96 LSI randomly wont start.....help please?

[XLEGACY96X]

i have a 96 LSI sedan 2.5 auto. for the last 4 months it will randomly decide not to start. it will start when it is cold no problem, but after i have driven it, then say...stopped for lunch, or groceries, whatever.. (time seems to not matter, i could shut it off for a minute, or an hour), when i get back in to go, it will turn over and not fire. in the past i have gone back into places and wasted time for car to cool off and come back out and it starts fine. i thought the plugs might have been soaked so i turned the car over with my foot on the gas to try to dry them, car started...eventually. i have gone to cycling the key to "on "position multiple times to cycle fuel pump, car starts. now keep in mind, this does not happen every time i go out and do something. its intermittent and random. the check engine light comes and goes for a p0440-been doing it for years, but no obvious fuel leaks, last month i got a cat converter below efficiency threshhold, and today (after came home from making about 7 stops of varying times each and brought groceries into house) i went to go to a friends house, after getting agrivated for abt 10 minutes bc it wasnt starting...it did, but i got a p0335 code which i have never seen before. once the car starts, it runs fine, no problems at all. several sidenotes: headgaskets done 2 years ago, leaky fuel tank replaced with used one 2 yrs ago, heat shield under fuel tank fell off about a year ago, cruise control doesnt work, does anyone have any ideas??? i love my legacy....but this is agrivating and no one seems to know whats wrong.....and i wont go to my local subie dealer because they are evil. thank you!

[chuckthefuk]

Ok lets start with the obvious.
If.. P0335 *Crankshaft Position Sensor Circuit Malfunction is happening the easiest thing to do is just replace the sensor. I am not 100% sure if the crank sensor is failing there is no way the ECU will let the engine crank over.

Now lets get down to the weird code.
PO440 *Evaporative Emission Control System Malfunction

This usually is related to:
-Charcoal Canister
-Fuel Filler Neck
-Fuel Cap

You said that you replaced the fuel tank... So here are possible issues with that:
-Charcoal Canister was improperly installed or any lines running to them are improperly installed / missing.
-Fuel filler neck is rusted through. You can check the condition if you pull your rear passenger tire off and look for the tube going from the gas door to the tank. These are a common rusted item that usually needs to be replaced around 250-300k+
-Fuel cap. Sometimes its just not tight enough or its failing. Or its just related to the filler neck.

Cheers
-Chuck

[blueridge33]

I was having the same problem with my 96 legacy 2.2. Sometimes it would start, other times you could crank it forever and it would never start. Was getting misfires on various cylinders also. Come back after 10 minutes and it would start. I got a couple of P0335 codes and replaced the crankshaft position sensor and all is well now, been running for about 3 weeks now without any issues. Found it for $27 at O'Reillys auto parts.

[XLEGACY96X]

ok. thanks. its a place to start. i'll replace the sensor, maybe i'll get lucky and it will solve my starting issues too.

[XLEGACY96X]

ok, update, the crank sensor did not fix the starting issue, the alternator and battery are both fine (according to auto zone). i changed the coil pack and its been starting fine for about a week....

[chuckthefuk]

so you had an ignition problem? YAY its fixed!

but in all seriousness thats strange how your ecu gave you a crank sensor code and a the coil pack fixed it.. you sure the sensor didn't fix it at first ?

-Chuck

[jey]

so you had an ignition problem? YAY its fixed!

but in all seriousness thats strange how your ecu gave you a crank sensor code and a the coil pack fixed it.. you sure the sensor didn't fix it at first ?

-Chuck

It's possible. All the crank sensor does is detect slight changes to the velocity of the crankshaft, and therefore detect ignition events.

[dereku]

My car is doing the same thing! 97 Legacy 2.5 GT, problem started after another engine was swapped in, so I knew it must be a sensor on the donor engine. I have P0335, P0304, P0141, and P0303. My car likes starting in the cold, and will also pick and choose when it starts with the key, but will always start when push started. It will also start with the key if you push it, but not enough to start it, and only get a little bump with the clutch, then turn the key, and it will start. Will also stall while idleing.

I have another crank sensor to try. I have an oil leak in my timing cover, so I tried cleaning off the bottom of the old crank sensor (metal in the oil will stick to the sensor), and it seems to have worked great for the last two days. I don't want to have to put this new sensor in if I don't have to, this car is a beater.

It stalled on me twice tonight while idling, and would start again after about 10 mins. So maybe I have a coil issue as well. I have a spare Neon coil kicking around, and I saw a how to on retrofitting that part to work on these cars.

[dereku]

Put the Neon coil on today. Seems to have made the car run smoother, but it didn't chance my no start issue. Too bad, I am not looking forward to changing the crank sensor.