Engine stalls (Subary Justy).

Hi!
I have a Subaru Justy, year 1993, 1000 cubic cm engine, 3 cylinders with a manual transmission box. The mileage is about 140,000 miles (around 230,000 km).
In the last year, I started having the problem with this car, that sometimes the engine just completely shuts down in the middle of a ride or when the car is parked and the engine is running in an idle mode, and I have to turn the ignition key to start the engine again. But it only happens when I am NOT pressing on the accelerator pedal. I took the car to the main Subaru garage in the whole country (Israel), they checked the carburetor with some special device, which they call here "4-gases device", and said that the carburetor is fine. They also replaced the fuel filter, filtering the fuel, which flows from the fuel tank into the engine, because they said that my existing filter was heavily clogged up. However, it all didn't help and my car's engine still stalls in the middle of a ride. The guys at the garage also said that it's very very difficult to diagnose this kind of problems in those old cars, because you cannot connect them to a computer and have the computer show you all the problems, but rather have to look for all the problems manually and it can be very hard.
Do you have any idea what might be the reason of my car's engine's stalling?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Igor.

Hi Igor!

What is the car's maintenance history: spark plugs, wires, distributor cap?

It does sound like a carburetor problem though.

Try to ask the same question at www.ultimatesubaru.org. Go to "Older generation Subaru"

Good luck,

Sam

Dear Sam! Thank you so much for your quick reply! As for my car's maintenance history, I've had this car for a little more than 3 years. I bought it from a good friend, who had also had it for about 3 years and had been taking very good care of this car. And this friend of mine, in turn, had bought it from some academician, who had also been very gentle with this car. So, this car has always been in good hands and well taken care of. During the past 3+ years that I've had this car, I've replaced both the high-voltage wires, all the 3 plugs (more than once) and the distributor also got a very good maintenance (I think, something was replaced in it too). In other words, all the things you've asked me about have been replaced and taken care of. Only the carburetor hasn't been dealt with. By the way, when I first brought my car into the main official Subaru garage in Israel (my friend works there), the guys there told me that in my car I should use only a regular type of spark plugs, and NOT the electronic spark plugs, so they've put in 3 new regular plugs. Were those guys right? Thank you very much for recommending me the specialized Subaru forum site! I'll definitely post a message on it. So, if the problem does turn out to be in the carburetor, what should I do? Clean it? Replace it? Repair it? Sam, only if you don't mind, I would like to ask you one more question. I have another problem in my car that, pretty often, when I try to start my car by turning the ignition key, instead of starting, the car produces a kind of a loud and disgusting grating noise (like that of two cog wheels rubbing against each other forcefully) and I have to turn the ignition key backwards and then try again several more times while pressing the accelerator pedal, until the car starts. My question is : does it look to you like a problem with the starter? Does the noise come from the starter's cog wheel rubbing against the cogs of the engine's fly wheel? What should I do to fix it? Only replace the starter or do something else? Thank you very very much again! Your truly, Igor.

Hi Igor!

I unfortunately cannot visit this site very often. As a result I found your post only today. I hope everything have been fixed by now. If you still have this awful sound at start up, it sounds like a bad starter motor. But once again I hope you do have all your problems taken care of.

Sam