'01 Legacy stalls out repeatedly; restarts after 10 minutes. Suggestions?

[freekraz]

Hello all,

 

New to the board. Just bought an '01 Legacy sedan, 2.5 engine, manual transmission, 80,000 miles.

 

On the way home, after five minutes of driving, the car stalled out. Just stopped running. Engine will crank readily, but will not catch. I popped the hood and waited 10 minutes. Car restarted.

 

Drove another 1.5 miles. Car stalled out again, would not restart despite lots of cranking. Did the same thing: popped hood, waited 10 minutes, car started again, got it home.

 

Any thoughts? I'm guessing something finicky in the fuel or ignition system? Flaky fuel pump or fuel pump relay? The check engine light goes on when it stalls, goes off when it restarts, so I'm not sure if I can get an error code.

 

Also, just as a precaution, I should probably change the fuel filter...where exactly does it live?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

Jeff in Watertown, Mass.

'01Legacy

'05 Outback

'99 Audi A4 Avant

'72 Citroen SM

[Fairtax4me]

Sounds like a bad crankshaft position sensor or camshaft position sensor.

Certainly sounds electrical so the Check engine light should be on with a code. Most parts stores will scan it for free.

With as many cars as you have it may be a good idea to invest in an OBD2 scanner. There is an app called Torque for Android phones that uses a $15 Bluetooth adapter. There are also some handheld scanners on eBay for about $20 which will at least read and erase the codes.

 

Fuel filter is easy, its on the drivers strut tower right in front of the brake booster.

[davebugs]

My money is on the crank sensor too as most likely.

 

Start spraying it now with favorite penetrant.  They can be ugly to remove - often in pieces.

[heartless]

if it threw a code, it will be stored, regardless. reading the stored code(s) will go a long ways towards figuring out what is going on.

 

and yeah, what fairtax said about getting your own code reader - with 3 obd2 vehicles it would make sense to have your own. check local pawn shops, too - we picked up an Actron reader pretty cheap at a pawn shop - works great.

[davebugs]

An ODB2 reader is kinda mandatory.  Not only a good investment for diagnosis but to help you NOT get taken advantage of.

 

I have a few Actron's.  My first Ebay purchase years ago for 50 bucks.  Last one is smaller and was like 60 bucks?

 

No matter what I get a ratehr cheap one.  The latest one will show "ready's" too but I haven't needed that part.

 

But the thing you really want is jsut the P1234 code and the ability to clear.  Then come here or the internet for interpretation and real world solutions so no sense on paying for a fancy one when all you really need is the P code.

 

They even go on sale at Advance Auto for like 50 bucks from time to time.

[heartless]

got our Actron CP1975 for $40 at the pawn shop - going in the $75 to $100 range on the bay.

[freekraz]

Thank you all for the suggestions. An OBDII reader is on order from the bay. Can anyone tell me exactly where the crank position sensor is, so I can start spraying it?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Jeff

[davebugs]

Look on the top of the block above the crank (like where the harmonic balancer/crank pulley is that drives all the belts).  I forget if it has a spade or connector on it but thinking connector.  Black plastic top lets say 3/4" round IIR an inch or so back from the timing belt cover.

[heartless]

this is what you are looking for:

 

 

That engine is a 95 2.2, but yours should be in roughly the same place - under the alternator, more or less directly behind the crank pulley.

 

Spray both the bolt that holds it down, and all the way around the unit itself where it goes into the block - multiple times - like every few hours. they can be a bugger to get out of there. I had to swap the cam and crank sensors from a dead 2.5 onto a replacement 2.2 and do it without damaging the 2.5 sensors (different wiring harness styles - replacement was older style) - was lots of fun. LOL

Edited August 24, 2013 by heartless

[davebugs]

Great pic.

 

What you can't see is the sensor has a metal sleeve on al but that top plastic part that goes into the aluminum engine.  They don't play well together.

 

Heck I've had to remove the oil pump to have better access - and ended up jsut replacing the whole deal (oil pump/aluminum piece with crank sensor in it.

[heartless]

if I still had the 2.5 here, I could have grabbed a pic with the covers off...but it went bye-bye with the old donor car a couple weeks ago.

 

~~~

 

ya know - just sitting here thinking....couldnt it be possible that there is an issue with the fuel evap system?

 

Not saying it is "probable" - just maybe "possible"?

 

if the evap system is plugged up and not venting properly, then venting (opening) the fuel cap "should" resolve the problem quickly, right?

Where doing nothing, it would take several minutes for the problem to resolve itself...

 

eh, I am probably way off base - pay no attention to me, just thinking out loud...

Edited August 24, 2013 by heartless

[freekraz]

Hello all,

 

I want to send BIG THANKS to everyone on the board for all their help.

 

Went to AutoZone, got the code, which read crank position sensor.

 

They had the part IN STOCK for $22.99.

 

Had some trouble getting the old one out. Wound up removing the belt guards, radiator fans, air intake to get the 10mm nut off. The sensor swivelled but wouldn't come out. Finally pried it out, but the aluminum housing stayed in the block. So I had to remove the alternator to get the aluminum housing out.

 

Put everything back, it started right up and I let it idle for 1/2 hour, everything looks and sounds good. All in all, a lot easier than working on my Citroen SM!

 

THANKS TO EVERYONE.

 

Jeff in Boston

 

P.S. Did I mention the car has 80,000 miles on it and I bought it for $500? :-))

[Fairtax4me]

Good deal! Glad to hear its fixed! Thanks for posting the resolution.

[davebugs]

Well done!

 

You're actually lucky several ways.  A lot of times that won't throw a code because the engine usually has to be actually running (not jsut cranking) to get a code.

 

And now you understand why I said to start spraying.

 

Never had to remove all that stuff to get the 10mm out. 

 

But I've had to remove more than what you listed to get some sensors out for sure.

 

And as pointed out - thanks for posting the resolution.

 

I thought about putting anti-seize on the last one I repalced.  To make it easy for the next fella if it ever needed removed again.

[heartless]

Hello all,

 

I want to send BIG THANKS to everyone on the board for all their help.

 

Went to AutoZone, got the code, which read crank position sensor.

 

They had the part IN STOCK for $22.99.

 

Had some trouble getting the old one out. Wound up removing the belt guards, radiator fans, air intake to get the 10mm nut off. The sensor swivelled but wouldn't come out. Finally pried it out, but the aluminum housing stayed in the block. So I had to remove the alternator to get the aluminum housing out.

 

Put everything back, it started right up and I let it idle for 1/2 hour, everything looks and sounds good. All in all, a lot easier than working on my Citroen SM!

 

THANKS TO EVERYONE.

 

Jeff in Boston

 

P.S. Did I mention the car has 80,000 miles on it and I bought it for $500? :-))

 

Great Job on getting things fixed! (and another thank you for posting your resolution, so many dont)

 

and one heck of a deal!!