Did 1999 Subaru Foresters have carburetors (and could that be my issue)?

Asked by April Jan 02, 2018 at 02:24 AM about the 1999 Subaru Forester Base

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I recently totaled my car, and my fiance's 1999 Subaru Forester is going to
become mine. His car won't start when it's very cold, which is a problem
where we live. He's replaced the battery a couple times (with cheap batteries
both times) and had the alternator checked. I believe he also had the starter
replaced, though I'd have to double check on this. I read that on cars with
carburetors, the car might not start in cold weather if the carburetor gets out
of whack. Did this year/model have a carburetor, or was it already fuel
injected at that point? And does that potential problem seem like it could be
consistent with the issue? Thanks ahead of time!

2 Answers

39,945

around 1985 86 carburetors were replaced with fuel injection or a TBI unit which is basically a carburetor with an injector on top , extra fuel is needed when the engine is cold a sensor tells the computer to pulse more fuel , it is a narrow air fuel mix that works best under different conditions if it turns over (cranks) the batt. and starter are good , if it starts and there's a batt. icon on the dash the alternator is no good , if it doesn't start when cranking and you spray starter fluid down the throttle and does not start then you probably have no spark

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48,660

Fully electronic fuel injection. First, does it crank? Then look at the small water temp sensor that screws into the manifold just under the throttle body. It's under $20 and an easy swap if you can a socket on it. If it doesn't crank remove and thoroughly clean both battery connections, as that brass one easily cracks and loosens; you may have to replace it with a generic $2 alloy one. It is EXTREMELY unlikely that this F needed a starter; if it was replaced then check its connections too. The aforementioned water temp sensor tells the ECM to send extra fuel through the throttle body to cold-start. In that sense it acts like an old carbureted "choke" system...but otherwise it's completely different. If the sensor fails the ECM doesn't know the coolant (ambient) temperature. It has one wire coming off it, and appears from the back a bit like a spark plug. I'm betting your original brass battery positive clamp is a corroded, cracked mess....

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