Check Engine Light problem

I have a 2000 Impreza Outback Sport; 43000 miles; Automatic trans

About a week ago the check engine light came on. Checked the manual: I stopped and readjusted the gas cap and it turned off.

Then today I was out running errands and it came on again. So I tried the gas cap trick; no dice. So I headed for home. About 2/3 of the way there (driving about 5 miles); the Check Engine Light started blinking

What is the most likely problem? Can I drive it to the repair shop (about a mile and a half from my house) or should I have it towed if I start engine and the light still blinks

Other problem noticed was that the car drives smoothly at 40 to 50 MPH but when stopped at traffic lights idles real rough like it could die at any moment. Never had any idle problems before with this car

Thanks for any advice

Reply to
Torris Abu Kir
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Disclaimer: I am not a mechanic and this is not mechanic's advise.

If it were my car and the oil pressure and water temp were ok, I'd probably try do drive it. What's the worst that could happen? Assuming a too-rich mixture, maybe a damaged cat or oxygen sensor. I could be wrong about this so you're on your own.

As to the most likely problem, it's impossible to say. That's what the trouble codes are for and there must be about 100 of them.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

Reply to
Edward Hayes

A blkinking CEL indicates a serious condition, and the car should be driven as little as possible. A solid CEL is just a pollution control problem.

Reply to
Alan

Could it be a muffler problem?

Torris

Torris

Reply to
Torris Bin Drinken

Is it just the idle that is "rough?" What exactly do you mean by "rough?" Are the idle RPM higher than usual? Also, on some imprezas, the gas cap sometimes fails to reset the engine light. In this case you can try disconnecting the battery lead and reconnecting it. It's been known to work. If the light indicates a serious problem, it will come back on, anyway.

Reply to
Stripes

Rough as in at stop lights the engine was sputtering to almost the point of dying at any moment. From day one my Subaru has purred with next to no sound, vibration whatsover.

I took it into the shop and here is what I had to have replaced:

Ignition coil and ignition coil assembly plus spark plug wires and ignition wire set. B/c I have the extended warranty it only cost me $80 instead of about $300

I asked the service tech if I had done anything wrong to cause this igntion coil to "crack" (his words). He said normal road driving and vibration caused it.

Anyone else run into this repair (Ignition coil) at under 50K miiles?

Torris

Reply to
Torris Bin Drinken

Reply to
Jim Untch

Torris

Reply to
Torris Bin Drinken

Usually, you will have significant reduction in power under load; hills, into the wind, cargo, etc. Plus the exhaust system may get very hot.

Carl

1 Lucky Texan

Torris B> >

Reply to
Carl 1 Lucky Texan

I had a 1999 Impreza RS 2.5 with the same symptoms. The dealer was never able to fix it completely. I eventually had other problems that required the Mass Air Flow sensor to be replaced out to warranty at a cost of $800. As it turned out that also fixed my rough idle so I assume that it was an early symptom of later troubles. The good news is that I was able to recover my costs when Subaru announced a recall and an offer to refund anyone who had had theirs replaced. My advice is to enquire if this recall applies to your car and engine since many of the Subaru models share the same engine. And if it does, insist that they replace it. My later problems when it did finally fail also included damage that I think was caused by the complete failure of the MAFS that caused the car to run with a lean air fuel ratio under load.

Reply to
H. Daniel Chesney

I too had this problem after driving my 1999 Forestor essentially non-stop for 10 hours. Continued driving with light on for next 2,000 miles no problem. Brought car to dealership for oil change and asked them to plug it in to see what the light was about. They said charged to do that would be $175. Drove another 2,000 miles with light on and finally brought to indy garage. Plugged in, machine said engine not firing correctly. Turns out sparkplug wire from distributor cap had burned through. Wires replaced, light still on. Subsequent test discovered knock sensor also fried. Mechanic fixed for free (since they failed to catch it first time around.) Light still off.

Reply to
Foresterrob

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