legacycentral bbs

Hello I am new here but I have been poking around for a while for info. I have a 90 ls wagon 5 speed. It runs great except for a stalling problem I am searching for.

It has no stored codes because i put it on a scanner. Stalls with no stumble or check engine, just dies. I first was told that the plug on one of the harnesses near the ecu was corroded so i soldered it straight. I drove it for a while then it did it again...

Could it be a bad ground somewhere like the intake manifold or should i take the ecu and check there? anyhelp would be great as i need to go snowboarding in vt soon. Thanks rob

I'm goin to move this over to the engine forum....better suited over there.

What type of scanner did you hook it up to? You can pull the codes yourself. Check out my site for more info.

What sort of maintenance have you done on it? How many miles, and all that good info.

Can you be more specific about the stalling problem?

When does the engine stall? While you're driving? When you come to a stop at a light or stop sign? When it's cold? When it's hot? When it's raining? When it's not raining? Does it always stall, or just sometimes? When it stalls, can you just start the engine again and have it work, or does it stall right away again?

You never got any check engine lights?

Do you know anything more about which connector you soldered? Even just the location, shape, and number of pins?

Its got 174,000 miles on it and I bought it like this to fix up. The guy i bought it from keyed me in to the connectors on the pass. kick panel that were screwed up subaru told him. he didn't want to put more money in it.

The dealer already screwed with a little bit so i left the car running and pulled each connector one by one until it stalled.. Its a blue connector that i believe goes to the feul pump so i eliminated it by soldering them straight..

The problem reappeared soon after though. It will stall at anytime when its idling, when i shifht from one gear to the next while driving but it doesn't seem to do it when I am on the gas. I could drive it for two days and it won't do it then bam it dies. I thought it was a moisture problem at first because it did it to me in the rain a few times but it did it the other night at my shop while dry out..

I put it on a scanner at my dealer and i brought it to my buds suby dealer and put it on there scanner. 0 codes. The ground on the bat. is a little coroded so maybe the others are, should i test them with a voltmeter?
You two guys seem to know a lot about these cars so thanks a lot for the help i love this car i just need to fix it.

Oh it will not start up for a while after it stalls it will start for a second then die again and just keep turning over.. Only does it after it warms up. Help!

This sounds weird, but it's a manual isn't it?

I remember, before I bought my Legacy, I was looking at a Galant VR-4 (:D) and the engine ran great except for this one problem: If you disengaged the clutch, it would stall. Doesn't matter if you're sitting still, shifting gears, whatever. If you gave it gas, it was fine. Furthermore, if you put it in Neutral and released the clutch, it would sit pretty, idling smooth as glass...

I know pretty well how a clutch works, but I have NO idea why that happened. That was a hydraulic clutch though, coulda been the slave cylinder...

Anyone else?

i really want to say fuel filter.

Or maybe it's just not getting enough air at idle, due to tampering with the throttle body or due to a malfunctioning idle air control valve.

wagonstyle - One hack you could do to kind of mask the problem would be to turn the screw that controls where the throttle cam stops. I think Subaru says you should never touch the screw, so realize that you're not "supposed" to do this, but... you could mark its current location so you can return it back later, and then just turn it to block the throttle open a little. You might end up with an unstable or too-high idle, but it might be worth a shot for the short term.

might be maf sensor....

Where does the idle air enter? Is it like a carburettor with a little hole by the butterfly? It could be clogged or partially clogged.

Steve

idle air enters through the idle air control valve on the intake manifold

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8 ... P_2470.JPG

Josh, that is absolutely the clearest picture of the IAC valve and its location I have ever seen!

To expand on it a little, that IAC valve is mounted to the intake manifold. Air comes in through the big nipple and the engine computer rapidly opens and closes the valve, controlling how much of that air reaches the manifold.

That's what I thought, but it's good you have the throttle body loose (so do I, hehe). So what's the little hole inside the throttle body that's blocked by the top of the butterfly when its closed? (I realize since its blocked when the throttle's closed it wouldn't be that much help at idle anyway) There's a little hose on top, but mine was cut so I don't know where it went and it's too cold and dark (I'm scared ) to go out and check my car.

Steve

vrg3.....pics turn out much better when the manifold is off the car

I took pics of all the sensors I could think of when I had the manifold off


Steve,

That line at the top of the TB goes to the canister purge solenoid valve

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8 ... P_2471.JPG

Oh! That makes sense... I didn't even think of that. Of course, it would pull only when the throttle was open. That would probably help snap throttle acceleration enrichment to a small degree, too, I suppose.

Steve

so you guys think i should check the iac valve? Wouldn't that twrow a code though? my buds got a 91 wagon I was thinking of changing the iac and the maf sensor just to see what happens. thanks guys ill keep trying,