Need Help...came here, figured I'd ask the experienced

[livestrong14]

I agree with these guys. Wires can be a major problem. Might aswell clean the MAF, cheap and affective.

[Manarius]

I would say wires, but the fact that it dies when put in gear says to me that it's electronic. The ECU by nature starts to compensate with the engine when the car is put in drive. If it were wires, it would run crappy all the time. If it's the MAF or something crazy like the O2 sensor, I could understand why the car would die in gear.

[mtshaggy]

changed the wires and hosed down the MAF with maf cleaner today. no change. when I first start it up, runs really crappy and can't touch the gas until it gets warmed up. then, i can give it gas in park and it will rev but still doggish, but put it in gear and no revving, it just wants to bog down.
figure I'll slip out of work a little early tomorrow and hit the local pick-a-part to see if I can find a decent MAF. Don't know what else to look at.

[Murphy]

check their price list, you might want to get a number of things that could possibly be it if the price is right

im not sure if the TPS would be a possible cause, but do you know if it has ever been moved? look at it, there should be paint marks that tell its alignment, make sure they are aligned

[Splinter]

The TPS wouldnt go out of whack like that overnight tho...

MAF is the most likely, followed by clogged exhaust, imo

[gto7419]

I hinted about clogged cats yesterday, but you didnt answer if you still had cats on your car or not....

[bmxkelowna]

vac leak?

[mtshaggy]

still have the cats on the car, but didn't think that would happen overnight neither. I'm not hearing or seeing a vac leak. have checked all the hoses, wiring, etc. figure I'll knock it out one part at a time. Gonna try and pick up a MAF today. Can't give up on her, just ticked 150k, barely broke in.

[legacy92ej22t]

A really good way to check for a vacuum leak is to spray the obvious areas with Starting Fluid while the engine idles. If the RPM's raise slightly or the engine smooths out, you have a vacuum leak.

So even when the engine stalls you don't throw any kind of CEL? That seems weird....

On the MAF, I'd just go to a yard and pull one out of a wreck. I don't know about your area but around here there is usually a few 1st gen leggy's at every yard.

Or if you have a friend with a N/A 1st gen, swap theirs in and see if it fixes the problem.

[mtshaggy]

got a MAF out of a wreck. Cleaned it up good, put it in, no help. don't know where to go next.
could my new plugs gap be off enough to cause this or possibly a timing issue? checked the spark and got good spark all around. don't know what the heck...

[mtshaggy]

oh yeah, hosed it down with starting fluid as well and never got an RPM jump so dont figure for any vacuum leaks.

[biggreen96]

I would check every vacuum line just to be sure.
I had this same sort of prob, turned out to be my pressure sensor.

[mtshaggy]

which do you mean by "pressure sensor"?

[biggreen96]

derrr you have a non turbo so you wouldn't have one anyways. sorry about that.

But go through and double check to see that all connectors are plugged in and hoses are connected.

On my car the top of the spark plug came unscrewed one time so even though it looked and felt as if it was ok it wasn't, that was a bitch to figure out.

[mtshaggy]

only code i have gotten out of it was the knock sensor and i know that couldn't cause all the probs i'm having.
gone through all the wires and hoses to no avail.
maybe jumped time? don't know how it could and still give me spark.
maybe fuel pump...don't know, revs after its warm, just not in gear...
oxygen sensor? could that cause all these issues?

[mtshaggy]

well, talked with a mechanic at Subaru yesterday. He chuckled at me for the $ I've spent so far and tells me it's my fuel pump. I'll be changing that this weekend.
Anyone done this before on a Legacy? Do i have to drop the tank or is it as easy as the Haynes says and just pop it out the top?

[gto7419]

Wagon or sedan?

Either way, you get at it from inside the car and the procedure is almost exactly how the haynes manual shows it.

[legacy92ej22t]

Yeah, I did mine when I upgraded to a Walboro 255 and it was a piece of cake. The worst part is getting the fuel lines off, after that it's pie.