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Yes ! i have another problem with the legacy ! Wouhou ! do i win something ?


symptoms : Car runs on 3 or 2 cylinders.

Did it onces 1 month ago...I did nothing and it recovered after letting the engine turn for 1 minute (cold-start).

Did it once again this evening, cold-start again.

And finaly did it one last time this evening. A friend tried my car for 5 mins after a cold start... then stalled while entering a parking lot. restarted the engine and 20 sec after, pouf only 3-2 pistons running.

Solution for the two times it did it this evening : with the engine running on 2-3 pistons, Open the hood, pull the "Passenger side, back" spark-plug wire from the coil-pack, but let the spark jump into the wire.. then the engine recovers and runs ok on all 4 cylinders. Plug the wire back and go.


Bad Coil Pack ?

Most likely. I would say get one from a junkyard, new ones are about $100, although I think it's worth it. Might as well replace your wires while you're at it. They have taken a beating too in that situation.

I'd check the sparkplugs, plugwires and injectors. Is it the same cylinder(s) every time? I wouldn't think the coilpack would only drop one cylinder, but i guess it's possible.

MK

It'd be really weird for the coil pack to be bad in a way that makes one cylinder not fire.

Since you say you make it work again by removing the wire and plugging it back in, I'd suspect the connection between the coil and the wire. Look at the terminal on the wire and inside the coil tower; make sure the whole area is clean and shiny. Make sure the terminal on the wire is springy and fits very snugly into the coil tower.

I suppose the igniter could theoretically be involved, too...

If you do decide you need a new igniter and/or coil pack, I think I have one of each somewhere. The coil pack's a Diamond one (the better one).

But I'd suggest you start by examining the connections. You also might consider just getting new plug wires. I recommend Magnecor wires, but any new set should be good at least at first.

thanks, i'll do these verifications this evenings.

for info : Spark plugs a new from january, and the plug wires are new, BOSH, replaced in october.

Did you speak the word that should be banned from existence? . . . BOSCH?!?!?!?

I don't know how their wires are, but I know pretty much anything else they make is incompatible with subies. *shrug*

I doubt coil pack is it.

The reason being is the ignition system is a lost-spark system. So there is only two coils. One for each bank of cylinders.

I suppose it's possible it's freaking out a different cylinder each time. But that would difficult to trace. If you pull the same plug wire off each time and that fixes it, then I'd probably say it's plug wires or plug itself.

You may want to try new plug wires, or at the very least check the resistance on each wire and see if there is a difference.

yesterday evening, car wouldn't start at all... after 2 mins of trying, it finally started... but while shifting the second gear, paf engine began to run on 2 cylinders... opened the hood, pulled the wire, and it was ok.. :\

if it does it again, i'll try another wire to see.

I did had the same problem when I took off the scoop under plate, when water get into the ignitor it made the ignition mefuction, the car only run 2 cyclider and the turbo back cat runs red hot.
Then I went to the junkyard and found a 5spd non turbo (5pin) ignitor then change it, the car ran back to normal.
Check the ignitor.

Ben

Morgie, did you do the check I suggested to make sure the plug wires were snugly and firmly connected to the coil towers and that the contact areas were clean and shiny?

If your engine is in fact running on two cylinders rather than 3, the coil pack and igniter are very suspect.

You might want to also try running the engine in a dark place (but ventilated so you don't die) and looking for tiny sparks around any of the plug wires or the coil. It would be ideal if you could do that when the engine was running badly.

Vrg3 : Yup, everything seems to be in good conditions and properly linked :\

actually, it feels more like running on 2 cylinders...

Today i went to a pick-apart to see what they have (there were nothing usable there... :\ ) and when i left, car wouldn't start again !!

i pulled one plug-wire from the coil, and let the wire at 1/2" from the plug so i could see if there were power... Asked my girlfriend to try to start the car, and there were no spark jumping from the coil to the wire... no power at all...

I waited, verified the ignitor and the coilpack connectors, all plug wires... retried... nothing... waited 1 minute, retryed, and the engine finally started :\


I also suspect a lot the ignitor / coil...

If i change both, do a 2.5RS / 2.5GT / Forester 2.5l coil is better than our "diamond" coils ? thanx

You can't swap on a newer style coil pack. They have male ends vs. our female ends.

Also, the ignitor is integrated into the coil pack, or so I'm told.

Do you have the test procedures to test the coil pack & ignitor?

nope i dont have them, if you do, i'll do the check tomorrow

thanx !

think i've just found it

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8 ... cktest.jpg

The Diamond pack was put on many cars in addition to the ones you describe. I think some BC/BFs even had it -- the N/A 5MT ones I think. The general consensus is that it is indeed a bit better than the "other" pack.

Like I said before, I have an extra Diamond pack and ignitor if you want them. They're off a '97 Legacy if I recall correctly. I have to pack up very soon to move out of my apartment, so PM me soon if you want them.

The diamond coil packs were put on all the MT first gen legacies. The AT first gen legacies got the hitachi coilpacks.

In 95, I believe they all started using the diamond ones.

I think you have it right Josh, except that turbo 5MTs had the Hitachi packs.

vrg3 wrote:I think you have it right Josh, except that turbo 5MTs had the Hitachi packs.

You are correct. I just checked my books and subaruparts.com's database.

So we got

n/a MT 1990-1994 legacies got the Diamond coil pack
n/a AT 1990-1994 legacies got the Hitachi coil pack
turbo MT & AT 1992-1994 legacies got the Hitachi coil pack

The info I have says the 1991 turbo legacy followed the same coil pack scheme as the n/a ones.

Anyone confirm or deny this?

turbo MT & AT 1992-1994 legacies got the Hitachi coil pack

i have a 92 mt turbo, and the Diamond pack... how do you explain that ?

Well, unless your Hitachi was replaced with a Diamond, you've just disproved Josh...

But I think Subaru decided to have some fun with the BC-BF's since a few here and there got something or is missing something all the others are missing/have... silver reflectors in some 90-91 taillights and rear tapered springs on some 92-93 cars...

Morgie, you got lucky. :)

My '93 5MT Turbo had a Hitachi pack.

is the diamond or hitachi pack any better that the other???
and are they interchangeble???

The Diamond one is supposedly a bit better. They are completely interchangeable (except that the Hitachi one doesn't spark quite as powerfully).

I have a spare diamond coil pack here
is it worth putting it in my car, even if I have no problem with mi hitachi(i think its not marked hitachi)

Probably not, but you could sell it to me.... And I would have absolutely no bias in the matter!