Josh - Thanks so much for your input. You recommended a coolant temperature sensor for my 95 legacy, which I ordered from the place you suggested. I put it in, and the starting difficulty and smoking are cleared up. I also ordered and replaced the fuel filter and air filter while I was at it. I'm afraid I'm back to my original problem though. This morning when I first took the car out, shifting from 4th to 5th, it started chugging and the check engine light began blinking. I pulled off the road and let it idle. After about 20 seconds the engine seemed to even out and the engine light stopped blinking, just stayed on steady. I started out again and everything seemed fine. It ran well the rest of the day. I've still noticed a bit of a gasoline smell when I start the car. One other thing, while I was searching for the coolant temperature sensor I unplugged what I believe my Haynes manual called a camshaft sensor. It seemed to have a clear-looking liquid settled in the bottom portion of the connector. I know next to nothing about cars but it seemed odd that an electrical connector would have any liquid in it. I'd appreciate any advice you or others can give me.

 

ORIGINAL POST:

I have a 1995 legacy wagon that I bought about two years ago. It now has 174,000 miles. It started chugging a bit going up a hill one day; check engine light came on then went out. I took it to a repair shop and they put in a fuel filter. Next time I took it to a foreign car repair shop and they put in a knock sensor. It started happening more when going up hills, pulling out into traffic, and the idle seemed to go wild after starting on occasion. Took it to AutoZone - check engine light read misfire. A Subaru owner recommended using a gas additive to remove any water and a basic tuneup, plugs and wires, etc., which I did. Next, I took it to a new repair shop close to my home - they kept it for three days but couldn't find a problem. They said engine was in great shape. I decided I'd just drive the poor thing until it really got bad before taking it back. Well, the time has come. First thing in the morning it doesn't want to start at all. It keeps trying to turn over, like a dead battery acts. If I give it a bunch of gas it'll finally chug over and spit out a cloud of whitish, gassy-smelling smoke. It chugs a bit and idles a bit high the first few stops I make. After that it runs great. If I go to start it up again right after turning if off, it turns right over, no need to punch the gas, no smoke. I was hoping to get some ideas of things I could test or replace myself before putting it back in the shop. Thanks for any help you can give me.

well first thing I would do is go to autozone or some place like that to get the code pulled. There's no sense in trying to guess what the problem is. The CEL is on, so there's a code stored.

 

The cam sensor is on the opposite side of the engine that the coolant temp sensor is.....so it's probably not that....

 

check the codes and we can go from there in trying to troubleshoot.

Hey, eleliz, where in FL are you? Still tryin to meet Subie owners around here

 

I might also be able to help you. Not diagnose the problem so much as to help you fix it... I also agree to pull that CEL code, that's almost assuredly it...

Well, I finally made it AutoZone. The code read 0301 cylinder #1 misfire, which is what it read before the new plugs and wires and before I had it in the shop last time. I remember the mechanic saying he thought he might try swapping fuel injectors and seeing if the misfire showed up on a different cylinder, but the injector was stuck and he was afraid it might break and he didn't have a spare. The previous owner said he thought the check engine light might come on for an upstream O2 sensor; he said he replaced the downstream sensor but not the upstream sensor. This was before I knew what the code was. Thanks for the offer of help subyluvr2212, but I'm afraid I'm not in your area. I'm way up in the panhandle near Panama City.

misfire could be plugs, wires, injectors, coil (probably not so much coil), or just carbon or gunk build up.

 

Unfortunately without digging into things some more it's a little hard to tell.

Dang it, too far away

 

As always, start cheap first. New plugs and wires, and maybe an engine cleaner of some sort, worry about expensive stuff if the cheap doesn't solve the problem...

Do you still have the fuel smell? If so, it would be cool if next time the poor running condition presented itself you could pull #1 plug to see if it was wet with fuel. Can an injector stick open intermittently?

 

just a WAG

 

Carl

1 Lucky Texan