Rough idle 94 Legacy.

[Pete]

Hello,

I needed a new car in a hurry after my Honda got destroyed by a rear end
collision.

I've wanted a Subaru for years, so I picked up a cheap older one which I'll
replace with a newer one in a year or so provided I like it.

As it says on the title, I ended up with a UK 1994 Legacy 2.2DX manual
transmission. Only a couple of owners and a fully stamped service book. No
towbar and I doubt the car has been used off road or abused since in the
parts of central London it has lived in you're lucky to get to 50mph.

Mileage is highish at 127,000.

Thus far I'm really impressed, the roadholding is better than anything I've
ever owned, everything works amd I like the lack of useless toys.

The worst thing is lumpy tickover - The engine Idles at 750rpm and I can see
the rev count oscillating a bit, it feels like theres an occasional misfire
but I'm not sure.

My initial thoughts would be to change the HT leads and plugs (are plugs a
DIY job?, no service manual yet). or sould I increase the idle speed?

Any thoughts welcomed,

TIA

Pete

 

[Hallraker]

Hello,

I needed a new car in a hurry after my Honda got destroyed by a rear end
collision.

I've wanted a Subaru for years, so I picked up a cheap older one which I'll
replace with a newer one in a year or so provided I like it.

As it says on the title, I ended up with a UK 1994 Legacy 2.2DX manual
transmission. Only a couple of owners and a fully stamped service book. No
towbar and I doubt the car has been used off road or abused since in the
parts of central London it has lived in you're lucky to get to 50mph.

Mileage is highish at 127,000.

Thus far I'm really impressed, the roadholding is better than anything I've
ever owned, everything works amd I like the lack of useless toys.

The worst thing is lumpy tickover - The engine Idles at 750rpm and I can see
the rev count oscillating a bit, it feels like theres an occasional misfire
but I'm not sure.

My initial thoughts would be to change the HT leads and plugs (are plugs a
DIY job?, no service manual yet). or sould I increase the idle speed?

My '95 Legacy has always run a bit rough. It had 108,000 miles on it when I
bought it 4 years ago. I changed the plugs at around 120k, did it myself
and it wasn't that hard. Make sure you use NGK plugs. It is a bit easier
on the one side if you take out the washer bottle, and I was assisted by the
many tools of a shadetree mechanic who allowed me to borrow his heated
garage. The wires are simple, one of them should be longer than the
others but the rest are all the same length, and this is the only car I've
ever seen where you don't need to label the wires when you change them -
they come out of the distributor in the same positions relative to their
cylinder placement. (Still, always label the wires anyway.) At any rate, I
think all of the Subarus I've driven have had at least a slightly lumpy
idle, the smoothness of a boxer is more apparent at higher RPM.

-Matt

 

[Gilles Gour]

My '95 Legacy has always run a bit rough. It had 108,000 miles on it when I
bought it 4 years ago. I changed the plugs at around 120k, did it myself
and it wasn't that hard. Make sure you use NGK plugs. It is a bit easier
on the one side if you take out the washer bottle, and I was assisted by the
many tools of a shadetree mechanic who allowed me to borrow his heated
garage. The wires are simple, one of them should be longer than the
others but the rest are all the same length, and this is the only car I've
ever seen where you don't need to label the wires when you change them -
they come out of the distributor in the same positions relative to their
cylinder placement. (Still, always label the wires anyway.) At any rate, I
think all of the Subarus I've driven have had at least a slightly lumpy
idle, the smoothness of a boxer is more apparent at higher RPM.

-Matt

I have a 96 Brighton and the idle has always been «lumpy» sound wise.
But it's not so that it shows on the tach. The tach is rock steady at 700