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Hi... New to Subaru's and suffering some technical issues.


richard300
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Firstly, a big hello to you all.... 2001 Liberty/Legacy 2.5 owner here.

 

I'm currently living in South Australia, but i'm from West Sussex originally. Was looking for a practical daily driver and the Subaru Liberty (Legacy) is a common sight over here. I like the look of the wagons (estates) and so decided to buy one..... I did want a 'Heritage' spec car, with twin sunroofs, leather, etc. But found a nice white RX with a spec that was 'good enough'

 

Test drove the car and all was good, drove it to work and it drove lovely.

But i noticed later that day on my way home from work, that it seemed to hesitate at 2500rpm (100kph, in top gear) its an automatic on a steep inclined section of motorway. I thought it was perhaps low on fuel as whilst no fuel light had come on, the gauge was very low.

 

Over hear you can buy 91ron fuel everywhere, but its recommended that 95ron is used. I have no idea what the car has been run on previously, but i filled her up with BP 95 and figured in anything this would improve things........ It hasn't.

 

Issues plaguing my car, seem to be:

 

Hesitation/possible misfire at 2500rpm under load... then revs jump to 3000rpm, but this could be auto kicking down.

 

Smell of fuel on cold mornings (its winter here in SA and had two cold mornings since i bought the car and both resulted in strong smell of fuel from engine bay until car was warm

 

Hesitation/possible misfire at 2500rpm when coming off the throttle (going downhill for example)

 

Now i have a cold start issue - start the car after its not been used overnight and it wont start first time, turn the key again and it starts fine (no check engine light) BUT, start the car when warm and it starts fine, but check engine light comes on for 5 seconds and then goes again.

 

sometimes when experiencing the hesitation the check engine light comes on (briefly) but most of the time it doesnt.

 

If the car had always been run on 91 and i switch to 95, would this cause issues? I guess it may have always been run on 98 - but i doubt it.

 

Its a shame, i'm falling out of love with this car and i want to like it so much....

 

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Hello & welcome nice looking legacy/liberty [emoji1] I'm sure one of the leggy owners will be along at some point to help diagnose, have you plugged it into a diagnostic reader ?

My limited guess may be a nock sensor or cam position sensor gone duff.

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First thing I would do is fault code check & log data from sensors while on a quick test drive, second thing would be checking plugs & leads as they super common for issues, plugs don't get checked or changed as much as should as hard to get at, leads can fail due to long route & tough conditions. lots of other things could be to blame but worth ticking off very basics before spending out.

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Morning my fello West Sussex or Ex West Sussex Scooby.

The smell will be the car running rich from start from cold as soon as it's warm / warmer then it will stop........

With regards to the reset of the issues I would say it could be a señor or plugs if not both...... Shouldn't be anything major...

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Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone.... I did (what i thought might be) an ECU reset yesterday, by disconnecting the Battery all day.... Thought it might be worth a try. The car seemed to run MUCH better after, seemed more responsive, gearbox seemed to shift more decisively and whilst there is possibly a hint of the car being hesitant at 2500rpm under load (uphill) its much better than it was??

 

However, the car still wont start first time (something it never did before i refueled) from cold, it always will start on the second attempt. But when warm it will start strait away with no issues - But the check engine light will flash (it never flashed when i attempt to start the car from cold)??

 

Anyway, have the car booked in at a specialist. But they are so busy i have to wait until the end of the week..

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Hey i have a Legacy B4 and recently had little problems like a slight missing or misfire. I changed plugs and didn't help. However i change coil pack and that solved my problem. Try plugs also make sure the car is reaching the correct temperature

Sent from my iphone using Tapatalk

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I had a similar problem with my Impreza, seemed to start after refuelling, with hesitation at 2000rpm, then started having problems with cold start. Always started on 2nd try. It turned out to be a faulty fuel filter that had been fitted at a service 3 months before and had gradually leaked air. 

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Hi - Just thought i would update...

Basically the car seems to be running fine now, starts OK, runs OK, i'm not even sure if i'm just imagining the 'hesitation' at 2500rpm or if that has gone, since i reset the ECU, filled with 98ron and added injector cleaner?

Although funnily enough just as i was thinking "The car has been running really well the last few days'' the check engine light randomly came on and then went out again as i was entering a car park.... I still have the car booked in at http://sjautomotive.com.au/ though, for them to have a look over it.

I think my AC pulley needs replacing (i'll get them to pull the belt to confirm) and the other day i opened the tailgate and water poured out of the reversing lamp holders!!!

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I would fit a new set of plugs & HT leads, odd flickering of CEL often turned out to be pour lead (CEL will flash/flicker as warning of intermittent sparking error) I do 1 or 2 with HT leads a month with similar symptoms .

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