beezer

Is the check engine light (CEL) on? If it is check that out first. Is all the routine maintenace up to date? ie. filters, plugs, wires, pcv valve. EGR valve could be gunked up or faulty. Run some seafoam through the intake.

When driving and you put in the clutch without applying the brakes do the revs drop to idle right away? Do the revs stay up for a moment then drop? I had a problem when my car would idle around 2000 rpm's for a few seconds before dropping to normal. It would feel like the car would be accelerating for a moment when the brakes were applied. Is there a check engine light on? Basic tune up stuff done lately, ie. filters, plugs, wires etc.? Sounds to me more like an engine problem rather than a brake problem. Not suggesting to ignore the brakes though.

No great advice here, just keep with it. It took me 8 hrs or so to change the 2 ball joints on my car. My advice would be a bit of brute force and ignorance. Just when you think you can't pull, push, bang and curse any more it will pop out. When you get it out and put a new ball joint in I would put some anti-seize on the new one. Rust is not your friend, I sympathize with you, it's very frustrating.

Is the "check engine light" on? If it is I would deal with this first. Is there a spark going to each cylinder? If there isn't I would check the coil pack. It seems weird that one side would fire and not the other, but, its worth looking at. Check the igniter as well. If both these check out fine I would take another look at the plugs and wires. Possibly change fuel filter if you haven't already. Are the injectors working, you should be able to hear them click if you hold a long screwdriver to them. Run some seafoam through the intake to clean it out. Good luck

Check for oil around the timing belt covers. Fairly common for the crank seals and camshaft seals to go. Unless you have proof the timing belt has been done recently i would replace it if you buy the car, the seals can be done at the same time. The valve cover gaskets sometimes need to be replaced, not a big deal. Check all the fluids, coolant, oil, trans fluid, power steering, rear diff. Just to get an idea of the maint. done to the car. Make sure all 4 tires are identical. If they are not, there could be drivetrain problems coming. Don't worry these are good cars, good luck.

I think your idle is fine. Don't quote me on this but I think the idle is supposed to be somewhere around 700 rpm's. The tach. probably isn't terribly acuurate at the lower end of the gauge so if the car idles steady it is probably good. Did the mechanic check to see what the CEL was all about?

Are you saying the D check connectors are hooked up? If they are, they should be disconnected too.

Are the black connectors disconnected underneath the dash? You will be looking for a single black wire. I'd check that first. If they are not disconnected the CEL will keep flashing.

Does the 94 even have an EGR? Thought it was fuel purge solenoid in the earlier cars?

Yes there are 2, one for the gauge and one for the computer. Both are located in the same area. The coolant temp. sensor has a has a larger brass fitting and the temp. gauge is much smaller.

So there is no spark at all on the back two cylinders? Does the car start? Does it idle high? Have you driven it, does the engine ever "click" in? I've been chasing a problem that has shown up a bad wire, a bad plug, a cracked knock sensor and a bad air control valve or a bad purge solenoid. Going to switch out the purge solenoid and go from there. The difference is I get spark but no combustion. Almost seems like you have to think outside of the box. Is the car getting a good charge from the alternator? Or a bad wire between the igniter and the coil pack? Sorry keep trying. Good luck anyways.

I agree, a small engine mechanic I know would occassionally do that. A fuel stabalizer is pretty cheap, and would solve your problem also.

I have had a similiar proplem. The CEL would be on, and when driving it would hurk and jerk along. It would lose power and then regain power if I hit the gas. It might be good for 3 days or 2 minutes it wasn't predictable. The codes were always the same, not the same as yours, but always the same. The culprit...........spark plug wires. Sometimes when a problem occurs with something that isn't attached to a sensor it will trip off something that is. Check out the little stupid things, sometimes they are the problem. Maybe check all the connections, clean them, some dielectric grease if necessary. It is strange a little bump might just jar something enough to create a bad connection. Just a stab in the dark.

Did you check the knock sensor for cracks? Can you swap spark plug wires? Even if the are new, some of them can be defective. Check out the o2 sensors. As far as I know at start up it is an "open loop", o2 sensor is not taken into account, compared to when driving when it is a "closed loop" Try not too focus too much on one thing, quite often the problem is pretty simple, it just takes a while to track down.

Right by the crankshaft sensor is the oil pressure sending unit. Yes that is the IAC. Just mark the the orientation of the top connector, it is held on with 2 small screws. Also remember 2 of the bolts holding it on are longer than the other two, so just remember where they came from. I've heard of the coolant temp. sensor doing strange things without throwing a code. it is located pretty close to the IAC. It is pretty cheap, you could change that with the IAC off it would make it easier.

The knock sensor is, if you are standing in front of the car, to the right of the throttle body, buried down underneath the intake manifold runners. It is a black circular piece with a 1 wire running from it. I experienced problems around 2500 rpm when my knock sensor was cracked, could be different from car to car though. I would also replace the fuel filter. Another couple thoughts might be the o2 sensor or your air control valve may need cleaning. Good luck. These little things can be very frustrating, I know from experience.

You can just click on his name, you can find it in a box named "moderators", you will see his website address there.

I would check out Legacy777 website for details on retrieving trouble codes. It's quite easy. How did you check to see if the injectors were receiving power at idle? I thought you could test them with the key in the "On" position, not with car running. (could be wrong don't know for sure) Normally I would say check the wires, plugs and coil pack. I would also check to see if the knock sensor is cracked. All this is guessing, check the codes first and see what shows up.

Check the plugs and wires again. I've had a spark plug wire screw up after 2 months. I think the concensus is that NGK is the best brand. I wouldn't jump into replacing valves etc. until the simple things are eliminated as being the problem.

I wouldn't overlook the normal tune up stuff, air and fuel filter, plugs wires etc. Not saying it isn't the MAF, it is good to rule the basic stuff out first. A plugged fuel filter from my experience will effect the low end performance fairly dramatically.

The 1st generation Legacy's are good cars, the 2.2L is very dependable. I would check the timing belt, and also check the front seals, they are known to develop leaks. Other common problems might be the coolant temp. sensor and the knock sensor if it hasn't already been replaced, been known to crack. Neither of these sensors are very expensive so it isn't that big of a deal. I would check out Legacy777 website on info on how to pull the codes from the computer. He has also done a few mods to his engine (underdrive pulley, ignition, flywheel etc.). I wouldn't recommend a cold air intake, you can modify the stock air box and save yourself some headaches. Some people have added turbos and superchargers to the NA 2.2, have to be careful though the engine really wasn't designed for this though.Good Luck!

Not sure what year or model of car you have so I can't help out with details. I would certainly replace all the hoses for the PCV system and the PCV valve. For the plastic elbows, I don't think you would have to replace them, just blast some break cleaner through them until they are clean. I am kind of tired and I am having a hard time understanding, are you asking whether you have to take the TB off to change the PCV valve? From what I have seen on most cars they are usually quite accessible, on my '92 legacy all I need is something like a 19mm wrench, it screws right into the TB on the passenger side. I might check the air filter too, if the PCV hoses are clogged it is quite possible that some oil and crap is clogging the air filter. Once the hoses and the PCV valve are replaced you could try running some sea foam through the intake to try and clean it. Sounds like you are getting close to solving your problems, stick with it you'll get there.

Not sure if I read part 1 of your saga or not, so I don't know what suggestions have been made. If this problem started after replacing the alt., then I might start there. Take the alternator and battery in to get tested. Quite possible you got a bum replacement. When you said you pinched the small hose going into the TB you're talking about the one going into the IAC right? If the car can still idle with this hose completely pinched, then it would be fair to say it is getting air from somewhere else. If you have checked for vacuum leaks and there are none, then maybe the throttle is stuck open. Check the cables that connect the throttle, there should be some slack at idle. Could it be possible the butterfly thing inside the TB isn't closing? I would check the knock sensor too, hesitation around 2500-3000 rpm is quite similiar to what I have experienced with my car. Not sure if this is any help or not. Good luck!

Do a search on this, a couple of people have done this recently or are doing this conversion presently. Should be able to find all info. pretty easily Any other problems someone will chirp in to help out.

Go and take a different one from a dealership for a test drive, see if there is a difference. If there is, then yes through the window.