95 Subaru wagon that won't start after turning off the engine

[wandyholt]

We gave our daughter a 95 Subaru wagon. She lives a couple of states
away from us now, and her Subaru has started refusing to start after
she turns off the engine. She goes to the store, comes back out, and
the car won't start. After quite a while, it will start and she can
go on home. It is an automatic, has over 100K miles, and I think it
has a 2.2 engine. They replaced the battery, with no change in this
odd behavior. Any ideas? They live out in the country, and I would
hate for it to quit in the middle of nowhere. Thank you so much!
Worried Momma

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

We gave our daughter a 95 Subaru wagon. She lives a couple of states
away from us now, and her Subaru has started refusing to start after
she turns off the engine. She goes to the store, comes back out, and
the car won't start. After quite a while, it will start and she can
go on home. It is an automatic, has over 100K miles, and I think it
has a 2.2 engine. They replaced the battery, with no change in this
odd behavior. Any ideas? They live out in the country, and I would
hate for it to quit in the middle of nowhere. Thank you so much!
Worried Momma

Hmmm, does it start if 'jumped' from another vehicle? Has she tried
wiggling the gear slector or starting in neutral? Is the CEL on?
Possibly an electrical component (igniter, crank angle sensor,etc.) that
is failing when the residual heat in the engine bay warms it up.

Carl

 

[wandyholt]

Hmmm, does it start if 'jumped' from another vehicle? Has she tried
wiggling the gear slector or starting in neutral? Is the CEL on?
Possibly an electrical component (igniter, crank angle sensor,etc.) that
is failing when the residual heat in the engine bay warms it up.

Carl

Thank you. I will ask her about that. Also, my husband just informed
me that the car has a manual transmission (oops), not automatic.
Thanks again! Worried Momma

 

[AS]

3 things come to mind:

- Crankshaft (crank angle) position sensor, 95s were prone to this failure.

- Defective ground connection. Even though the engine cranks, a
defective ground could cause this problem. The engine would start
easily by releasing the clutch while in 2nd or 3rd gear, while being pushed.

- Is there a smell to gasoline when she tries to start the car?
Thinking leaky injector, flooded engine? Does the car start if you
press and hold the gas pedal to the floor while cranking?

Good luck!

 

[Limey Lurker]

It's almost certain to be either the crank or camshaft position
sensor; last year
I had the same problem with my Legacy. It turned out to be the cam
sensor, but
I changed both of them to make sure. You could check the codes, that
would
settle the question.