legacycentral bbs

I got a weird problem with a 90 Legacy 4wd wagon. It starts in the morning and will drive about 5 minutes. Then the car just loses power and dies, usually when going up a slight incline. It won't start right away, not even crank over, but in three minutes it will restart and run the rest of the day.

Changed the fuel filter, no difference.

Any ideas??

Two possible thoughts are fuel pump or possibly MAF.

But he said it doesnt crank, Negative battery terminal?

Do you get any check engine lights?

That's really weird that it won't even turn over after it dies. That makes me think it might be some kind of electrical problem; maybe a weird intermittent short or open circuit. When it won't turn over, do you hear the starter solenoid click? Do all the accessories still work when the key's in "ACC?" Do all the warning lights light up on the dash when the key's in "ON?"

my bad....misread that.

Like mentioned....check your battery connections, check resistance in the starter cable.

Do you hear a clicking sound when turning the key, or is it completely silent?

Thanks for the tips. Cleaned the negative terminal and ground screws. Probles still exists.

When the engine dies it is gradual. It loses power and runs rough before dying. Have tried to downshift into second. The enging RPM's increase, but still runs rough. Have kept it from stalling that way a couple of times.

If it does stall, when you turn the key you get a slight noise, but not the clicking sound from the starter. After waiting a few minutes it will turn over and restart and be fine therest of the day.

I know, very unusual and very weird. Any ideas??

From the symptoms mentioned, the problem matches a faulty crank angle sensor, no ecu error codes, the car runs then stops for no reason and wont start for a few minutes, the problem gets worse and worse until you can not start the car at all.