Help! Lost, and feeling out if options to my 1997 Subaru legacy issue's.

Asked by GuruZ78J6 Dec 06, 2017 at 11:36 AM about the 1997 Subaru Legacy L Sedan AWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Okay, this is going to be be crazy, but I'm
going to try to keep it short as possible. We
just got out legacy, it had some issues, but
they seemed simple. The main one was,
once the car warmed up it would start to die.
We replaced the knock sensor, heating and
cooling sensor, and mass air flow sensor.
The problem seemed to be fixed. Then it
started this thing where it didn't want to
start, but after awhile it would. Replaced the
throttle body, and the throttle body position
sensor. Seemed to fix it. For a day or so.
Now it's seems to be getting worse and
worse. It don't want to start without given
gas upon ignition. While it idles sometimes,
it idles fine, sometimes you have to keep
your rpm above 100 by keeping the gas
pedal pressed at all times, or when stopping
the car stalls. So I have to put it in neutral
when coming to a stop. Then sometimes it
acts like it don't want to take the gas when
putting it back into drive. Now, what parts
have I listed, ok we've also changed the
plugs and wires, fuel filter, air filter, o2
sensors, EGR valve,  the emissions systems
canister,  if I leave anything out I'll add it
later. Point is we are stumped. The car will
sometimes start, idles great, runs goods.
Then bam, it just starts like it is about to run
out of gas, you can't let off the gas or it dies.
Then it is hard to get it started again once it
does. One more weird note, sometimes
when it does this I can leave the ignition
switch in the on position, and take it out
park, and run it through the gears, and it
starts right up. Sometimes when it starts
acting up like this I can turn on the cruise
control, or rear de-frost, or turn the radio off,
and it smooths out the idle and it's fine. I'm
not a mechanic, but I do know some about
cars. The check engine light only comes on
when this happens with the car. The code it
ran off my friend's scanner was, EVAP
system. Advanced autos code ran as VECI
system, same thing right. Advanced says no.
I just know that I'm the mother of a 9yr old
boy with heart problems and asthma, and I
have to have a vehicle. Can someone please
help?

3 Answers

5,555

Something is going wrong in the fuel system. Have you cleaned the injectors? Replaced the fuel pump? It sounds like there's a clog somewhere along the way to me. If you've already done the fuel filter, I would check the fuel pump and injector pressures. Sorry to hear of your troubles. You're right, it's a complex issue that's hard to really figure out over the internet. But there's a couple of ideas you can start with. Best of luck to you.

103,215

I'd check the fuel pump and EVAP fuel pressure sensor. Not familiar with your particular make/model, but most EVAP systems have one or more solenoids on them for regulating pressure in tank, may have names like vent or purge solenoids. You may also have a EVAP canister filter that needs changed.

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