Hey everyone, new hear and new to this Loyale it's a 94 5 speed with 200K on the clock I have no idea about the history of the vehicle, but when I bought it ($400) bucks I knew it needed a couple of things front y pipe being one of the most noticeable loud as hell, and from the age I assumed an O2 sensor. Well those parts are on order and should be here soon, but this new problem has me scratching my head. When the car is fully warmed up it will slowly drop the idle speed to where it spits and sputters and sometimes stalls. It will start right back up and never does it while driving but it's just annoying to be setting somewhere and have your car sound like it's coughing it's last breathe. I'm thinking either an idle control motor issue or an EGR valve but as both of these are high priced items at my local Automart I wanted to get some advice on this before I sink the money into it. I bought the car because although it has a couple of dents on the rear quarter and a few nickel size surface rust spots on the quarter and doors from the dents the under side of the car is almost rust free something rare for a 16 year old Suby in Vermont so I want to keep her going. Any help appreciated also how do I read the codes, wheres the connector and what pins to ump etc... etc...? Thanks for any help.

If you search you'll find how to read codes.

About it running crappy, try the easy things first. Replace the ignition stuff. Disty cap, rotor, wires and plugs. Good chance they're all in pretty bad condition, and a pretty cheap upgrade. It made an incredible difference on my car just replacing cap and rotor!

If that doesn't clear it up, timing could be off, but try the easy stuff first.

Sorry left out some stuff, I replaced the cap, rotor, wires, plugs and coil (Accel) and air filer when I got the car less than 600 miles ago. Also today when this stalling issue got more pronounced I also replaced the fuel filter and put in a can of Sea Foam in the tank with 10 gallons of non ethanol super. Also took off the idle air control motor and it was pretty greasy so I sprayed it clean with Sea Foam and put it back on thought it was better until it got to operating temp again then it did the same idle dropping and stalled. Can anyone here tell me if a coolant temp sensor could cause this and if so where is it on the engine. I don't have a manual yet as the local store had to order it.

A factory service manual is your friend, well worth the price and usually ebay is a good source. Im asuming it has an ea82 engine.

Heres a link to download a fsm covering the engine, cooling, electrical and fuel system( thus everything about pulling and understanding codes etc) consider it a stop gap until you get the entire fsm.

Cheers, Mark

http://www.ch601.org/engines.htm

Thanks for the link yah its a SPFI EA82 and that manual is an awesome start been reading through it for over an hour. Tomorrow I will be taking off the EGR and checking that according to the manual and replacing all the old vacuum lines just for good measure and see how that goes still haven't gotten to the code pulling, but I'm sure I will before the nights out.

Edited June 4, 201015 yr by thomasakehoe
Added info.

Thanks for the link yah its a SPFI EA82 and that manual is an awesome start been reading through it for over an hour. Tomorrow I will be taking off the EGR and checking that according to the manual and replacing all the old vacuum lines just for good measure and see how that goes still haven't gotten to the code pulling, but I'm sure I will before the nights out.

 

Cool! I relied on the same manual until I found the complete manual set for my cars, 45.00 on ebay for 2 books about 2" thick each.

Mark

They pop up here as well. Picked mine up for $25 from a member here. All 3 sections too! Keep an eye out in the classifieds.

Will do... I'm looking through the diagrams (a lot to look through) but I only see one coolant temp sensor does this sensor send signal to both the gauge and the ECM? Most of my newer cars have 2 sensors one that is just the gauge sender and one that is for the ECM to help control engine timing, fuel mapping etc.... Just curious as my gauge moves, but seems like it might read a little low as it never hits the halfway mark. I just haven't had this car very long and don't know what's normal. I'm kind of kicking myself now I just got rid of a 97 Legacy because I lost the title before I had a chance to get it registered and couldn't get it replaced. Would have been a perfect donor for an EJ22 swap. LOL

Temp sounds normal, mine comes up about an 1/8th of the way up the gauge at most...

Yah same as mine maybe a little higher going up steep grades. Well I found the answer to my question about the temp sensors. Both are in the thermostat housing one is a single spade type connector going to the gauge and the other has 2 pig tail connectors running into the ECM. I found the one one prong sensor and thought I'd call in to get a price and when the guy at Advance Auto Parts told me it was $115 bucks I chuckled and said thanks but I'll wait so as I couldn't believe the price I went online to a factory Suby parts site and found one listed as a temp sending unit under Chasis electrical for like 25 bucks sounded better and then found the one for the ECM listed as a coolant temperature sensor listed under Powertrain electrical for like 40 bucks. So without having any parts to replace today I replaced all the vacuum lines around the throttle body and canister etc.... No change, then I went back in and looked through the e-manual I got from the above link and found that there was an idle adjustment screw, which I was surprised it being fuel injected. So I went out started it and quickly ran around and carefully turned in the screw an 1/8th at a time (watch out for belts and fan) and I get the idle to stay around 8-850 RPM. Still has a hint of bounce but not where you can see the needle swing up and down.

Probably not as important as it is for the turbo charged ea82's, but typically an older subaru L will run about 1/4 gauge on the temp. The fsm lists operating temp ( as I recall ) at 209 +/- 14 degrees. I would recommend a temp sender replacment. I know a few people that have done this and all of a sudden there running 1/2 scale etc. Hope im not qouting ea82t specs, its been awile. I installed an aux gauge and sender tapped into my water pump by pass hose to the heater and find 190 to 200 normal, and my gauge still sits at 1/4 scale.

Cheers, Mark

Yah it will be replaced soon. I'm going to pull them both and check resistance against the manual specs. Then replace as necessary.