kian

About a week ago I bought my first Subaru, an Impreza 2000 turbo wagon. I spent ages doing my research before purchasing and everything checked out. When I went to see it, It started up first time and everything was golden... or so I thought.
since getting it home it has struggled to start if at all, some days she just doesn’t wanna go.
the problem is totally intermittent.
does anybody have any idea what could be causing this ?
she will crank and crank and crank but just won’t fire up.
Any help is more than appreciated!

NOSSY_89

First question, can you hear the fuel pump prime.

kian

Yes mate I can hear it priming when I turn the key.

nicam49

I've got an MY99 non-turbo Wagon, so if there's anything I can do/check on mine to help, just ask.... has, yours got an immobiliser if yes, does the immobiliser light go out when you try to start it?

kian

Ok thank you mate!
So when I unlock the car and press the key fob the light will turn to a solid red and the alarm will stop beeping however when I put the key in and try turn it, it is no longer a solid red and just won’t start up.

NOSSY_89

Looks like an immobiliser issue but normally they kick in prior to the fuel pump priming.

An oversimplification but you need fuel,air, spark and compression. It seem like you have fuel so continue down the list, What alarm do you have.

kian

I have a sigma alarm, I also have the pin pad in the glovebox.
repalced the crankshaft & camshaft sensor today and she started up fine but as the problem is intermittent I will have to see what happens tomorrow.

NOSSY_89

Glad you got it sorted mate

kian

thank you mate, will be doing the spark plugs at the weekend as not sure when they were last done!

nicam49

Don't be surprised if you find oil in the spark plug wells...there are oil seals in the rocker covers that deteriorate with age and heat. I've still got them on my 'to do' aka 'round tuit' list...

kian

Cheers for that mate I’ll be sure to check! Would excessive amounts cause problems ?

nicam49

It's just that if you're not expecting it you'd get quite worried! I was till I asked on here. The replacement seals are cheap enough, it's just a job you don't want to be doing this weather. There's some YouTube guides on how to do it and what's involved.

kian

got the spark plugs done earlier, wasn’t too hard of a job I was expecting it to be torture based on what I’ve read! Hardly any oil really but the plugs were knackered!

nicam49

Well done! Did you just change the cam and crank sensors on a hunch?

kian

Well I read somewhere that codes for these two were coming up for people and they were experiencing the same issues and replacing them fixed the issue, so I went ahead and replaced. however the issue remained until I changed the spark plugs so i don't believe changing either sensors helped in any way.
car fired up lovely this morning so i think changing the plugs may of done the trick!