I'm new to this forum, own a 97 Outback with 105,000. My car must be completely warmed up, no matter what the outside temperature, before I can drive it. If the engine is cold and I attempt to drive anywhere, the car completely dies under any load (even the smallest hill defeats it). I lose all power, the engine shuts down, the check engine light comes on and sometimes goes off but often stays on. I have had numerous trips to the garage and dealer but the diagnostic only shows a failure, not what caused the failure. I have had a new oxygen sensor, oil pump, battery, spark plugs and wires, ignition...over $3600 in repairs in the past 10 months.

 

Does anyone recognize this problem and have a solution? If I have to let the car warm up for 5 minutes before driving, so be it, but I don't want to ignore a potentially serious problem.

 

Thanks!

When the check engine light comes on codes are stored in the computer - these codes are related to a specific sensor that has an error in reading. The codes almost always tell you exactly what is wrong, or at least give you clues of what to check. Get the codes pulled and ask them to tell you the codes - some autozone stores will pull the codes for free, or some dealers are nice enough to pull the codes as well. My wild guess at your problem is the coolant temperature sensor, or cam sensor. Get the codes, it sounds like your shops are not telling you the whole story - ask them the #'s of the codes and what they think the problem is.

Maybe a bad temp sensor is telling the ECU the engine is warmed up all the time? Try a search for temp sensor - evidently they can fail in 2 different modes.

I'd say temp sensor as well. They're like a $20 item or so. not very expensive.

 

here's a pic

 

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8080/subaru/images/injectors/DCP_2477.JPG