Hi
I've got a '99 Impreza Sport that has recently started displaying really odd behaviour.

Noticed the other day that my Engine Check light was on but all was behaving ok and didn't have time pre-Christmas to get it into a garage.

Over the last week I noticed that when the engine gets warm - 20 mins or so of motorway driving - there is odd behaviour from the engine. A knocking sensation when I start to accelerate & a rhythmic judder.

Two days ago after 60 miles it started getting undrivable - juddering, gear stick was shaking. Pulled into services and when I reversed into parking bay it was almost kangarooing backwards. The judder was terrible and there was a distinct hot smell in the car.

Popped the bonnet, no signs of smoke.

Recovery turned up when engine had cooled down and car was behaving fine again.

Put it into a garage & they've checked it over & can find nothing wrong with it - they checked clutch, gearbox oil level, driveshaft & prop shaft.

I've taken it back from them, driven it today & all seems fine, except check engine light came on again. I'm away from home & the local subaru dealership master engineer is on holiday until Jan.

Has anyone got any ideas of what else I could check or what the prob could be? Or is it time to call it a day and scrap it?

Thanks

Nick

 

engine mounts ok?

 

You'll need to get the reason the light is on established by having the code(s) read by a plug in on board diagnostic code reader and go from there.

 

Mine had a similar problem it was a weeping oil seal in the spark plug hole very common and can cause a misfire and sometime quiet violent.

 

Just connect the plugs under the steering wheel together and the car will output the code in morse code on the dash.

 

Sorry for slow reply - Christmas and being sick haven't helped.

So, after getting home on Boxing Day - took four hours to go 90 miles as had to keep stopping to let engine cool down, seems to lessen the problem slightly.

Took it to a Subaru garage this morning - worst 2 hours & £90 ever spent. They did a full diagnosis check on it & didn't even check the error code until I told them to at the end!

They came away saying a couple of probs:

- Error code is the knock sensor
- There is an engine oil leak but they don't know where from
- Worn bushings & links on both front anti-roll bars

He also said he'd noticed my jack was a bit loose so that may have been the noise(!)

His final comment was it's an old car, if we told you everything that was getting old you wouldn't have a car left.

This is a genuine problem but seems to only present itself when the car has been run for a reasonable length of time. Any time I take it to the garage it has cooled down by the time they look at it so it's not showing any symptoms.

Don't know if the knock sensor is significant or not. If it was knocking I presume it would do it all the time, not just when hot & in motion - doesn't do it when idling & stationary.

Tempted to scrap it but has anyone got any ideas?

 

Managed to fix this in the end.

Turns out it was the diff. Check out this thread for a pretty accurate description of what was happening:

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulle...ce-them-46979/

Anyway, got a second hand gearbox and with help from some friends swapped out the front diff & all is sorted.