94 legacy problem...

Hi all.

Haveing a problem with my daughters car, hoping for some insight from you guys. It is a 1994 Subaru Legacy, 2.2L fuel injected.

Here's the symptoms:

A while back had a bit of a rough idle and an intermittent "Check Engine" light. First substantially cold day we had (single digits F) she went out to start it up and no-go. Cranked and cranked, but would not kick over. I took a look at it later in the day. It acts the same, cranks but will not fire. I notice that both electric radiator fans are running in spite of the fact that the engine is stone cold. Hmmm. Suspecting frozen fuel lines, I spritz a shot of Magic Starting Juice into the air intake. I crank for a second, the engine fires, runs rough for a few seconds then smoothes out and continues to run. Idles and runs OK. The CE light is now on solid. Turn it off and it acts the same, won't start. I start it again using magic juice, let it warm up, then it shut it off. Try again, and it starts.

The next morning, it again won't start when cold. The fans are running. Nobody around here seems to have a code reader for a 94 OBD1 subaru. Again it starts with a bit of ether. I have a Chilton manual, but it is about zero help with extracting the codes. It does (sort of) describe a procedure, but gives no pinout of the connector. No help. I have not fouund that info on line as of yet, perhaps my Googling skills are slipping. I theorize that the engine temp sensor is bad and the computer thinks the engine is hot, thus running the fans (fans are controlled by the engine computer) and NOT suppling the extra rich mixture for a cold start. I replaced the temp sensor, nothing changed.

Any ideas? Any guidance as to how to read the codes?

I appreciate any help.

Thanks in advance, AL

Reply to
Al A.
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Sounds like classic Engine Temp Sensor. NOT the coolant gauge sender. It tells the ecu the engine is cold so it will send more fuel through the injectors on cold starts. Probably bad (or broken wire,etc.) Evidently, it is feeding the ECU infor that the engine is hot - that's likely why the fan is always on and you have hard cold starting.

carl

Reply to
Carl 1 Lucky Texan

Carl, Thanks for taking the time to reply. The sensor i changed is the one you mentioned. I verified that it was not the gauge sender. I am hoping to get a chance to check out the wiring to the ECU today. If that checks out, I hate coming to the conclusion that the ECU if defective, I'm guessing that it is expensive. Not sure how to verify that short of swapping it out.

I appreciate the reply. Thanks, Al A.

Reply to
Al A.

FWIW, I have never personally seen an ECU fail except when they got wet. If you do happen to reach that point, you should find an ECU with a 30 day warranty (long enough to determine there is no hidden defect) at wrecking yards for around $100 US.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

I just looked for a direct link to Legacy 777's website and couldn't immediately find it. But, he can be found on the forums at

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and has procedures for code retrieval on your model I believe. Those guys over there have much more experience than I do, and if no one here has more ideas for you, try posting on the forum.

Carl

Reply to
Carl 1 Lucky Texan

Thanks again. I have not had time to work on this much, hoping to find some time tomorrow, if the weather is not too bad. Someone on another newsgroup sent me some links to check out. I'll let you know what I find.

Thanks again!

AL A.

Reply to
Al A.

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