grammajudy

THANK YOU TO THE REPLY BELOW AND FOR FINDING THE PROBLEM. YOU SAVED ME MORE MONEY AND PROBLEMS..THANK YOU THANK YOU. I copied your reply (not your name) and took it to the shop. They found a more experienced mechanic who "got a code" ...(they said they did NOT get a code and tried that before but I doubt that). They did replace it for free. NOW IT STARTS UP BEAUTIFULLY...after years of having to deal with this. So excited. CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH. For those of you who want to know...they replaced the coolant temp sensor......now it works fine. I live in Boise, if I know anyone with a Subaru problem...I am sending them to your shop in Portland. His original post: Elite Master of the Subaru Members 20,934 posts Portland Posted 26 May 2017 - 11:25 PM The dealer should have a select monitor and someone that knows how to use it. They should be checking things like the coolant temp sensor and throttle position sensor live data while wiggling the harness and connectors. Injectors do not need to be replaced - they can be TESTED for proper operation and only the o-rings and insulators replaced. They are "troubleshooting with Visa" and it definitely shows. This is not how it's done. I don't know where you are located, but there are people around that can watch live sensor data on these cars. You need a special SSM to USB cable, a laptop, and the EVOScan software and you can do the important things that a Subaru Select Monitor can do.

Know nothing about mechanical things but has the coolant sensor replaced on mine and now it works fine.

Thank you very much for the great ideas! It seemed to be a less experienced mechanic....When you suggest calling SOA, is that Subaru Owners of America? I will go back to them and suggest what General Disorder suggested: "The dealer should have a select monitor and someone that knows how to use it. They should be checking things like the coolant temp sensor and throttle position sensor live data while wiggling the harness and connectors." The mechanic did not even suggest that for a second. Seems to me that the throttle position sensor would be the thing that would be checked....but again, I don't know. Thank you with all my heart. So glad I found this place. Will let you know how it all ends. grammajudy

Car still doing the same thing after paying a Subaru Dealer Garage a total of $1733...NOT HAPPY! REALLY FEEL SCREWED. After three weeks of this and that's they called and said...it was fine. No problems starting. They are to bring the care around and no one showed..finally I saw the repair manager and the mechanic leaning over the hood with an "Oh SHIP" look. It didn't start without the HARD START (gas pedal to the floor while cranking). Said it might be air intake...so a week later I call. "well it's stared fine every day and we think the problem is gone". I picked it up today....it started fine. Drove for 3 miles, stopped and it needed the hard start again. Drove a little longer. No hard start. Drove a little longer...Hard start. Same problem as before NOTHING different. First a little white smoke comes out, then followed by some black smoke as the car stammers and stutters like chitty chitty bang bang car. Then It is ok. YOU WOULD THINK A SUBARU TRAINED MECHANIC WOULD KNOW, RIGHT? (sorry for yelling). Here is what they did: Replaced 4 fuel injectors, injector spacers, injector rings 8 o rings (two diff kinds)....Labor $345 Parts $715...the reason they wrote? "replaced the failed fuel injectors and o rings causing fuel to fill the cylinders causing a hard start coincident. " Replace Battery and cables : Labor $460 (whatever that is) Battery $122 Battery Cable $100 Terminal $17.82 It took them a month....I have no idea why....they said something about the guy who managed the repair being sick for two weeks....and yet they did not call. Said it was fixed all that time? They want my money, but I could almost hear them groan when I called back to say the problem is still there. Wouldn't you think they would be able to call someone in the Subaru company to get expert advice? I am just sick at spending this much money and it's NOT FIXED. It is EXACTLY THE SAME. By the way...THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH. So would the sensor issue mentioned by Chrisandjoy84 be something a Subaru trained mechanic would know? I know it's an old car but I feel like they just don't care. I even told them I was interested in buying a car...from their lot...wouldn't that kind of make you want to REALLY do a good job? So so discouraged I could cry....in fact...I did a little. I hate getting taken. I'd say who did the work but don't know if the rules allow it.

BTW...it's standard transmission and not a turbo. WHen I do the hard start, I push in the clutch and gas to the floor.

Bought my girl new. 160K miles. Driven about twice a week (little old lady drives to church and to foot doctor and that's about it). She sat from Jan 1 through May 1 during horrible winter when I was ill. My son jumped it and I drove it to Subaru garage because of another ongoing issue. They said I need new battery, terminal cables and terminal fuse box because they cannot get it to start without jumping it. So there goes 800 bucks right from the get go. Ok..we cannot find out what else is wrong unless the thing runs. My old girls leaks oil (needs new gasket) but I keep her full. Same with all the other leaks...Go into Minute Lube about once every two months and they fill up all the leaky places (free). But she has been running wonderfully. EXCEPT...NOW HERE IS THE CORE PROBLEM (Aside from the expensive battery repair). She goes through a monthly cycle of not starting. She will start up fine half the time. Then all of a sudden, she won't start just turns over and over...until I do this: put in neutral, put on emergency brake, push gas almost all the way to the floor, then crank .....then she sputters, and spits and starts with a roar. Smoke pouring out the back. (not black, but gray...I think...hard to see when you are at the wheel). Mind you I only drive about three times a week. So I've been doing this for about 3 years. Finally, I decided to see what was wrong. Naturally, for the mechanic (not a subaru garage) she did not do it. He kept it for two weeks and it started up perfectly every time.My son suggested I go to a subaru dealer who probably know problems this subaru had. I am nervous. I don't want to end up redoing the car completely but so far...800 bucks..not a good sign. You see, my grandson really wants to learn about how to repair cars and this will be his project. He loves anything mechanical. His dad will help him, and I will pay for parts. So if you were to guess ..off the top..what would make a car start perfectly one day and suddenly not the next? Weather is not related to this (does same thing in all kinds of weather, same kind of gas, etc). Once they get it on the diagnostic machine I am sure they will want to do EVERYTHING to it. And I will proceed with caution.