13 replies to this topic

[Camb4]

Hi all. So I got my B4 serviced at the start of the week and ever since I got it back it has been having trouble idling at startup. If I have the air con on it makes it worse and when it is doing this the engine check light also comes on. If I give it a few revs it seems to come good and I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary once I'm driving and everything is warmed up.

I'll be giving the mechanic a call today but I don't want to have to take it back there if I don't have to because it's a bit out of the way. The only reason I go there is because they're supposed to be a very good Subaru mechanic.

It was an intermediate service and they just did an oil change, check fluids etc. They did put some injector cleaner through though. Could this have fouled up my spark plugs if there was a bit of gunk built up in the fuel system? Any other suggestions? Do these engines have an iacv or similar for controlling revs if there is higher electrical load? Turning the lights on made it cough and splutter too. ta

[Adam]

Seems like an Iacv. Mine does it sometimes, and its the code it throws.

There's a thread on here telling you how to check engine codes, it may be worth checking them to see what its telling you with the Check Engine Light.

[Camb4]

Thanks Adam. The CEL doesn't stay on though. Would this mean there is still I code? I'll find the thread and give that a go on the weekend though.

[Adam]

Yes, Whenever the CEL comes on I'm pretty sure it stores a code

[Octane]

I recently had a problem with mine. Fuel economy had gradually gotten worse, and after doing an oil top-up and an engine de-grease, the idle wouldn't stabilize. Instead, it was hunting up and down between 400 and 1500rpm. It eventually got worse, to the point that it'd start fine, go to 1500rpm for a few seconds, then instantly stall. I was able to keep the motor kicking over at about 400rpm it I furiously pumped the throttle.

I checked the idle air control valve, and it seemed to adjust the idle as expected during that first few seconds before it stalled, so I ruled that out.

I then replaced the MAF sensor, and this fixed the problem. Car purrs like a kitten now and it using a lot less fuel.

[CodeBurn3r]

Check vac lines especially to FPR

[RX25SE]

Check the ducting that runs between the air mass sensor and the trottle body.

Codes?

[Camb4]

Thanks for the further suggestions guys. I checked the codes on the weekend. It had code 15. Something to do with the Cam angle sensor? OBD2 codes website said symptoms would be poor idle on start so that kind of matches.

That was checking manually. When I checked using my ezyflash pro it said there wasn't any codes currently.

I've also found that if I have the air con on and I'm driving around town at 60 the engine light will flash everytime the compressor or fan kicks in I think.

[Camb4]

Hi Guys. Any other suggestions? I ended up taking it to a mechanic who said to replace the Cam Position Sensor. I went and bought this myself and just replaced it then. No difference. I haven't reset the ECU yet but it is still only throwing the code 15.

It's mainly a problem when running the air con.

[Camb4]

Bumping this up from the depths. So I finally got my car to my usual mechanic for its usual service. The problem has been bareable in the mean time. I was describing the problem to the guy who receives the keys. He was going to plug in the scan tool while I was there but as soon as I said that I'd replaced the cam angle sensor he knew the problem and said it was the alternator needing a rebuild.

He said that if the voltage is dropping below 10V the charge error code will be thrown, but if it is dropping to between 10V and 12V it will throw the Cam Angle Sensor code. They had this on one years ago and said they were scratching their heads for ages. Since then though they've had a few come in with the same thing and all been fixed this way.

So it's not fixed yet but he was pretty sure this was it so I'll pull it off and take it somewhere to be rebuilt as soon as I can and report back.

[RX25SE]

Nice to see an outcome posted.


Internet points awarded.

[Camb4]

yay internet points. So I got a new alternator put in today. $330 inclusive. He said there was AC getting onto the line which I thought could probably be causing the issue with the Cam Angle Sensor signal getting noise induced onto its line hence causing the seemingly unrelated code. Anyway, so far it seems to be fixed.

[Dimeb4g]

bumping this up from the depths again...

 

my B4 decided to play up the day after her test drive by the new owner... when he came back to pick it up... CEL lumpy idle.. not good...

 

anyways got it scanned and i forget the codes... but it was Crank angle and low voltage input injector 3... she was running on 3cyl when the lights or any draw on the (brand new that morning) was on... but would drive fine if the revs were over 2k and had no elect on....

 

second hand alternator going in tomorrow hopefully... and buyer will come back if it sorts it out...

 

and who said cars arent alive!!!