Subaru - Outback :: 1996 Wagon Won't Start Reliably
Sep 9, 2012
Bought a used '96 Subaru Outback Wagon w/ 175k miles a few months ago and I'm having trouble. The car always starts when it's cold. However, sometimes when it's hot, it won't start. Then wait 10 minutes or so and it starts right up.
I'll make a short stop somewhere (like to pick up milk) and when I get back to the car everything seems to work fine: fuel pump, radio, AC, lights, instrument cluster, etc all turn on. Then, when I turn the ignition switch to start, I hear the click behind the dash (starter relay?) and the solenoid clicks but the starter does not turn on at all. Then I wait a little while and it will (almost always) start with no problem. This happens ~25% of the time when the car is hot.
I replaced the starter with a new one (not rebuilt) but that doesn't fix the problem. I tried hitting the new starter with a mallet but no luck. Battery, alternator and starter checked out OK at the Autozone. Haven't been to the mechanic because that would probably end up costing more than the car is worth.
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Yesterday I reversed my 1996 Subaru Outback (manual transmission) out of a perpendicular parking place on a hill, swung around forward and coasted down the hill. Near the bottom, I let out the clutch out without realizing I was still in reverse gear. It made a not-so-awful noise (sounding rather like engine braking) and I very quickly put it in neutral. I immediately smelled a fairly strong gasoline/exhaust aroma and the engine stalled.
The Subaru restarted without trouble, but the check engine light was on. Everything appears to function normally now, and I've reset the engine light by disconnecting the negative terminal of the battery for a few minutes.
Have I likely damaged anything? Is there anything I should check? Should I have tried to read the diagnostic code?
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I have a 96 outback which all of a sudden has no awd. The rear differential looks as though it has leaked some. I don't know if it has a bad axle, or if this loss of fluid is the culprit..... Where to start?
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The Subaru as 260k miles on it and I live in Georgia. When I attempt to start the car, it turns over and sounds like the engine catches and then dies out without getting over 200 rpms or so. Its a manual and I made sure the floor mat isn't impeding the clutchsensor.
The car has been doing this the past three days and finally today after driving around for a few hours and multiple times shutting the engine off with at least two start attempts before it fires, I get home and shut off the car.
I then attempt to restart it about two hours later and after 7 tries, all with the car sounding like the the engine has fired but not yet fully running , then the engine dies. I would push start it but am parked on an uphill slope.
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I have a 1996 Subaru Outback. There is a strange noise emanating from the center/front of the car. It only occurs when I stop accelerating over the speed of 50 mph. It sounds like a combination of a marble rolling around in a coffee can and a baby rattle. No sound at lower speeds or when I accelerate.
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I have a 1996 subaru impreza outback. It is now dead. Billowing white smoke, coolant coming out of the tailpipe, terrible rocky idle and some smoke coming from the exhaust at the manifold. (assuming it cracked from the harsh idle) I'm pretty good with cars but I've never taken on a head gasket problem myself. I have time to fix it, I just don't really know if it will be worth it. Should i just replace the motor w/ a scrapyard motor? Should I take this opportunity to rebuild and upgrade? I have a crappy chevy to get me around in the meantime. Should I give it a try or just scrap it. I paid 800 bucks for this car and it has 220k miles. No major problems until now. New alt a few months back. Previous two(only two) didn't have any problems at all. I feel like it would be worth it.
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I have a 2002 Subaru Outback with 5 speed tranny, when I go to get moving the car bounces kinda like the clutch is getting disengaged too fast but it usually gets going just fine, this doesn't happen as bad when I accelerate slowly, when I disengage the clutch and get going it kinda lurches a few times. No matter the combo of clutch and gas I can't seem to get it to stop. This happens when I start in 1st and second gear, and a lot of the time if I accelerate quickly it will smell like burning rubber.
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2000 Subaru Legacy Outback (or is it Outback Legacy.....I've never known)165000 milesWhite
I have this chronic and intermittent problem with my Subaru. It's been going on for years. I had it to the dealership a few time as well as other mechanics, but of course, it never misbehaves then.
Here's the problem. The car always will start when cold. Occasionally when you go somewhere, primarily short errands etc. the first stop is no problem but when you stop at the next place and come back a short while later (5-15 minutes) it will not start. It does not make a sound. Lights work. The battery is just fine. Stopping on long trips is especially problematic.
At first, it would cure itself after opening the hood, scratching your head, etc. and closing the hood. Or maybe it was slamming the door but you could depend on it starting after some hocus pocus like that. Now it seems to be getting worse. However, there is one thing that so far never fails.... you can jump it and it will fire right up. Remember, the battery is not low, but jumping works.
Actually, the battery is just about a year old. One time it died and when I couldn't get it to start after a long time I thought it was finally my chance to get a mechanic to trouble shoot it. So after towing and about $300 between troubleshooting fees and the diagnosis that the battery was shot, they were confident they had solved the problem. No such luck
I can say confidently that the battery terminal connections are clean and tight. I've checked the wire and mount on the starter too.
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Last week, I needed to move my Subaru from the driveway, it sluggishly turned over and started. Later that day, I went to move it back into the driveway and it wouldn't turn over at all. However, my dash lights on buttons were glowing. It then randomly started up for my husband a couple hours later and he pulled it into the driveway. The next day, he had to jump the car to start it up and he took it to the shop where they replace the corroded heads of the battery cables. Said the cables were okay and that the battery was charged (would a no-good battery show decent charge simply because it was jumped?). The following day, the Subaru started up fine for my husband who went to run an errand, but upon returning to the car in the parking lot, found it unable to start, again! I met him with our 2nd car and jumped the Subaru, then followed him to the Subaru dealer shop. Their master mechanic has yet to determine what's going on.
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I have a 1998 Subaru Legacy Outback that has been having a sporadic starting problem for almost two years. Occasionally and mostly when it's cold, but not always, the car will sound like it's going to start for a second and then go dead. I will have to turn the key over and over, sometimes many times until it "catches". And so far it's always started, eventually. I have a new alternator and battery, the belts are newer, a rebuilt engine with about 50,000 miles and have had the starter and relay system checked, which was okay. My mechanic, who's been working on Subarus for years, is stumped. He says to wait until it happens again and have it towed in so he can look at the car while it's acting up.
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I went to start my 07 Subaru Outback 2.5i yesterday morning with both kiddos in the car and it seemed to begin to start and then just seemed to stop the starting sequence. When the key was in the ignition in the on position, the lights work, the radio works, everything thing besides the engine seems to work, BUT above the odometer there was an error reading "Er HC', and the temp gauge was as high as it would go on H but the car had not been run for over 24 hours at that point. The fan to the engine seems to be running also when in the on position which I do not remember happening normally, maybe it is always on when the engine is on but b/c the engine is not on I can now hear the fan?
Tried over and over again to start it but the engine never made another sound and every time the lights would turn on and the error message would appear over the odometer.I ran a scan for any engine problem codes but it said it was clear. We tried jumping the car, but the battery is fine (all lights come on, radio works etc). The car has never missed any maintenance and has always had its oil changed every 3000 to 3500 miles. The car has 62000 on it and just (in the last 1500 miles) had its 60000 mile tune up at the dealership.
We had the front two control arm bushings replaced at Les Schwab (b/c it was less then 1/2 the price of the dealer), they were cracked, but all the other stuff was normal and really they were changing fluids etc. at the dealer and didn't replace anything. Our car has never had any problems besides the control arm bushings just being replaced and now this. We had to have it towed to the dealership and it has been there now for over 24 hours and they have told us 'we have never seen this problem.
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I have a 2000 Outback Limited with 133,000 miles. I bought the car used and it has had to have a lot of maintenance. Most recently new head gaskets and radiator. Last weekend while doing errands, the car would not start, after sitting for around 20 minutes. The battery is less than a year old and the radio, etc, worked. I had it towed to my Subaru mechanic who checked the battery, alternator and starter, but could find nothing wrong, The car started for him each time he tried. Today, I was driving home from work, stopped somewhere for around 10 mins. and when I tried to start the car, nothing. Not even a noise. I had someone give me a jump, but that did not start the car. I let the car sit for around 45 minutes and it started right up. What is wrong with this beast?
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I've rebuilt and reinstalled everything to the best of my ability. I'm trying to turn the motor over and it simply wont go.
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I just purchased a 2017 Outback. I noticed a rattling noise (like marbles) coming from the engine upon startup in the morning only. The noise goes away after a few seconds. To me it sounds like bearings rattling due to low oil pressure, but the dealer says that every Outback and Legacy does this. It has a timing chain and the engines use 0-20 synthetic oil. Is this normal.
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I have a 2002 Subaru Outback Wagon. In May this year the OEM battery finally wore out, I was feeling poor so I bought a used battery from the local auto parts store. 2 months later, one day my car started chugging like it was having trouble starting and sounded like the battery was dying but then did start. Later that day it wouldn't start at all. Wouldn't turn over at all, but dash lights came on with key turn. Tried to jump it, wouldn't jump start. I bought a refurbed starter, had it put it, car starts.
A week later the same thing happened. Won't jump, no turn over, dash lights on when key turn. Had the battery tested, it was "good". Had the starter pulled, it was bad, put another refurbed starter in. Also replaced cables to the battery, and the clamp things that go on the cables to the battery. A week later, same thing, won't turn over, dash lights on with key turn. I was in the Costco parking lot when it happened this time, and got the tire mechanic to try to jump it. It jumped but was chugging like crazy and smoke came out of somewhere. The mechanic said he really thought it was a bad battery, that it sounded like the motor was trying to run off the alternator. I bought a new battery from Costco, and returned the used one to the parts store. When the used one was taken out, the mechanic said he could smell battery acid and it might have had a bad cell.
Now, the car will start when the engine is cold, but when I drive somewhere and it gets nice and hot (I live in Florida), it will not start again unless it is completely cold, or I get a jump. At least it will jump start now without a problem. I have had a mechanic use his little tool to check for computer codes, and of course there are none. I need to solve it not starting at all unless it is stone cold. My question is, what do you think is wrong?
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I'm getting a gas smell when I start the car in the morning-especially if its cold. I typically blow the defroster which only makes it worse. It seems to be worse when its colder out and does not happen as the day goes on. My mechanic has checked for leaks-none. I thought it might be an oxygen sensor(?), he does not think so.
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My outback started giving me intermittent extended crank starting problems on cold engine starts a few months ago. I brought it in first to repair shop and then dealership. Battery replaced, all systems checked out, computer update, camshaft sensor shim, and still I have the problem. What this could be?
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I have a 2000 Subaru Legacy Outback with 208,000 miles. Last Oct I had a complete tune up done on it: fluids, filters, spark plugs, etc. Ever since then, the gas mileage has dropped from getting around 390-400 miles off a full tank to 290-300 miles off a full tank. I have tried carburetor and fuel injector cleaners and nothing is working. At this same time, it also started idling at 1750 rpms every time I start it, dropping down to around 750-900 rpms after I put it in gear. The timing system was replaced about 7 months earlier. So far the repair shops can't find anything wrong. I also just had the transmission rebuilt and it's still idling fast.
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So my daughter has a Subaru Outback with keyless entry and push button start, and her battery kept dying overnight. It turns out that she was keeping her second key fob within 10 feet of the car, so the car's electrical system was kept on all night (sensing that she was approaching the car) running the battery down. The lesson learned (the hard way) was to keep your key fobs far enough away from the car so the electrical system is not constantly energized.
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One of my roommates is also my ride to the bus stop in the mornings, and we've been arriving later and later for the past few weeks because of a persistent issue with his car, a 2003 VW GTI basic trim with automatic transmission.
After starting it in the morning, we have to wait a few minutes for it to warm up before it will agree to shift out of first gear while in D. Even then, often after he comes to a stop and turns left, it will once again refuse to shift out of first gear, so we'll be forced to pull over and wait a few more minutes once again.
I read a few forums that mentioned stuff about solenoids, but the whole thing is over my head. He does park on a steep-ish grade, as we live on a hill, if that provides any further clue. We're in Southern California, so the temperature isn't too extreme here, and there seems to be no other reason to have to warm up the car.
So that's about it! How we might go about getting it resolved? Is it something we can roll our sleeves up in the driveway and do ourselves?
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We bought a 1996 Subaru Outback Legacy Wagon a year ago. It has a salvaged title with some back-end damage that doesn't seem to effect the overall ride of the car. The car really seems to run fine, but the main problem is it randomly won't start. We can drive it short or long distances. It will start just fine 5 to 10 times in a row and then - BAM - we go to leave somewhere and it won't start. It makes a sound like it is trying to turn over, but it just doesn't have that last spark to start...until you wait approximately 10 minutes, then it starts again like nothing happened. We changed the fuel filter thinking it might have a blockage, but to no avail. We live in Portland, Oregon, so we get all four seasons of weather. The temperature does not seem to be of any consequence.
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