1991 Legacy Wagon Hard to Start - need advice trouble shooting.

[None77]

Hello,

 

I have a 1991 Legacy Wagon, Automatic Trans 2.2L  140,000 miles

 

This car is not my daily driver.  It belonged to my Dad who was a Mechanic, and I inherited it in 2001.  I like to drive it for sentimental reasons, and it's awesome for the places I go Mountain biking.

 

I try to stay on top of everything, and the Car was running great, but had a problem with bad Fuel Injector last summer.   This was 3rd injector that failed, and like an idiot, I thought buying a complete set of Bostech refurbished Injectors would be a smart idea.

 

I replaced all 4 injectors, and the car wouldn't run properly with replacement injectors.   It would start, but would bog down when I stepped on gas, and wouldn't shift at correct points.  I had posted several times on this site about the problem, and everyone was very helpful sorting it out.    I eventually swapped injectors with combination of black and grey from local salvage yard. Car started right up, and seemed to run fine.

 

The car is now difficult to start.   I have to crank the engine, and work gas pedal.   It seems to run fine, but not as smooth as I remember.  It also seems like it might not be shifting at the optimum shift points.  I replaced transmission a couple of years ago with low mileage used transmission.

 

I'm not getting a CEL.   I tried replacing spark plugs, and plug wires are less than 1 year old.

 

I have swapped MAF, and igniter.  Tested Fuel Pressure.

 

I have read hundreds of posts on this forum, and Legacy BBS, but I'm not sure what steps to take to remedy problem.

 

I know car was shifting at weird places with Bosetech Replacement injectors, but I'm not sure which sensor sends info to ECM about shifting.   My gut instinct would be this might be culprit.

 

 

I live in Northern Ky,/Cincinnati area.   I never see these cars at local salvage yards.  I'm not sure if they weren't popular in this area, or if they were all junked a long time ago.

 

I don't have finances to buy all new sensors, and parts to troubleshoot.

 

I'm completely grabbing at straws, and would be open to any ideas.

 

 

 

[lmdew]

How old is the gas in the tank?  If you do not drive this Subaru very often, you may just have old gas with more moisture collected in it.

You can do diagnostics on the car, you have to read up on it.  Plug the green connector together under the dash and meet the drive requirements.

 

The IAC controls the idle

The TPS sends the shift down signal to the trans.  

 

I'd get at least a full tank or two on 91 Octane gas through it with some Sea Foam treatment before you start changing parts.

 

Subaru or NGK Plug wires

Copper core NGK Plugs would be the recommended parts.

[heartless]

agree with imdew - get some fresh gas thru it

 

these cars are rather fussy about plug wires - they do not like the cheap, parts store brands. use either Subaru wires, or NGK wires - anything else is a waste of money and have been known to cause all sorts of strange, hard to identify issues.

 

plugs - basic NGK copper cores are all this car needs - BKR6E-11 i believe

 

for diagnostic testing, and code retrieval, do a bit of reading up here.

[None77]

Hello,

 

I do have some cheap Autozone brand wires on the car.  I replaced the plugs with Basic NGK models, and filled up tank with High Octane Gas. 

 

I have been putting a transmission in 03 Camry (Daily Driver), I have been driving Legacy everyday for last 3 weeks.  I'm going to order some NGK Wires.  I couldn't find them locally.

 

I got really lucky, and finally found a 92 legacy being parted out on Craigs List.  I got 92 ECU, Fuel Rails, and Red Top Injectors.

 

I'm familiar with reading diagnostic codes.   Check Engine Light is Off. 

 

Will there still be codes in active mode, if CEL is Off?   I thought I needed a CEL light On to use active mode, but I'm pretty new at diagnosing OBD1 cars.

 

Thanks!