Turns over/won't start

[smcphc]

New to the forums, my wife and I are the original owners of a 1996 Legacy Outback 2.2 5 speed, 110,00 miles. Car has been basically trouble free except for having to replace the oil seal. Anyway, it's my wife's commute car, and recently it started misbehaving. It's a random occurence, so hard to troubleshoot. When it happens, the car will turn over but not start. If you give the throttle linkage a flick by hand, the car will then start. I kept the car for a week trying to replicate the problem, but it worked fine for me. Yesterday it happened to my wife and as I had to meet her in a parking lot while I was on my way to work, I didn't have time to properly troubleshoot it to see if either the accelerator or cruise control cables were sticking. The flick thing wasn't working for her, but after I showed up 10 minutes later, the car turned over but wouldn't start, I gave the linkage a flick, and she started right up.

I did a basic forum search and didn't see anything similar. The only other known condition with the car is the check engine light popping on every so often with the P0115 Engine Coolant Temperature Circuit Malfunction, which either goes out by itself or needs to be reset.

Thanks for any help.

 

Scott

[Cougar]

It seems to me that flicking the throttle cable is really changing something else. Like a loose connection to the ignition system or something like that. I would check for spark while the problem is happening. If you have a spare spark plug you could insert it into one of the plug wires and check for spark.

 

As far as the sensor code goes, I would try checking and cleaning the connection at the sensor to see if that helps things.

[SevenSisters]

I've never had this type of problem so this is a wild rump roast guess, but I'd look at the throttle position sensor.

[smcphc]

Thanks-Still trying to get it to not start. I don't think I ever wanted a car to not start before, it's tough to troubleshoot a car that seems to be running fine.

[smcphc]

OK, I got it to not start, didn't see spark. I checked the connections on the TPS, plugged everything together, and she started up. I checked the OBD II as I noticed the check engine light and got a P0335 Crankshaft Position Sensor A Malfunction error code. Off to do some research on that.

 

Scott

[smcphc]

Cool beans, I found this thread

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12947

 

Hope this is it. My wife is looking into trading this in on a Mini Cooper if it lets her down again. Then again...

 

Thanks everyone for pointing me in the right direction.

[Cougar]

Check the connection to the sensor. It may be just a simple matter of cleaning it and solving your problem. Using some alcohol to clean the connection should work well.

[97subaruGT]

Hey everyone.

I got a similar situation. The car was turning over but wouldn't start.

I got P0335 as a code and eventually started the car.

 

Where exactly is the Throttle Position Sensor in a 97 Legacy? If anyone got a picture, that would be awesome. I guess I'll try to clean the contacts and see what happens.

 

Thanks

[BigMattyD]

My 96 Legacy had a similar problem: crank but no start, not even misfiring, just no start.

 

The problem was intermittent. The car would run fine, I'd park it and run in to the store, come back out, and no start. It would usually work again if I waited long enough..

 

Turned out to be a faulty crankshaft position sensor. Replaced it back in 2001, no problems since.

 

matt

[Scottbaru]

I'd expect resistance specs for checking the health of those sensors, both hot and cold. I doubt it would be in my Haynes manual, maybe someone with a factory service manual?