1999 Subaru Legacy -- all of a sudden, engine malfunctioning....

15

Asked by Andrew Dec 27, 2011 at 11:56 AM about the 1999 Subaru Legacy Outback Limited 30th Anniversary Wagon AWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Legacy outback (ltd) engine sounded perfectly fine for months

took on the highway, up to 70 -75 mph, hadn't gone that fast yet
worked fine all the rest of that night

sat in driveway -- in cold weather (20F) that rose to 40 and back to freezing -- for a couple days

after couple days, it starts fine, but after driving 10 minutes, I notice a barely perceptibly stuttering sound with the engine that started to shake the car

got worse as time went on, lower RPMS made it shake much more, higher rpms seemed smoother.

i stopped to check it out, idling made the car shake really bad, engine made a chugging, puttering sound out of the exhaust.

I put a bottle of dry gas in gas tank, in case water in gas tank
I checked oil next day, was low but had some

started car today, cold morning, and car really chugged and shutoff, gave it extra gas and higher RPMS ran smoother, took foot off gas, low RPM idle made engine cut out.

engine has new spark plugs and wires, but this issue seems reminiscent of the spark plug problems I used to have


any advice would be MUCH appreciated! thank you!

4 Answers

475

Sounds like a bad air flow meter (mass airflow sensor) or clogged cat convertor. Is the service engine light on? I need to know miles. Is it overheating? does it smell like rotten eggs? Email me subject 99 legacy @ 96sidekick@gmail.com

2 people found this helpful.
15

Thanks for your response, Mike. I took it to the mechanic yesterday, he ran a system diagnostic computer that read cylinders 1 and 3 missfiring, and the knock sensor was reporting something. They said they would want to do a cylinder pressure test to see if the head gasket was bad.... around 120,000 miles headgasket broke and caused overheating, they replaced it with the version that wasn't so faulty as the factory one. they also said it could be the timing belt might have skipped a tooth. car has 237,000 miles, doesn't smell like rotten eggs. thanks!

1 people found this helpful.
45

Hey Andrew - this sounds similar to a problem I've been having on my '96 for years and years now. In my case, it seems to be related to O2 sensors. I'm a little hazy on the details, it seems like there are multiple sensors on the engine (I have a '96 Legacy Outback ... don't know which engine size). After taking it to a dealer several times and the problem never completely going away, my local guy replaced one (or more?) O2 sensors and the problem went away for a good long while. It's started to rear its head again, though. Someone who knows more than I will confirm or deny that there are multiple sensors. So I don't know how helpful my response is, but Oxygen Sensors might be something to check.

1 people found this helpful.

Your Answer:

Legacy

Looking for a Used Legacy in your area?

CarGurus has 176 nationwide Legacy listings starting at $4,977.

Postal Code:

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    TheSubaruGuruBoston
    Reputation
    2,800
  • #2
    Anthony_60
    Reputation
    1,800
  • #3
    Tom Hawkins
    Reputation
    1,510
View All

Find great deals from top-rated dealers

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Subaru Impreza
18 Great Deals out of 455 listings starting at $3,850
Used Subaru Outback
28 Great Deals out of 866 listings starting at $1,895
Used Toyota Camry
53 Great Deals out of 996 listings starting at $2,212
Used Subaru Forester
28 Great Deals out of 1,046 listings starting at $2,695
Used Honda Accord
44 Great Deals out of 913 listings starting at $1,599
Used Honda Civic
177 Great Deals out of 3,775 listings starting at $3,495
Used Subaru WRX
19 Great Deals out of 518 listings starting at $8,990
Used Toyota Corolla
125 Great Deals out of 2,068 listings starting at $2,795
Used Toyota RAV4
101 Great Deals out of 2,120 listings starting at $3,888
Used Nissan Altima
21 Great Deals out of 722 listings starting at $1,400
Used Honda CR-V
100 Great Deals out of 3,893 listings starting at $1,795

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.