something is going or not straight away... O2 and knock detection operation being a couple of really good ones. For OBDII I use an Elm based cable and free software. I have all sorts because you need different software for japanese, european, GM etc. Despite the OBDII protocol, things are still a jumble and the CAN doesn't look to be any better!

I only use free software mostly but I did buy a copy of evoscan because it is so far ahead of the competition, it's N.Z. made and it's relatively cheap. There is a nice simple program here... http://www.vwrx.com/index.php?pg=selectmonitor and the simplist way to connect these days is with the ftdi cable described on that first web site. Here is a blurb I did for the local subaru club, it's a bit long but hopefully it covers all the possible problems peolpe have connecting.... Right, here is the simplest way to connect a laptop to an OBD1 subaru, including the early models that had a OBD2 plug but weren't actually OBD2... First thing you need is a FTDI ttl to usb lead. You want the one shown here... http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/EvaluationKits/TTL-232R.htm It has to be a five volt one so make sure it doesn't have 3v3 on the end of it's name. Best place at the moment to get them in N.Z.is, from Aussie... http://www.dontronics-shop.com/ftdi-usb-to-serial-ttl-level-5v-converter-cable.html They are $44.00 N.Z. dollars delivered to your door. Put it on the credit card and it will be here in about four days. Get the lead, strip three wires, black is going to go to earth(pin nine), yellow is for pin two and orange is for pin three. Don't connect it to the car yet. If you are using the OBD2 plug on the first of the OBD2 models then black goes to pin four or five, yellow goes to pin twelve and orange goes to pin thirteen. Have a look here if you are not sure which plug or pin is which... http://www.vwrx.com/index.php?pg=selectmonitor. Download the software while you are there. You can get a radio adaptor which will plug into the ssm plug on the car from an auto-electrical or audio shop but just stripping the wires and soldering the ends stiff will do the job, the car has female sockets so it's easy to shove anything in there really. Now you need to download the drivers for the ftdi chip from the ftdi site and install them. There are instruction at the ftdi site for installing the drivers. Plug your new cable into your laptop and go into the controlpanel/system/hardware and check that the adaptor has shown up and which number that usb to serial adaptor is connected to. Record the number because you need to tell the software which port to use. We are going to use the "ssm dump" part of this software to check it goes... http://www.vwrx.com/index.php?pg=selectmonitor When you get the software there will be three parts to it. One is a text configuration file and in it, it has which port number to use. Open the ssm text file and read through it. The comport is 2 by default but just change the number where it says "comport=2" to the number you recordered earlier. When you run the dump part of the program it will get you an ecu identifying number... We hope! The ssm dump tool is for testing and finding ecu addresses. If you make a connection you will get a ecu number, like 7431XX or something. So... (this is getting exciting), plug the usb in and connect the wires/plug to the car. Turn the key on(but don't start the car) and start the "ssm dump" program. If you get 474849 it is the request being sent to the ecu being echoed back to your laptop because there is a setting wrong in your port setting. If you get "Null", you don't have a connection. Check the wires and that the key is on. Once you have the ecu's identification number it will either connect straight up to the car with the ssm, or, you might have to rename one of the other ecu identities to your number in the text configuration file that comes with the software. Once you get an ecu identifying number in the dump tool then see if there is a definition file ecu number the same or similar. If your number is in the list then you can run the ssm program and you will start logging data straight away. If your number isn't in the list we need to find a model that will work for your car. This may help you choose a likely model... 1st character is always "7" on older cars. 2nd character is year rom was produced "0" for 1990, "2" for 1992, "3" for 1993, "4 for 1994" etc. 3rd and 4th characters seem to specify the car and engine type. For example: (25=SVX), (31,32,36,39=Legacy),(3F, 40=Impreza) Probably lots of others too. 5th character is market. "1" for JDM. "2" for USA. "3" for Europe. I guess "4" might be USSR. 6th character is ROM revision I think. Try 1,2 or 3. You could try putting a range of addresses from the likely file into the dump and see if the figures returned make sense, ie. the revs or battery voltage are right. So if your car's ecu number was near 744014 you would choose to log from 1332 to 1336 say, to read the battery voltage. You choose the numbers to log by typing into the top of the dump program where it has two, four digit fields. You wont get all the data fields in one dump so choose something simple to test. Revs are good. Just enter a narrow range so you get a lot of readings in a few minutes. If you find a likely candidate, copy the likely part of the definition file to the bottom of the config file and edit the ecu number in it to your number then save the changes. Now try reading the car using the ssm tool, not the dump. Hopefull all the data will be right, but we can test it is by running the motor and doing things to the motor.. disconnect an injector lead and the a/f will change and so will the IPW and O2 for instance. If you like that software, you will really like the evoscan software, it's heaps faster, does more cars, more makes, more parameters. It's the best software availiable at the moment. Have a look here.. http://www.limitless.co.nz/ I have added a few more models to the evoscan setup, if your ecu number isn't in the vwrx config file we can put some of the ones I have in or make you a new one.

Try jumping power straight to the starter's small wire, the one that brings power in from the key switch. Just get a light wire and run it from the battery to the starter and flick it on the small terminal next time there is the no start problem. If that fixes it then you are getting an accumulated voltage drop somewhere(or probably several places) between the battery and the starter, which is fairly common on lots of makes and models. If that's our problem then the cheapest, simple, permanant cure is to fit a relay right near the starter, taking power straight from the fuse box and into the starter when you energise the relay with the key switch wire. It's an industry standard remedy for difficult starting under those conditions in old cars.

Not if the O2 feedback is operating. Whatever you/they try doing in the way of adjusting the idle speed is going to cause problems like surging. The ecu tries to keep the idle speed at the right revs and if you alter anything you will end up with the ISC valve at one end of it's travel or the other. When the valve is at the end of it's travel it sometimes surges and sometimes they either can't bring the revs up enough when cold or down enough in some other situation. Well that's what I have found over the years anyway. Have a read here, down the bottom in particular... http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=103947

Check for air leaks.

Connecting laptops to cars these days is easy. I'll do a write up one day. Other than that, have a read here... http://www.alcyone.org.uk/ssm/

Whow, I'm flattered! Perhaps this would also be of interest too then, it's something I wrote for a local subaru forum and it's related to that butterfly screw we must not touch.... Getting an idle valve code can just mean that the idle valve hasn't been able to keep the idle speed within the range the ecu thinks it should be in. That though could be caused by air leaks, a faulty temp sensor, a faulty neutral switch or adjustment, a faulty throttle position sensor or adjustment, the throttle butterfly setting has been changed or the air bypass valve on the throttle body has been changed, there is a low compression on one cylinder etc... Anything that changes the idle speed can cause that code. Defective wiring or electrical faults can also cause them. If you are sure the valve is clean and all the wiring looks good, have a look at the butterfly adjusting screw and see if the paint on it looks untampered with. Have a look at the air bypass screw on top of the throttle body and see if that looks like it has been tampered with. Check the throttle cable is returning properly and check the throttle position sensor is adjusted properly. The TPS does wear and need adjusting every so often. Use an electrical gauge and check the temperature sensor readings. Then, and only then...... For the ISC valve to operate properly you need to have it near the centre of it's travel at the ecu's programmed idle speed. If anyone has played with the butterfly adjusting screw, the idle bypass screw on the throttle body(if it has a screw), or the idle control valves solenoid on top of the valve, then the valve can be at the end of it's travel at idle speed and that makes them unresponsive, which causes surge and erratic idle. Only try adjusting it if you have checked everything else first. The first thing to adjust is the butterfly. The butterfly adjusting screw is only there for one reason... to stop the butterfly digging into the throttle housing when it's shut and possibly wedging shut. The best way to adjust them is with the throttle body off so you can see what is happening but if you just back the screw out till the butterfly touches the wall of the housing(you may need to back off the cable while you do this), then turn the screw back in again till it just starts to open the butterfly. There is no specifications given for the setting but about an eighth of a turn of the screw open should be plenty. Less woulld be ok, as long as the butterfly isn't touching and isn't going to touch when the lock-nut gets tightened or the engine warms up. Next thing if it has it is the solenoid on top of the valve. Set it to the centre of it's travel if the screws have slotted holes. We will perhaps be adjusting this again later. Now you need to connect the car to a laptop or scan tool. The ISC valve should have a duty cycle of 40 at idle if everything is correct. By correct I mean the motor is in good mechanical condition, there are no air leaks, the temperature sensor, throttle position sensor and neutral switch are all working properly. If the duty cycle isn't at 40 or close to it at idle then you need to adjust either the solenoid or the bypass screw on the throttle body. If you have it, it's best to use the bypass screw. If you don't have the bypass screw then you need to use the solenoid. Adjust till the D.C. is close to 40 with the motor warm and idling. Once it seems right, rev the motor to approx three thousand revs for about one minute then let it back to idle and recheck the D.C. Repeat the adjustment till you find the best compromise between steady prolonged idle and the idle immediatly after the reving up. Ideally the setting should be the same for both situations. If you think it's any use to you guys over there feel free to cut and paste.

I'd check the key switche's operation as a nice simple first step.

If you go here http://cid-4ca3c3459aaa7f7f.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public and download a PDF called "1992_lagacy_full", it has a pretty good description of most of the systems. There is also another pdf called 04_diagnostics, or somthing like that, it has the criteria for trouble codes for later models. Mostly the older cars had the same or similar criteria if they had the systems in place. If you look at what you have and have a read you will figure which bits are relevent to your car.

The noise will have been expansion or contraction which normaly goes into the charcoal canister until, as you suggest, the car is running and has a few revs on. Clean/replace the solenoid and your miss will be cured too. Well done.

Thanks, it's not a complete picture but it hopefully answered his questions. I am a mechanic... I don't know how to operate a computer so well as to submit stuff! I did keep a copy though in case anyone asks again.

The idle valve works on a modulated pulse width, that is to say, it is getting turned on and off hundreds of times a second and the ratio of off time to on time is being altered to make the valve wider open or more closed. It doesn't actualy get turned on, or off in the traditional understanding of the word as it would normaly be applied to a solenoid. Whatever sound you heard wouldn't have been the solenoid opening or closing. That's the first problem with trying to use the valve "opening" as your clue to the throttle position contacts opening. The pulse width is happening all the time, even when the revs are up and you are driving. You wanted to know what the TPI does, what it tells the ecu to do. Ok, It has a set of contacts in it that tell the ecu when the throttle is in the fully closed position. When the idle contacts are closed the ecu thinks it should be able to control the idle speed, if the contacts are open it disregards that idea. That means that if the contacts are closed, and the ecu can't regulate the speed(air leaks for instance) it sets an ISC trouble code. If the contacts are open though, it doesn't care because you are giving it throttle and it knows that's normal and not to worry, it doesn't set a trouble code. When the contacts are closed, the ecu also sets the ignition timing to a fixed setting. Just what the setting is, depends on other factors like if the engine is at normal operating temperature, whether the engine temperature is too high, if the transmission temperature is too high, if the idle speed is getting too high or too low and the ISC can't control it adaquatly. It is set to a fixed setting though, unlike when you have your foot on the throttle in which case the ignition timing changes as load, temp, throttle position, knock sensor, air flow all change. It sets/locks the timing at the idle because otherwise the revs would hunt around as the airflow changed making the timing change making the revs change making the air... you get the idea I hope. There is also another system in place in the throttle position sensor which is a variable resistor linked to the butterfly shaft, this sends varying voltage to the ecu as you move the throttle. That voltage is used to calculate the appropriate fuel mixture and ignition timing for the conditions and load at the time. The varying voltage also has a second function, it is monitored not only to see what voltage it is at, but also to see how fast it is changing. The rate and direction of change is used in the ecu to calculate whether you are putting your foot on or off the throttle and how fsat you are putting it down or off. This calculated figure is factored in to the fuel mixture to overcome the lag in airflow caused by inertia of the air in the manifold. So... When you adjust your TPi, you should firstly adjust it to set the contacts to close at the right position of the throttle. You should do that with a multimeter. Then you should check the swing of the variable resistor is still within the recommended voltage range. If both figures/settings aren't correct you can get problems. Hope all that makes sense and helps. There is always a reason for there being a recommended way of doing things, even if it's not always obvious to us.

As has been hinted at here, you really should be looking at anything that will cause a missfire on one cylinder. So it almost certainly won't be O2 or knock sensors. Plugs, leads, compressions, injector. Those are the logical things to check first. Most of the other things will cause trouble codes of their own or they will cause multiple missfire codes.