delli50 Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 the perpetrator is a "96 legacy brighton automatic with a 2.2 litre engine. it has 270,000 kilometres on it. that's about 162,000 miles. earlier i had a starting problem when the car was warm but cured it by replacing the cam angle and crank angle sensors. it ran well for about a month. i just got the car about 2 months ago. i do most of my own work, but my experience is with vw/audi. the check engine light is on, but this is from an earlier problem with an engine miss that i solved with new wires. so, to the problem.... the car stranded my daughter on friday night. it started to run poorly and stalled. she was able to coast into a parking lot. it briefly started and she was able to park it in the lot. i went to get her and it would not start, but turned over freely. the next morning, it still would not start, so i left it. vcam back at night and it stated right up but only rann for about 20 seconds. even after the engine was shut off and the key removed from the ignition, there was a buzzing coming from under the dash, but this too only lasted about 20 seconds. it reoccurred after trying to start the car again. i also put in a new temp sensor and semp guage sending unit when i got the car home. originally it still would not start, but after a few trys it started and seems to run fine at idle. i took it for a run and it stalled shortly after leaving the house but started right up. it had no power on a slight hill on my drive, but i got it back home. in the reiveway it was buzzing again and i noticed that the radio is not working. i did see the radio flash on for an instant and then go dead. this all has me puzzled. if it were a vw, i would suspect a fuel pump, but the buzzing and electrical problems have me puzzled. any and all thoughts are appreciated. regards, mark got it home and checked the cam and crank angle sensors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Almost sounds like you have a short, or the ECU is tweaking out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delli50 Posted May 24, 2006 Author Share Posted May 24, 2006 Almost sounds like you have a short, or the ECU is tweaking out. anyone else with any ideas before i start tearing into this car. where isa the ecu located? are there any tests that i can conduct? regards, mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 The ecu is located under the passenger foot well/rest area. I know you said the check engine light was on, but have resolved that issue, or is it still a problem? What is the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delli50 Posted May 24, 2006 Author Share Posted May 24, 2006 [the cel is still on from an earlier problem that was resolved. there was a miss in cyl #2 that i resolved with new wires. the cel is still on because i don't have a code scanner to remove it and the auto parts stores here in canada don't do it for you for free. i'll look at the car tomorrow and report on any findings. regards, mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 rumor has it that if you disconnect the battery cable for about 30 minutes the computer will clear any stored codes, then when your cel comes on you know it's for a current problem. however , i would record the stored codes before clearing them. so you will have some history. [the cel is still on from an earlier problem that was resolved. there was a miss in cyl #2 that i resolved with new wires. the cel is still on because i don't have a code scanner to remove it and the auto parts stores here in canada don't do it for you for free. i'll look at the car tomorrow and report on any findings. regards, mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 soft reset (clear codes) is thirty seconds by disconnecting the negative cable, but most people do it 30 minutes. Hard reset is over night, which wipes out the memory of the learned driving habits. I would check the other thing that can stop the car from starting, the engine temp sensor for the ECU. But first check to see if you have spark. If you do the temp sensor is fine, then look at the fuel pump relay. The buzzing you heard could be a dying fuel pump relay. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delli50 Posted May 25, 2006 Author Share Posted May 25, 2006 thanks for everyone's suggestions. i put a new engine temp sensor into the car a couple of nights ago. i also disconnected the battery's negative cable for about 1 hour. the cel is still on. i haven't had a chance to look deeper into the repair manual or the car. i hope to do that on the weekend. i'll disconnect the battery overnight to see if i can reset the cel. i guess that i need to buy a code scanner. i have read that most scanners for obd 2 will read the code on all cars except bmw, mercedes, vw/audi and subaru. guess what? i drive subaru and vw products. i'm hoping that it's only the newer subarus that they can't read and i will be able to pull the codes on my "96. mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted May 25, 2006 Share Posted May 25, 2006 thanks for everyone's suggestions.i put a new engine temp sensor into the car a couple of nights ago. i also disconnected the battery's negative cable for about 1 hour. the cel is still on. i haven't had a chance to look deeper into the repair manual or the car. i hope to do that on the weekend. i'll disconnect the battery overnight to see if i can reset the cel. i guess that i need to buy a code scanner. i have read that most scanners for obd 2 will read the code on all cars except bmw, mercedes, vw/audi and subaru. guess what? i drive subaru and vw products. i'm hoping that it's only the newer subarus that they can't read and i will be able to pull the codes on my "96. mark You dont have to buy one, you can rent one from autozone or other big name auto part houses. They should have the proper reader. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delli50 Posted May 25, 2006 Author Share Posted May 25, 2006 You dont have to buy one, you can rent one from autozone or other big name auto part houses. They should have the proper reader. nipper no autozone or the like here in canada. i've never heard of any business scanning for free or renting a scanner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3Pin Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 I hit the net and bought a actron obdii reader and it cost me about $50 US. It was a CP 9125 and is the most basic reader. Reads and resets though and has saved me tons of time and dough so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcspeer Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Wal mart has a scanner for under 100.00 dollars that works great, it is made by Innova and it is digital OBDll. Mine has 3100 in top right corner I guess that is model number. It comes with a really good manual also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delli50 Posted May 26, 2006 Author Share Posted May 26, 2006 thanks for the tips on purchasing a code reader. as an update, the cel is now out on my legacy. started it up yesterday and was surprised to see that it is now out. the car still accellerates poorly though. i'll have to check to see if there is a stored code. funny thing too... the power to the radio is intermittant and the speedo does not seem to be working now. it must be an electrical speedo. so it seems that i may have some electrical problems. i hate when that happens. i'd much rather do "bull" work on my cars than chase down electrical problems. regards, mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delli50 Posted May 29, 2006 Author Share Posted May 29, 2006 had another look at the car. as i said on friday, i was noticing some weird electrical problems. tried to start the car and found that the battery was low, so i hooked up the charger. it didn't eem to be charging. had a closer look and the positive battery cable wasn't all that tight. spent some time cleaning that up and got it back on and tight. hooked up the battery charger and now it is taking a charge. i think that this was my problem. i always look for the hardest thing first usually. got lucky this time. i do make work for myself though. i thought that i would shampoo the engine so that it would be easier to work on. it came out beautifully, but ran like crap afterward. i blew the engine off with compressed air but it still ran poorly. pulled the plug wire and found that the metal connector was left on the plug to #1 cylinder....so that's my next job.....to straighten that out. i think though that i may be able to solve my problem. regards, mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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