2.2 bucking, rough running, MAF saga....

[bluegrasssboy]

 

The Impreza has been sitting in the drive for a number of weeks now as cold weather and waiting on parts has slowed progress. And yes, those are Wally World hubcaps. But they are MUCH MUCH better than the 5 star fake chrome ones it had on it when I bought it!! It had ran fine for me since I had bought it two years ago. Then one day it started running bad, bucking a lot, dying at idle, hard to start etc... You could start it and it would move, but you couldn't trust taking it anywhere. After some poking around on here I decided to go with a new coil. I replaced the plugs, wires, coil and fuel filter too while I was at it. None of it made any difference. So then I pull the MAF and was cleaning it when I broke it. DOH! Got a used one off ebay and it arrived today. Funny thing this one, it looks just like my old one, the numbers on the side are the same, except for the 4 or 5 digit stamped ones, which I figured were some kind of date code. The plug on the side of my old MAF has 4 male connectors. The one on the ebay has 5. Hmmm. I look at the plug on the car and there's 5 holes, but only 3 female connectors. Ok, so we'll split the difference I guess. So, I clean this one too, but carefully as to not break it. Put it on the car and it runs like crap. It sounded like a briggs and stratton. I go around to the back and the exhaust was pop, pop, pop,pop, pop,pop. Except a lot faster, like a fast idling motorcycle. Now what???? So I cut it off and start poking around, take all the plug wires off the coil and put them back on and start it again and PRESTO, the ol' girl seems right back to normal. I drive it down the street and back- fine. So I drove into town(10 miles) and back. Everything seemed fine. The engine light is on though. Which doesn't surprise me too much cause over the last two years it's been on and off numerous times. Come home, take the neg. bat. cable loose for awhile, put it back, start it up and the light's off of course. While I'm still sitting in it the engine barely bobbled, andthe light came back on but it continued to run fine. Later I ran it back into town just to see how it'd do(I'm paranoid now) and it ran fine. Stopped to fill it up, get back in it and the CEL was out and stayed out all the way home.

 

So, I guess(hope) it's fixed. Looks like it was the MAF after all. I may or may not keep the new coil, I might put it on ebay. That was almost a $100. It took awhile, I figure I got less than $200 in it. It's been a good work car for me. But as my job has changed and I drive everyday for work, I think it's time to upgrade. Thanks for this board and others like it. Thank goodness for the internet.

[Legacy777]

Pull the ECU codes.

 

What year is your impreza? If it's OBD1, the instructions on my site for the legacy should work for your impreza

www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/engine.html

 

Otherwise if it's OBD2, take it to autozone to have the codes pulled.

[Subarian]

Great help file, Legacy777. Is that on the sticky?

[bluegrasssboy]

Pull the ECU codes.

 

Otherwise if it's OBD2, take it to autozone to have the codes pulled.

 

I started to drive it to work today, when I got about 10 miles from the house, sitting at a red light, it was like someone flipped a switch and it started to idle low and rough. When the light turned and I took off it had no power and there was a slight shudder to it. Since the wife was about 10 mins. behind me I just pulled into a parking lot and got in with her. Later this afternoon I got in it and drove it to Autozone, this time it drove fine. They come out and I'm watching they're scanner and up came P1507. that was the only one. Their computer says that is a Idle Air Control Underspeed Error. On the way back to the parking lot, it ran fine. I went to pick the wife up from work, came back to get the Subaru and from the moment it started it was idling rough and had no power and shuddered all the way home.

So, that's where I'm at. The current symptoms are totally different than when it started acting up in the first place. Changing the MAF had something to do with it. Like I've mentioned though, the connector plug on the orginal MAF had 4 male connectors, this one off ebay has 5. But the plug on the wire on the car, while having slots for 5, only has 3 female connections in it. I don't know if this is causing the difference or not

 

Any ideas about the idle air control error?

[lmdew]

Make sure all your hoses are on. If you want to try a different maf, send me a picture of you original and the PN and if the couple I have match, I'll send it to you if you pick up the postage both ways. If it fixes the problem, just send me a fair price. Lmdew@hotmail.com for the pic.

[Legacy777]

Great help file, Legacy777. Is that on the sticky?

 

Not sure, if not, I'll add it.

[Legacy777]

I started to drive it to work today, when I got about 10 miles from the house, sitting at a red light, it was like someone flipped a switch and it started to idle low and rough. When the light turned and I took off it had no power and there was a slight shudder to it. Since the wife was about 10 mins. behind me I just pulled into a parking lot and got in with her. Later this afternoon I got in it and drove it to Autozone, this time it drove fine. They come out and I'm watching they're scanner and up came P1507. that was the only one. Their computer says that is a Idle Air Control Underspeed Error. On the way back to the parking lot, it ran fine. I went to pick the wife up from work, came back to get the Subaru and from the moment it started it was idling rough and had no power and shuddered all the way home.

So, that's where I'm at. The current symptoms are totally different than when it started acting up in the first place. Changing the MAF had something to do with it. Like I've mentioned though, the connector plug on the orginal MAF had 4 male connectors, this one off ebay has 5. But the plug on the wire on the car, while having slots for 5, only has 3 female connections in it. I don't know if this is causing the difference or not

 

Any ideas about the idle air control error?

 

Not sure about the IAC valve error. It's possible it needs to be replaced.

 

As for the 5-pin vs. 4-pin. It shouldn't matter. The Black JECS MAF sensors on the 90-91's I believe had the 5-pins, and then in 92 they went to 4-pin.

 

The reasoning is due to because the first gen legacy had two different MAF sensors. The ECU detects when the incorrect MAF sensor is used by having an extra pin on the MAF that grounds.

 

I believe on the JECS MAF sensor with 5 pins, that pin is not really hooked up to anything. They probably went to the 4-pin setup to save money...or whatever.

 

I've used 4 & 5 pin JECS MAF sensors without any problem.

[bluegrasssboy]

Not sure about the IAC valve error. It's possible it needs to be replaced.

 

 

Today I stopped at AutoZone and bought a PCV valve and a can of SeaFoam. The old PCV was black and cruddy. It still moved around and you could hear it, but it wasn't the nice quick clicking noise the new one made. I proceeded to remove the IAC as well. I've never removed one before so It took a little extra time to just make my way through it and remove other stuff to get them out of my way etc... When it came off, it looked black and dirty too. It wasn't "stuck" though, I could move it. So I sprayed it out. The gasket stayed on the manifold and looked fine so I figured I was alright there. Put it all back together, started it up and poured the SeaFoam into the PCV hose, proably ran about half a can through it. Unhooked the BAT while I messed around outside enjoying the nice weather. Hooked it back up, drove it about 20 miles including about 5 miles of interstate and it acted fine, with no CEL. The problem is all I did was take some stuff apart and put them back together. I just don't trust it. lol The PCV is new, but I wouldn't think that it could have been the cause of all my problems.

 

So, I guess, up for sale it goes. I've already got a couple of folks in the family inquiring about it. I'm sure if this episode gets straightened out it's got quite a few miles left in it. But where I'm a field rep for an insurance company and I travel and visit policy holders everyday -about 600-800 miles a week I need something a little better. It does have a rebuilt title, and hail dings on top of that and bondo on the driver's quarter is cracking open etc.. But for someone that's just looking for cheap travel, it's a heck of a little car. I've gotten 32mpg on highway trips before. And the AC still works. I was looking to buy another Sube, but in my price range, there'd be a lot of the 96-99 2.5's. And reading this list has made me not want to buy any of them.

 

Thanks to the forum and to all who pitch in.