Newbie Question: '92 Hill Stall

[geldorf9]

Being a 'civilian' Legacy owner, I wonder if you fine Subaru heads might share your collective wisdom on the following fact pattern.
I am as always, much obliged.

I've got a high mileage 92 Legacy (auto, no ABS / AB) that reliably stalls when I hill climb. The car loses power and then ignominously stalls. Not all hills, just hills that are either long with an increasing grade or in one case, a hill that is pretty steep. Gas mileasge is also brutal as of late.

After the stall, I can park the car, wait 2 minutes and restart it. The engines runs really rough and out of balance but then calms down and starts driving again, as if nothing happened. It's like it's narcoleptic or somehting.

I also notice that the engine tends to be more cranky in west coast rainy conditions.

My mech suggests that perhaps I need a "de-carboninzing' engine vac which will increase my manifold vaccum pressure, apparently. Having no real car sense, does that seem to be a reasonable course of action?

I've had the new plugs, wiring, timing belt, fuel / air / oxygen sensor replaced to no avail.

When the car stalls, is there a method to decode what the error codes are? Can attach an error code logger than could then be examined after the fact?

[Legacy777]

Is the check engine light on, or came on at any time?

Either way, I'd start with checking the codes from the ECU. Instructions to check the codes are on my site under notes & tips, engine related.

Check the codes and report back what you find.

[geldorf9]

thanks for the tip, i'll look up the codes...

[scottzg]

I hate pulling solutions out of the air, but im gonna go with clogged fuel filter on this one.

[tris91ricer]

yeah, something gravity fed.. and it's not gonna shut down like that after coolant loss, it'll just burn. I'd put Lincoln with Scott.

[scottzg]

yeah, something gravity fed..

Actually, i was thinking that it was only having trouble in extended high-load situations, where it consumes more fuel in less time for an extended time. The pump just couldnt pump enough fuel through the filter, so fuel pressure was lost, when it sat for a few minutes, the fuel line equalized and the car ran again.

[geldorf9]

great speculating. thanks very.

clogged fuel filter makes a lot of sense. i do get the same problem on a shorter / steeper hill but not always but on a long graded run it's 100% predictable whereas short / steep seems tied to himidity somehow. it's definitely a gravity / load issue that makes sense.

keep 'em comin'