9
93Legacy
I just found this group and I don't see any currently posted info on
this problem.
My Subaru is a 1993 Legacy (wagon, 4wd, a/c) with 151,000 miles. When
it is running it is a super little car. Great handling, decent
mileage, very comfortable.
I bought it used about 4 years ago. From the first it always started
instantly, hot or cold. One morning in Fall of 2004 it got cranky.
When I cranked it, it would fire, but not stay running. Repeating this
process from 6 to 18 times would get it going. [This was in a garage
with a temperature never below 60F.) After the first start, it always
started just fine the rest of the day.
I took it to local service station. I dropped it off at night so they
could see the "first start" phenomenon first hand the next morning.
They couldn't find anything wrong.
Our nearest Subaru dealer is not all that close, so dropping the car
off the "night before" is not attractive.
We are a Subaru family; my wife has a '99 SUS. I'm retired, so I took
my wife's car up to the dealer for it's annual service. While I was
there I asked them about my problem. If they had suggested I bring the
car in and leave it overnight, I would have done so. Instead he said
to me, "Oh the older ones do that." That wasn't much of an answer, but
that's all the answer I got.
The problem came on quite suddenly; one day it was fine, the next day
it was not.
My guess is that there is a temperature sensor somewhere that is
telling the central computer that the engine is hot when it is not.
That would set the mixture too lean for a good start. My cranking and
short run bursts may warm things upo enough that it will start.
Outside, with the temperature around 30F, requires more cranking than
the battery can handle, but, with an outside power source, it will
eventually start. I should point out that, at first, the cranking is
quite vigorous: Both the starter and the battery are doing a great
job.
One thing I noticed today is that the electric cooling fans come on
when I turn the ignition to the "run" position, even though the engine
is at ambient temperature, about 60F in the garage. If that is
controlled by the same sensor as the mixture -- and why not? -- that
would support the notion of a failed temperature sensor.
Have any of you seen this problem and have you any idea how to fix it?
Any help will be very much appreciated!!
Thanks
Ken
this problem.
My Subaru is a 1993 Legacy (wagon, 4wd, a/c) with 151,000 miles. When
it is running it is a super little car. Great handling, decent
mileage, very comfortable.
I bought it used about 4 years ago. From the first it always started
instantly, hot or cold. One morning in Fall of 2004 it got cranky.
When I cranked it, it would fire, but not stay running. Repeating this
process from 6 to 18 times would get it going. [This was in a garage
with a temperature never below 60F.) After the first start, it always
started just fine the rest of the day.
I took it to local service station. I dropped it off at night so they
could see the "first start" phenomenon first hand the next morning.
They couldn't find anything wrong.
Our nearest Subaru dealer is not all that close, so dropping the car
off the "night before" is not attractive.
We are a Subaru family; my wife has a '99 SUS. I'm retired, so I took
my wife's car up to the dealer for it's annual service. While I was
there I asked them about my problem. If they had suggested I bring the
car in and leave it overnight, I would have done so. Instead he said
to me, "Oh the older ones do that." That wasn't much of an answer, but
that's all the answer I got.
The problem came on quite suddenly; one day it was fine, the next day
it was not.
My guess is that there is a temperature sensor somewhere that is
telling the central computer that the engine is hot when it is not.
That would set the mixture too lean for a good start. My cranking and
short run bursts may warm things upo enough that it will start.
Outside, with the temperature around 30F, requires more cranking than
the battery can handle, but, with an outside power source, it will
eventually start. I should point out that, at first, the cranking is
quite vigorous: Both the starter and the battery are doing a great
job.
One thing I noticed today is that the electric cooling fans come on
when I turn the ignition to the "run" position, even though the engine
is at ambient temperature, about 60F in the garage. If that is
controlled by the same sensor as the mixture -- and why not? -- that
would support the notion of a failed temperature sensor.
Have any of you seen this problem and have you any idea how to fix it?
Any help will be very much appreciated!!
Thanks
Ken