fiber_tek

I have a 95 Legacy OBW with a 2.2l 5MT, and have been having a problem with it. It seems that when the weather is cold and the car is cold, the car will stutter when driving it. It will happen a few times until the car is well warmed up. You have to drive it quite a while before it is warm enough to quit the stuttering. I have cleaned out the IACV, cleaned the MAF sensor, replaced the PCV, and changed the coolant temperature sensor, and the front O2 sensor. It has new plugs and wires and a new air filter. Could a cam position sensor or other sensor be failing without throwing any codes? I had a P0420 with a CEL a couple weeks ago and the front O2 sensor cleared that problem up. I am at my wits end with the stuttering problem, and we are getting ready to take an 800 mile trip. I would rather take the Subaru then the gas guzzling Expedition. Any ideas?

I wish I had access to the magic tool that told me which sensor is not reading correctly, it would give me volt readings on all sensors and tell me what is going on. Doesn't the dealer have these? I wonder if I could have them do a diagnosis and call me with a quote, then go pick it up, pay for their time and do the work myself? Right now I am in the middle of cleaning the MAF sensor and IACV, replacing the CTS, and the PCV. We'll see how it goes here in a little bit. I need to get to town and buy a replacement hose that runs from the IACV to the engine, it was brittle and has become a two piece hose.

Did you find the problem with this? The reason I ask is that when the weather is below freezing my 95 OBW 2.2l likes to stutter and I wondered if it was the same thing. It hates cold weather!

The front O2 sensor will make this code show up. Mine just did the same thing and a couple people thought it was the cat and most said to go to the dealer and get the front O2 sensor and replace it. I took that advice and it fixed my issues and the P0420 code is gone. You can only use an aftermarket O2 sensor on the rear sensor, you must use an OEM Subaru sensor for the front. A code for the front O2 sensor will show up when it is completely shot, not when it is failing or near failure. So most of the time the P0420 comes from a failing front O2 sensor. A failing front O2 sensor will make the car run bad, and when it is near failure it won't even let the car start.

Can these be polished at all? The reason I ask is that mine are pitted from the Magnesium and Salt they put on the roads here. They look like garbage! Maybe go easy on them with a Dremel and then polish them out?????