97 LGT Bucking & Stalling

Hey guys I'm new here so I'll start off by giving a bit of info about my car. Its a 1997 Legacy GT with 244K km. When I first got the car I noticed a hesitation and lack of power but no check engine light. So I replaced the fuel filter, plugs, plug wires and put back on the stock air filter housing that the previous owner had removed. I noticed a bit of a power increase but still a hesitation. Thought it could have been the egr so I blocked it off but it didn't help at all.

 

Driving on the highway one day the car began bucking, lost all power and eventually stalled (had to get towed home). The next day the car ran fine. I finally realized that the check engine light wasn't working so I pulled the codes and found out that the test mode connectors were connected and I had a bad knock sensor. Fixed both those problems and I thought it was problem solved.... Well no it couldn't be that easy.

 

On the highway again I experienced the same problem. This time I had my code scanner on hand and found P0102 MAF low input. So I unplugged the MAF and gave it a tap. Holy shit it worked... for about 10 km at which time I pulled over and did it again. This was last night, today everything is back to normal. I believe that it has to be a bad MAF (broken connection inside housing) but I wanted to run it by you guys before spending $333 for a new bosch one.

 

Also it was raining both times the car has acted up. It seems like the computer is intermittently cutting off fuel when it does so.

Make sure your filter is not getting wet, this could happen if the snorkel is removed from the fender. Also try some MAF cleaner on it to see if maybe it is dirty.

i have 2 spares from that last lgts i owned, you can buy one for 50 plus shipping. they were in good working order i just dont use it cause im MAP based now.

Make sure your filter is not getting wet, this could happen if the snorkel is removed from the fender. Also try some MAF cleaner on it to see if maybe it is dirty.

 

I tried MAF cleaner at the same time I did the plugs and wires but this problem didn't really exist back then, this was about a month ago. As for the snorkel I believe if I'm thinking of the same part it is removed. I only have the air filter box installed, before I got it there was only an oil cone filter with an adapter plate to bolt to the MAF.

 

I thought it was a faulty connector at the MAF because when I unplugged it and plugged it back in the problem went away temporarily but I realized that tapping on the top of the MAF is actually what was fixing it.

 

i have 2 spares from that last lgts i owned, you can buy one for 50 plus shipping. they were in good working order i just dont use it cause im MAP based now.

 

Thanks for the offer. I'm going to see if I can find something locally first. There's an LGT down the street from me just sitting there so I might try to make friends with the owner lol.

Just an update, I got a bit impatient and decided to order a new maf online. The research I did all pointed towards the maf as the problem so we'll see how it goes when it comes in!

New MAF went in yesterday and it seems to have done the trick! I'll have to drive it some more to make sure because it was an intermittent problem before.

Make sure your filter is not getting wet, this could happen if the snorkel is removed from the fender. Also try some MAF cleaner on it to see if maybe it is dirty.

 

:yeahthat:took the words right out of my mouth

Hello, I am very interested in your results on this problem. I am having a very similar problem with my 99 legacy L. I have a forum posting going right now with no positive results from a lot of troubleshooting "99 Legacy won't accelerate".

Thanks so much.

If for some random reason ur still having this problem try ur idle air control valve. That may have a part in the problem as well