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1996 Subaru Legacy Outback Stalling at 1 Mile or 5 Minutes

Dear All,

I have a 1996 Subaru Legacy Outback with 100,000 miles that has begun to stall after driving approximately 1 mile or 5 minutes the first time each day. The Check Engine light comes on and may stay on for a while (but it eventually turns itself off) and the engine begins to run very rough (as if on maybe 2 or 3 of the 4 cylinders). If you can shift the automatic transmission into neutral fast enough and step on the gas hard, you may be able to avoid the stall, but its a hit or miss situation. When the stall occurs all batery powered items seem fine (no lights dimming or anything). After it gets its almost daily stall out of the way, it seems to run fine for the rest of the day. There are some days when this does not happen, but its rare especially since it has been below freezing each night and I have been driving in the early part of the day. Would you have any idea what could be causing this?

Thank you, snipped-for-privacy@aol.com

Reply to
Uraprat
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First thing you should do is to see what trouble codes are now stored in the ECU.

Reply to
johninKY

I agree. Check the codes first. I had a problem similar to this and it ended up being the Coolant Temperature sensor. I have a 1995 Legacy L 2.2

john> First thing you should do is to see what trouble codes are now stored in

Reply to
rwessley

I'm having a similar problem with my 1982 GL Wagon. On days where the temperature is approx 30-45 deg in the morning it starts and runs fine for about the first mile or so and then every time we come to a stop it won't maintain idle and conks out. After about 3-4 miles it runs usually fine although now and then it will exhibit the problem further down the road. On mornings when the temperature is cold, even below zero the problem usually doesn't show up. Sure would like to find the soure of this problem. Ideas?

Reply to
Ed Fortmiller

These symptoms you describe for your 82 GL Wagon sound very similiar to a condition known as Carb Freezing.

At near freezing temperature, the air entering the carbs carries with it some moisture; as the air is accelerated, it's temperature drops below freezing. The moisture in the air freezes, disrupting the flow, and the car stalls. After sitting for a few minutes, the carbs warm up enough from engine heat to melt the ice, and the engine will start again. I've heard about this happening more on motorcycles than on cars.

It doesn't occur below freezing because the air is not crossing over from above freezing to below freezing.

Reply to
ujduche

But it doesn't have to sit a few minutes to get the restart. As SOON as it dies it can easily be restarted however one needs to push on the gas pedal a little to keep the idle up and th engine running.

If it is indeed some sort of carb freezing issue what is the fix?

Reply to
Ed Fortmiller

If that's the case...

Most model cars have a small anti-freeze line that runs through the intake area just prior to the carbs to pre-heat that cold winter air just a scosh more so it doesn't freeze due to the ventuir effect and cause carb-icing.... I would ensure that it wasn't "bypassed", a common technique used by many to get a little colder air in for those hot (think Texas in the summer) climates where warming the air further is just nonsense.

Mike

Reply to
Mike

On the 82: Well I just discovered that the vacuum motor which controls whether heated or fresh air enters the air cleaner is bad. When the engine first starts it should allow heated air to enter the air cleaner. Not sure if that will fix my problem but since it is defective and is leaking vacuum I'll start with that.

Reply to
Ed Fortmiller

Have the MAF sensor checked out. I had similar issues (with a few others) for about a month untill it crapped out on me. Look into a used part now, unless you want to pay full price for a new one. My used one cost 1/5 of new and is running fine (knock on wood).

-SC

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Reply to
SnatchCritic

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