1990 legacy dieing....

[josh_90_leg]

so i have a 90 legacy N/A and it doesnt like to stay running, especially when cold the rpm's just drop and dies, i try to feather the gas but it just keeps dropping and dieing, when its all warmed up if i rev it up to about 3k it drops and dies, but if i bring it down feathering the gas lightly it sometimes stays around 500rpm, so its basically hell driving this thing now that i have to feather the gas non stop....any ideas?

[hendy]

Oil pressure? IAC or TPS? Maybe a vacuum leak. New in the subie thing but I had that same issue on a V6 S10 pickup, turned out to be a small vacuum leak and tps was faulty

[Legacy777]

How does the engine run when it's warmed up? Does it have any other issues besides the poor idle when cold?

[FundamentalyConfused]

The best way to check for vacuum leaks is to take a can of carb cleaner and spray all vacuum lines and where they end. If you hear the engine rev up you've found your leak.

[josh_90_leg]

well its been at a bad idle for about 6 months atleast, but didnt think to much of it, replaced the spark plugs, but didnt help, but the car drives fine other then when i push clutch in and let rpms drop, it normally dies, even when warm it might drop and die, or itll drop to like 200rpm and go back up to about 600 then 500 sometimes idles at 400....

[FundamentalyConfused]

Are there any CEL codes stored?

[Legacy777]

The IAC valve may just not be keeping the idle where it needs to be.

Does your throttle body have a screw on the top of it like in these pics?

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/subaru/images/tb/

It may be hidden by the engine cover bracket.

If it does have that screw, try backing it out a 1/4 of a turn at a time and see if that helps your problem.