legacycentral bbs

hello everyone.

im new to older legacy, but im not new to subarus.

ok so i picked up a 91turbo legacy with a 4eat in a trade for an 00rs and the guy i got it from fixed a few thing before getting it to me, when i got the car the previous owner told me that the check engine light was on because it had a faulty maf, and a speed sensor, so i went own with life and order one from advance thinking it would work fine.

the same day i got the maf in mail, the hose that goes from the coolant tank to the turbo took a crap and i had to fix it, wile i was there i decided to change the maf since it all happened the same day.

after replacing the maf the car turned on but it was hesitating, and the check engine light was on,the car would hesitate only at idle but it would never turn off and it would drive fine.

so i got scared and replaced it back with the factory maf, but the hesitating kept happening but with out the check engine light on.

so i looked in here on how to pull the codes and i ended up with 22 33 45 49.

i can fix the knock sensor and i can probably do the 49 if im taken to the correct answer, but what about 45 and 33 can those be fixed easily and at good price?

sorry im posting something that has already been answered, i cant find answers. and i have a headache of so much reading of stuff that has no real answer for me.

a bit back ground the car is in south florida and it came from colorado.

also the new maf is a plastic maf and the original is a metal maf.

after driving it to go to work(as is the only method of transportation) the car seems to have stop hesitating but its still a bit choppy at idle in park and in drive at a stop sign. but im still getting all 4 codes after i do a ecu reset with the black and green connectors.

should i return the new maf and try and find a used metal maf?

why im i still getting 49 if im using the original maf sensor?

what should i do about the code 45?

and 33 seems to have a lot different ways to get fixed.

any help and correct direction to getting this fixed will be appreciated.[/b]

I think you may have gotten the wrong version of the MAF -- we have two available to these cars, one plastic and one metal.

I have a metal one in my turbo Legacy, and I understand the plastic one is from a nonturbo.

They are definitely not directly swappable; they measure different ranges of airflow.

Contrary to what you might think, the nonturbo MAF (JECS?) appears to read a larger range of airflows than the turbo MAF (Hitachi?). This is one of the reasons turbo owners can use the plastic MAF sensor along with a RobTune ECU and larger injectors to support higher boost levels.


All that being said, if you've reset your ECU since it attempted to learn how to fuel the engine with the readings from the plastic MAF sensor, and you are still having the code thrown for this sensor, you may want to invest in a can of MAF sensor cleaner. Disassemble, spray it down real good until black stops running off it, and reassemble. Should make a world of difference if a dirty MAF is indeed your issue, which is common. Especially on these older vehicles.

Reset ECU again after cleaning the sensor and see if that helps at all.


Hope it's something simple like this

free5ty1e wrote:I think you may have gotten the wrong version of the MAF -- we have two available to these cars, one plastic and one metal.

I have a metal one in my turbo Legacy, and I understand the plastic one is from a nonturbo.

They are definitely not directly swappable; they measure different ranges of airflow.

Contrary to what you might think, the nonturbo MAF (JECS?) appears to read a larger range of airflows than the turbo MAF (Hitachi?). This is one of the reasons turbo owners can use the plastic MAF sensor along with a RobTune ECU and larger injectors to support higher boost levels.


All that being said, if you've reset your ECU since it attempted to learn how to fuel the engine with the readings from the plastic MAF sensor, and you are still having the code thrown for this sensor, you may want to invest in a can of MAF sensor cleaner. Disassemble, spray it down real good until black stops running off it, and reassemble. Should make a world of difference if a dirty MAF is indeed your issue, which is common. Especially on these older vehicles.

Reset ECU again after cleaning the sensor and see if that helps at all.


Hope it's something simple like this

well when i purchased the new maf i specifically told them it was a turbo model, and with the old maf i have ran at least two bottles of maf cleaner, and it still comes back.

i dont really want to have a monster car all i want is to have a reliable daily driver, the only things im planning on doing is just upgrading to td04 full exhaust and intercooler.

but in time of course.

thanks for your help.

Ah, nevermind then lol -- someone with more knowledge will have to chime in here

As mentioned, the plastic JECS is not compatible with the turbo legacy. Take it back, it's the wrong MAF.

I would also suggest clearing the ECU's memory to see what codes come back.

Does your speedometer work? If so, code 33 is a bogus code. Regarding code 45, I'd suggest checking the vacuum hoses over on the passenger strut tower that go to the pressure sensor and pressure exchange solenoid.

This diagram will help to make sure everything is hooked up properly.

http://www.surrealmirage.com/vrg3/vacuu ... vacuum.png

Check out the stuff you need to know forum for links to the service manuals that will give you diagnostic info.

The other thing you can try is using just the green connectors to do an active diagnostic and see what comes up.

Legacy777 wrote:As mentioned, the plastic JECS is not compatible with the turbo legacy. Take it back, it's the wrong MAF.

I would also suggest clearing the ECU's memory to see what codes come back.

Does your speedometer work? If so, code 33 is a bogus code. Regarding code 45, I'd suggest checking the vacuum hoses over on the passenger strut tower that go to the pressure sensor and pressure exchange solenoid.

This diagram will help to make sure everything is hooked up properly.

http://www.surrealmirage.com/vrg3/vacuu ... vacuum.png

Check out the stuff you need to know forum for links to the service manuals that will give you diagnostic info.

The other thing you can try is using just the green connectors to do an active diagnostic and see what comes up.

thanks.

yes i have tried resetting the computer, and they all come back. and no the speedo does not work, but what i haven't been able to figure out if is the sensor or the actual cluster, because i have read mixed issue here in the boards.

i will check all the vacuum lines to make sure they are connected to the right places.

and the active diagnostics would be by me driving it, let say a trip to work and see what codes it tells me?

thanks for your help.

You need to fix the speedo. More than likely the problem is the cable or the base piece that screws into the transmission.

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

Legacy777 wrote:You need to fix the speedo. More than likely the problem is the cable or the base piece that screws into the transmission.

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

i will try to get that fixed as more important issues have come up I'm just trying to fix what is more important to the car right now.

i got a new maf from doaomo, cleaned it really good and replaced it. the car was driving awesome for about one day and the car started to idle horrible again. for a minute i tough i had left something loose, but i just checked everything including all the vacuum lines for leaks and also checked what you have showed me in the above picture and all the lines are in there correct place.

now here is a small video of what I'm looking at so you guys have a better idea of what I'm talking about.

please all your help will be greatly appreciated.

http://s1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd4 ... 145345.mp4

i really don't need a headache at the moment and if some one here would like to purchase the car shoot me an offer. if i cant get this car working properly in the next few day i will post it on the car lot and on craiglist i need something more reliable. hope you guys can help me get this resolved asap.

So what codes are still showing up in the ECU if you do an active diagnostic with the green connectors?

Hey Josh,

So I looked into your site to read up on how exactly is to reset the ecu, i followed both battery dance and the green and black plugs.

After all of that I left the battery unplugged for about 9 hours plugged everything back together and all the trouble codes went away. I plugged back just the green ones and I only got 33 which is the speedo.

My question is could this cause the car run this way? because I pulled a spark plug to see it and it looks gray in color not the usual black.

I'm going to try and change the base part of the speedo and in hopes that fixes the problem.

Also could weather play a part in this since I'm not running an intercooler and its about 95 degrees outside with 100% humidity.

I'm not sure if the lack of speedo would cause your problems, but I'd definitely suggest getting it working as it can cause other issues.

As for the weather, I don't think so, but if you notice a difference between different weather (hotter or colder) it may be something related to the IAC or MAF.....but those are far reaching guesses at this time.

So today I tried my theory of the weather. Yesterday it was a regular hot clear day, and the car idle fine with no fluctuations. This morning again the car turned on fine with no issues and drove it to work, this morning all it did was rain and it stopped about 11 am. I got in my car around 1240 and turned on the car and again started hesitating at idle turned it off, plugged the diagnostics green connectors and drove it for about a mile again I only got the code 33.

The car drives and it doesn't die or loose power, it just idles bad. And im not getting more codes to tell me what's wrong with the car so I can fix it.

Could it be bad injectors or failing fuel pump or the acctual ecu, because it's not doing it every time I turn on the car.

Weather and atmospheric conditions affect the engine via the MAF sensor since it measures the amount of air coming into the engine. I'm not saying the MAF sensor is bad, but it might need to be cleaned. Also these engines are known for not having the best idle, so the IAC valve may be ok, but not working at tip top condition and could be causing a poor idle.

I however, still maintain that you should fix the speedometer issue first before doing anything else.

Thanks Josh. I will try and get that fixed asap. Also I tried looking for what problems it can cause if I don't replace it, from what I have found is that it can cause it to lean out