Fabric8r Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Our 2000 Outback has started missing a little bit at idle. Then when you give it the gas, it sputters a bit, then runs fine down the road. If you coast up to a stop light, then it changes to green and you give it the gas, it sputters, coughs, while changing to the lower gear, then runs fine. Air filter is fine. 95,000 miles on the car. Spark plugs were new 5,000 miles ago. Fuel filter new at the same time. Recently put a bottle of injector cleaner in the tank, no change. I took the fuel filter back off and back blew it out with compressed air. No change. Any ideas? Oh, I hosed off the engine the other day at the car wash, and seemed to do it a little worse on the way home. Maybe that indicates a cracked wire? I looked at the plug wires and they look just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabric8r Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 Me again, My Wife drove it to work today, she called and said when it sputtered starting off this morning, the CEL came on. If I tell her to take it to the dealer, will they be able to plug in a code reader and tell what the problem is, since the CEL came on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 yes the dealer can pull the code and charge $75 just for that. advanced auto parts, autozone and other chains will pull the code for free. most likely will be cyilnder mis-fire. replace your spark plugs and wires. use only NGK plugs (factory OEM plugs, but you can get them anywhere) and OEM or Magnecor wires (only aftermarket brand i'd trust on these goofy motors). you'll find a large contingent of members here will suggest OEM plugs and wires and that's for a reason. if they've recently been replaced, make sure they were OEM Subaru spark plug wires, not some off brand. any previous engine work done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabric8r Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 This sputtering/missing at low rpm has been happening for about a month. I actually had the car in to the dealer a week and a half ago. They replaced the head gaskets on warranty, and I had them also do the 105,000 mile service which was timing belt, adjust valves, the other two belts. I thought they might notice the missing when the test drove the car, but didn't. I was also thinking if I run a bottle of injector cleaner, thru, and blow out the gas filter, that might be it. (didn't want to pay the dealer $25.00 for a $2.00 bottle of cleaner) Soooo, since it is getting worse, not better, and since the CEL came on, I just called them and said since I had it in, it was missing, and they scheduled me for Wednesday. We don't have an auto parts store here in town that will read codes, and I would have to probably go to the dealer to get new plug wires anyway, I might as well have them read the code and deal with it. Thanks for your help and advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtsmiths Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 This is what it was in our 2000 Legacy (170,000 mi). Have a read through and see if the symptoms are the same. BTW scanned it several times with an OBDII and no codes came up, it needs the Subaru computer to show up ... how convenient, eh http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=48471&highlight=mtsmiths Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabric8r Posted January 26, 2006 Author Share Posted January 26, 2006 Ended up being the spark plug wires. The Dealer pulled the code, which indicated missing. The #4 plug was a little fowled, and you could hear the clicking near it where the plug wire was arcing. New plug wires (and I went ahead and put new NGK plugs in it) and it's back on the road again. Thanks to "grossgary" for his reply and info. BTW the dealer only charged me $48.00 for the plug wires, not checking out the car or reading the code. The service people here are great! -Kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.