well i helped a friend buy a 1990 legacy wagon under the condition i would help him get it running properly. it had an idle problem. I removed and cleaned the IAC valve and that seemed to help a bunch but the car was still struggling to start in the cold. i replaced the coolant temp sensor and that didn't seem to help. When we start the car when not warmed up the engine revs up to about 1500-2000 rpm then drops to almost zero and wants to stall, my friend said when he goes to start the car in the morning it will acualy die, were my 91 legacy will hold the RPM's up and slowly lower them down to idle his car won't. is there anything else i could loook at. WHen the car is warm it runs fine. its only under startup when the motor isn't warmed up.

is the check engine light on at all?? or has it been in the past?

have you tried to pull any stored codes??

 

that would be the first place to start...

Check all the hose connections, to and from PCV, IACV, and so on...

Check all the hose connections, to and from PCV, IACV, and so on...

 

i looked to find the conectors so i could pull any codes but they were not were they are suposed to be, the wiring under the dash looked terrable, a factory alarm system looked to have been installed i couldn't find the conectors like my car has. all the hoses seem to be were they are suposed to be. like i said the car idles fine.. but it won't hold a high idle on startup like its suposed to, so it will stumble and die before its warmed up. maybe if i tried to rest the pcm by unplugging the battery.. maybe it has some sort of memory.:-\

disconnecting the battery, at best, is a temporary fix.

 

if there is a problem, one needs to find out what it is, and the best place to start looking is the stored codes.

then, if you must, disconnect the battery...

 

you say the wiring is a mess - did you find the connectors at all?? and how much of a "mess" is it really?

 

my new to me FSM for the 90 Legacy shows the connectors to be just to the right of the steering column, when in fact, on my car, they are in the far left corner...had a heck of a time getting to mine - dont think they had ever been used before and were taped up in the main harness. took a bit of effort to get them loosened up enough to be able to plug them in.

disconnecting the battery, at best, is a temporary fix.

 

if there is a problem, one needs to find out what it is, and the best place to start looking is the stored codes.

then, if you must, disconnect the battery...

 

you say the wiring is a mess - did you find the connectors at all?? and how much of a "mess" is it really?

 

my new to me FSM for the 90 Legacy shows the connectors to be just to the right of the steering column, when in fact, on my car, they are in the far left corner...had a heck of a time getting to mine - dont think they had ever been used before and were taped up in the main harness. took a bit of effort to get them loosened up enough to be able to plug them in.

 

i'll look again when i see the car next, its not giving me any check engine light at all.