I have a '98 Outback Legacy wagon that has caused nothing but problems for the past 9 months. It will go though periods where it runs just fine and the all of sudden will run extremely rough, It happened today. I started it up at the end of the day to drive downhill on my way from work. The engine light came on and then it started to run very rough. I pulled over and continued on my way. The only problem was that I couldn't get it to go over 45 m.p.h. I pulled over, turned it off, restarted it, and it ran fine. Something similar happened a few weeks ago when I first ran the air conditioner. It completely died when I went downhill. Cleaning the battery terminals took care of this. The plugs and wires are new, gas filter replaced, along with a laundry list of other things. Oh, if my mechanic could only give me frequent flier miles, I'd be writing this from a beach in Tahiti. I'm at his shop more than the parts delivery guy!

When the engine light comes on, it comes back with an undocumented code. What's going on?

Just a wild guess...

 

How old is the battery? Is the charging system up to snuff?

 

Commuter

Battery was just changed 2 weeks ago along with alternator.

I've been reading other posts....what about carbon buildup? What about an o2 sensor? I really don't want to spend more money on this car, but I would like to solve this problem myself.

clamshell4

You might want to look at your MAIN RELAY , this relay controls power to your ECM and to your fuel pump . From what you have decribed it may have a bad connection in it . So when you turn the car of and restart it the relay is triggered again and makes a beter contact than before , and it drives fine until the conact degrades . You say your mechanic has scan for codes but "it comes back with an undocumented code" . Can he not tell you what the code is ?

It should come back with a PO.... or a P1.... if there is a fault in the system

 

SEA#3

Thanks! I'll ask for the code the next time it happens. I really hope that I can get to the bottom of this within the next 10 day. I have a long road trip coming up.

The engine light came on this morning as I was driving to work. Once again it came up with an undocumented code - P1406 or 1407 - can't remember which it was. Any ideas?

clamshell4

I checked the manual for a P1406 or P1407 and there is no code in the manual

Hence the reading your mechanic is getting

The manuals only cover North American vehicles(Im assuming your in N/A)

The area that code falls under though is in the evaporator / fuel tank area of codes

Has the vehicle ever been in an accident? If so where? (Front, back, side)

Does it make a difference how full the gas tank is ? (frequency of trouble)

SEA#3

Try this post. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=17980You are describing exactly what was happening to my car recently. I spent tons of money trying to fix my problem that I could of used to buy a new motor with.

 

mike

I had the engine rebuilt in January when the car had only 81,000 mile. My former mechanic did the timing belt and water pump in the fall. Then I had it towed to his shop in December because it wouldn't start. He replaced the timing belt tensioner. I picked the car up after paying him $400 for the tensioner, ignition coil pack, plugs, wires, etc. I drove less than 2 miles and the head gasket went. He had ti towed back to his shop and told me that I had some sort of timing issue. When he realized the extent of the damage, he changed it to a head gasket issue. I am not convinced that the head gasket caused my problems. I feel that there was something else going on. It runs like crap - ticks like a sewing machine, belts (all replaced) make a lot of noise. I have to keep this car for a few more months.

I think I may have gotten the code wrong. I had no pen with me and may have screwed up the numbers. The car has never been in an accident, to my knowledge anyway. I really should paint it bright YELLOW!