Sluggishness?

[DD50]

I own a 1992 Subaru Legacy LSi with 181,775 miles on it. The guy that I bought it from warned me that it is sluggish when cold and hesitates a bit in the city but is fine on the highway. I figured it just needed a tuneup so I changed the plugs and cables, cleaned the MAF sensor, cleaned the throttle body and made it idle a little higher since it idles really low. No difference at all. When I am at a stop light or sign I move my foot off the brake and on to the gas pedal to drive off. All it does is move as if I had my foot off both pedals even if I floored it, it wouldn't make a difference. Then it would finally pick up and drive. So I have a rough idle, sluggish acceleration when moving from a stop, and excessive fuel consumption. Only in the low teens. So can anyone tell me what is causing all of this and what I can do to fix it? Thanks

[asotwavb]

No expert, but change the coolant temp sensor, they cause funky things to happen! Only 10$ too

[Legacy777]

I'd also suggest the coolant temp sensor. They're around $20 from one of the online subaru dealers.

[DD50]

I bought a new one and should be replacing it tomorrow. I have to say there's nothing scarier than being at a stop light when it turns green and almost being stuck in an intersection.

[asotwavb]

It's kind of a pain in the ass to change, but if that doesnt fix it i would most definitely check the codes.

remeber to get all the air out of your cooling system when your done.

[DD50]

Still got issues. I was told it was the TPS(throttle position sensor) which helped a bit. Possible that the used one I got is bad too. Also being told that the ECU might need to switched out. Can't find the thing for the life of me. Told it was underneath the passenger carpet but I don't see it. Found it in a 95 in that location just fine but couldn't in my 92 or the various ones in the junk yard

[Legacy777]

The ECU is under the left side of the driver's dash area. This pic should help.

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/s ... cuhide.jpg

[rallyak]

may be exahust restriction, that would cause low idle, poor gas milage, and be sluggish

[DD50]

The ECU is under the left side of the driver's dash area. This pic should help.

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/s ... cuhide.jpg

Oh thank god someone has a pic for it. The Hanes book says its under the carpet on the passenger side but that's only on the 95 and up I found out. As for the exhaust restrictions, I've been told otherwise. I think it might be

[cul8tr]

I don't know if this will help you but it's worked for me so far.

I have a 1991 RHD. The Master mech. at my dealership told me that the motor builds up a lot of carbon. Since most of my day is idling at mailboxes. Carbon breaks loose and causes a valve to stick open. Rough idle and acts like it's missing on a heavy load like climbing a steep hill. Lucas makes a carbon cleaner also Chevron Tecktron. These cleaners have worked for me. I use 1 or 2 bottles at a time.
When I bought 1 of them it idled really rough, barely running. He kept it at the dealership for 2 days and used a topend cleaner and the Chevron cleaner. It idled for 2 days and got cleared up. I've started using Marvel Mystery Oil some also. I alternate these when it starts acting up.

[DD50]

It turns out it was the crank pulley was loose. Whoever replaced the timing belt last didn't tighten it enough. So because it was dancing around a bit it was causing the crank sensor to get weird readings which caused all of my problems. Thanks to whoever, I had to pay 610 to fix it since it damaged a few things behind the pulley. At least its fixed. Doesn't even feel like the same car anymore.