my 01 LGT is tweakin out!

[kcab87]

hey everyone i hope someone can help me. im having an intermittent check engine light and i have no clue whats causing it. however, i do notice that the car jerks and it feels like the tranny slips but its an automatic. and that makes acceleration slower and usual and feels like the car lost power but when it reacher 3000 rpm the car kicks and its power is suddenly back. the other day the started up my legacy after work and i turned the key its started up then stalled right afterwards. please help!! my legacy is sick!!

sorry if this desciption is long. its just what ive been experiencing. thanks.

[d1giPhux]

Might be the MAF adapter going bad.. or needs to be cleaned.. that can cause unstable idle / jerking and such in the bad stages of it.

you should go to an autozone, or some other car parts store and ask them to use the OBD 2 scanner to read the code from your car so we can get some more info to help you.

[MoclovFlop]

It's a 2001 so there's no MAF, it's MAP which usually don't seem to go bad. If I were to guess I'd say it's bad plugs, and the CEL could be caused by misfire. Pull the plugs to see if they are fouled.

Maybe you could elaborate...

Any weird noises when stopped but still in drive? (i/e bad torque converter)?

Any audible knocking, pinging or extended crank (a la something wrong with the fuel system)?

Last time plugs, filters (including fuel), or ATF were checked?

I'd agree with DP, get it scanned, the codes should still be stored, even if the light's not always on

[Airgne]

i have been getting one of those damn lights for awhile now. i started out at the cheapest fix poss. i went plugs, wires, and now new coil. it came back yesterday, so now all that is left for me to change is the #4 injector. so if i changew one im going to change them all. oh sorry i have been getting a #4 cylinder missfire.

[Emily]

I have been experiencing the same problem with mine. (sans the stalling)

I had it scanned and the code said it was an O2 sensor. (I still haven't gotten that fixed).

But I think my problem is more related to the tranny. During acceleration car will barely move. Then it will jerk (down shift) and take off. The problem is really very random and sometimes I will go week without any trouble.

*I will note that I had my throttle body cleaned out and that seemed to correct the problem for awhile. It drove like a new car. But within a few weeks the shifting and acceleration problems began again, though not as frequently.

[Huffer]

Funnily enough, O2 sensors play a HUGE part in the driveability of these cars.

If you have an O2 out, replace it immediately. If anything it provides the ECU with the correct signals to mix fuel, air and spark.

[kcab87]

the CEL reveiled to be a faulty knock sensor!! it was causing the timing to be retarded to compensate. but at is well now! now my problem is leaking oil and coolant from my head gasket. do u guys kno where i can get a head gasket kit for an 01 LGT?! i live in the portland oregon area.

[ConnertheCat]

I'm having a similar issue - jerky/rough idle, stalled ONCE a month or so ago and actually had a CEL from a bad tank of gas back in Feb.

On Sunday, I filled up in the morning and by Lunch I had a CEL. Went to Advanced today, "Fuel Trim" error again - so I threw a thing of dry gas in the tank, went to work. When I went out on my lunch break, the CEL was gone and the car drives like a dream (no jerkiness at a stop, etc - even seemed to shift better!)...

Now, since that stuff is mostly just Premium Gas, I'm wondering if I should be running Premium instead of Regular in my car - I always assumed that since we didn't have a turbo that wasn't necessary but now i feel the need to give it a try... anyone have thoughts?

[Airgne]

my BE runs like crap when not on prem gas. thats all i run is prem gas.

[decke48]

premuim gas has less ethanol (its like 1-2% at most) it has some methanol with subarus like.. SOA recommends min 1% max 5%.. the octane rating is a down factor because it doesnt burn as fast. so you lose a little performance.. idk if it would even show. but the additives and better refinement are worth it. ethanol is just a filler to make it cheaper. regular cars dont like ethanol it make the car run lean, and contributes to more NOx

[KAG]

USDM NA models base tune is for 87 Octane, regular where I live. Premium fuel will be better for you car in the long run, but the way prices are I think using regular and adding fuel injector cleaner somewhat often will perform just as fine.

My BE has only 70k miles, and the previous owner always ran regular. I ran premium for a little more than 1000 miles when I first bought it from him, then went back to regular. I experienced slightly better throttle response, fuel economy, and smoothness with premium. Slightly, but surely.

[Airgne]

i buy gas on a indian res(chevron). the price for prem is the same as reg everywhere else.