My mom's '98 Legacy 5-spd (110K miles) has been acting up this past week. At various times, it has been hard to start. The engine turns over, but not enough to start the car. Other times, it just stumbles and dies when trying to turn over. Whether it's cold or warmed up has no bearing. She's had trouble right away in the morning and also when it's warmed up too. Once it stalled out on her as she was idling at a traffic light. On Friday, my dad drove it all day and every time he started it he had no problems. Now, today it's acting up again. He took it up to our mechanic on Friday for them to look at it. They thought it could be the cam/crank angle sensor or the MAF sensor; they scanned it and came up with no codes, no CEL or anything abnormal other than a slightly higher than normal coolant temp indicating the need for a new T-stat (that will get done on Tuesday's oil change).So, my question to you is, what could it be? Bad gas? A starter going bad, a loose connection somewhere? Like I said, the car is going in again on Tuesday for service, just wondered if anyone had any thoughts or ideas. Obviously something isn't right if some days it starts fine and others it dies.Thanks,Brian M.

A bad colant temp sensor can cause hard starting, but the stalling is a different story. The temp sensor can fail and that will make the car think it's warm all the time, so that it doesn't start when it is really cold instead of hot.

 

What other checks have you done?

 

Have you checked to see if it has spark when it is cranking but not starting?

How fast is it cranking? Does it sound slower than normal, or does it crank regular speed and just not start? How old is the battery? Is there corrosion on the battery terminals? Are the positive and negative clamps tight?

 

Check the Idle air control motor. It may need to be cleaned out. If you turn the A/C on while the engine is idling, does the engine speed up, or slow down?

The battery is only 4 months old. Spark plug wires are 6 months old, spark plugs were put on at 90,000. It cranks at regular speed and sounds normal. Wouldn't things like the IAC or thermal temp sensor throw a code? I had a thermal temp sensor go bad in my car and the only difference in performance was a lack of power and the CEL... it started and ran fine.

 

I'll look at the battery and clamps, but my guess is they're pretty clean and tight since the battery is so new.

 

Thanks for your input,

Brian M.

I had similar symptoms awhile back. Seems like it was a series of small problems that build up and don't always trigger a CEL.

 

Cleaned the MAF sensor wires (gently!), removed the IACV and cleaned it thoroughly, replaced a vacuum hose that had dried out and cracked and put in a new engine coolant temperature sensor. Car has been running beautifully ever since. Might be worth a try.

 

Good luck.

Four things come to mind here (I remember my '98 L)

 

Alternator was recalled for that year. Is yours going out again?

 

My battery cable-connections looked fine until I removed the terminal clamps; what a surprise! Green, chalky corrosion between the individual wires that make up the cable.

 

Ignition switch began to fail at 70,000. I didn't know it at the time, but at 72,000 the switch completely failed and starter motor stuck on and cranking whith the engine running even with the key out of the ignition (know which fuse is the main fuse.)

 

You changed your battery four months ago? Is that when problem began? I blew the computer on mine while charging it after i bumped the parking light switch on top of the steering column. Sub techs replaced two plug wires, cleaned the fuel injectors and kept it in the shop for two days before nailing it down to the computer. I mean, so much for "blowing a code".

 

Good luck.

Juan

Start simple : fuel filter(s). A piece of floating gunk can cause intermittent problems as it floats freely until it gets stuck, then the engine cuts out and suction decreases, releasing the gunk, and fuel flows again & repeats. I had the same intermittent problems on my truck. I had a garage do a whole wack of stuff on my way home from a long trip; they did a diagnostic and suggested wires, cap, rotor, sparks,which I agreed to, 10 miles down the road, the symptoms appeared again, so I limped 150 miles home. When I got home, I took it to my mechanic and he replaced the fuel filter: $5, $15 to install, and it fixed the problem. All those other suggestions are good, but eliminate the simple, cheap stuff first. It cost me $200 to learn that.

Yes, cleaning the MAF sensor as suggested by Olnick is another cheap and easy starting point.

You're right, 1Sub. I guess that is what the Subie techs were doing before they decided to replace the 'computer'.

 

Juan

Guess I should update: The mechanics at our independend Subie garage had the car for a whole day, and were pretty sure it was the cam/crank angle sensors, so they replaced them. The car has started fine ever since. They kept our old ones in case they weren't the problem, and will adjust our bill accordingly, and keep trying to solve the problem.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

Brian M.