Dies, hard to start

[kontakt]

My Subaru Legacy has been acting up on me recently. Aside from a leaking front main seal, and an ABS problem, my car has treated me quite well until recently. A little bit more background, at one point the car went a little too far w/o an oil change (probably 10k) with the previous owner, and has a slightly off sound to it. I don't know if it's related, but recently, once when I was OUT of gas, and once right after filling, but having run almost completely out, my car would not start. Continuing it has died sitting at lights or in traffic twice now, one time started right back up, the other I had to wait a bit. Each time it doesn't start I get a Check Engine Light. The time that it shut off, and started right back up, the CEL went away. I thought maybe the battery connections were weak, and the ECU lost power with the brakes on, which I know on my other car resets it. I'm thinking now that it might be fuel filter/pump related from being poor, and letting the pump suck all the crap off of the top of the tank a few times when it ran low. If anyone has any opinions or other Ideas they would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone knows of a procedure to pull CEL codes from the ECU it would be very helpful. I know for my RX7 you can make a simple circuit with a LED light, and it will flash you a pattern. Is there anything like this for Subarus?

[w8ngladee]

I just had the same problem with my Escort. I changed the fuel filter and now the car starts and keeps running. I was advised by 3 different people, two were mechanics, to use Chevron Premium because it's better for your engine parts and you'll have less problems with starting. Good luck.

[kontakt]

Originally Posted by w8ngladee

I just had the same problem with my Escort. I changed the fuel filter and now the car starts and keeps running. I was advised by 3 different people, two were mechanics, to use Chevron Premium because it's better for your engine parts and you'll have less problems with starting. Good luck.

Thanks man. There aren't any chevron stations around where I live, but I try to stick to Sunoco, or at worst Hess. I don't have a functioning gas gauge, so I know my mileage real well, and use my trip odometer. I don't get nearly the mileage on gas like Sheetz, etc. Premium gas isn't necessarily good for an engine that doesn't require it. Owning an RX7 (Rotary engine), which is one of the pickiest engines on the planet, I have to watch out for dirty fuels to avoid carbon deposits, which can lock my hard seals eventually. It runs best on something like 80-84 octane (No, I can't buy that, but I pre-mix 2 stroke oil into my gasoline because rotarys inject oil into the combustion chamber to lube the seals, but I don't use that system. The pre mix lowers the octane). If I run higher octane fuels the car performs less well, because the fuel is burning slower, and so more of it burns out the exhaust. The interesting thing though, is that if I run good quality, but high octane gas, I get more deposits in my engine because of the additives to raise the octane (usually extra detergents and such). Just some fuel for thought. I'd keep buying chevron if I were you, but run what your owners manual recommends as far as octane.