Hello everyone. I just bought a 1990 subaru legacy, i believe its an L? (roll ups, 5speed, no pdl)

 

Anyway, the car idles extremely low(around 450-500rpm) and from 500rpm to 1500 rpm, if you give the car more than 1/10th pedal travel (1/2,2/3 or floored) it will stall out and not rev up. If you hold it to about 1/10th till it gets to about 1500 rpm, then you can rev it as hard as you want, except that it won't rev over about 5000rpm.

 

The CEL flashes every couple of seconds, it doesnt really have any problems starting. I havent actually driven the car to see if it acts any different under load, but either way it shouldnt be doing that and would be rather difficult to drive in traffic

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated, I think the first thing im going to try is gutting the catalytic converter and replacing the fuel filter.

May have a vacuum leak, among many possibilites.

 

Put a new catalytic converter on it, it's there for a reason. No, I'm not a tree hugger, but every little bit helps.

I would rather hack the old one first and determine if thats even the problem ;o

 

As im eventually considering a swap of some sort, it wouldnt make sense for me to buy a new cat for the cars original configuration.

If the CEL is flashing there is a code stored in the computer. Pull the codes via the information on my site.

 

Once you've done that. Reset the computer, drive the car, if you get the CEL again, pull the codes and compair them to what you pulled earlier.

The engine stumble/ problem off idle wouldn't be caused by the Cat. The stumble off idle and the limit revving are probably being causeed by the same thing.

 

Important question. Does it stop revving at 5000RPM as if it is bouncing off a rev limiter, or does is slowly make it's way up to 5000 and just not want to go any higher?

 

Either way, the first thing is to get the CEL codes out and take a look. The computer obvoisly thinks there is a problem, and only OBDII cars car give you a CEL if it thinks something is wrong with the cat. My father is driving a 91 Legacy with about 250,000 miles on the original cat, my brother has a 91 legacy with over 200,000 miles on the original cat.... I could list a lot more, but my point is that I highly doubt the cat. They are too expensive to replace for no reason, or just on a hunch.

 

Keith

It sounds like the MAF pinched a loaf.

 

 

But pull the codes. Only way to be sure.

It sounds like the MAF pinched a loaf.

 

 

But pull the codes. Only way to be sure.

 

That's what I think, but I didn't want to say it and be wrong

It revs up rather quickly (like a legacy normally would, i assume) and seems to bog near 5000-5500 and just wont go any higher. I havent actually picked the car up yet, tomorrow (today since its 2:33am ;o) will be the day when i get to start actually working on it.

 

I think my current car is pissed off at me for buying another "daily driver", the alternator or voltage regulator quit on me an hour or so ago . Thx for your help, any more suggestions of things to check will be much appreciated.

:edit: also, could it be out of time, like jumped a tooth or so on the belt?

 

I had an 87 GL wagon several years ago that the passenger side timing belt broke, yet the car would still run and drive, albeit on 2cyl, and it felt somewhat similar to this. The EJ22 is a non-interference engine isnt it?

Jumping a tooth is possible, but I think you should check out your ECU codes first. Go to Legacy 777's website and figure out how to pull the codes. It's fairly easy, and you don't need a scantool. You will need a manual to tell you what the codes are. Do this before you do anything else, certainly before you start buying parts and throwing them at it.

 

 

I put a 2.2 ina VW beetle. I had the wrong MAF on it, and the symptoms are very similar to what you describe. It seems to me that this is the problem, but you NEED to pull the codes to determine this.

The only igniton code its pulling is a 35, purge solonoid inoperative, could that cause the car to feel like it is? i actually drove it extensively today, it has absolutely no power, the more gas you give it, the less it accelerates. When it falls back to idle, it can stall sometimes, and when you give it gas it bogs until ~1100-1200 rpm. Any suggestions people?

 

 

:edit: oh , also, the car IS NOT driveable without the diagnostic connectors connected (both of them) if you disconnect them, the car will stall or bog out every time you try and take off.

When you connected both connectors (D-check) did you follow the procedure exactly, because it should cause the CEL to blink all clear before you even start the car. If it doesn't, you need to check that code.

 

If you can only drive the car with the connectors connected, you definitely have a problem.