Subaru Repair: 98 Subaru Outback, subaru outback, trip odometer

Question
I have been experiencing strange issues with the car.  It started with a #3 & 4 misfire, which has been happening for quite some time but has been misdiagnosed a handful of times.  While road-tripping the car started to idle high, at about 1500 rpms.  When I reached my destination my friend suggested that I disconnect the battery cable to reset the computer for a higher elevation, which I did.  It then idled fine but after driving it for about 1/2 mile it started running really poorly.  It was stuttering and sputtering and hesitating, even worse than with just the misfire.  I then put what some refer to as tune-up in a can in and drove it around for a bit but it still behaved badly.  The car sat for a day and this morning I was driving it to the mechanic and it is now running perfectly, of course.  I had parked and restarted the car on the way and the radio shut-down and then while driving suddenly came back on again.  About a month ago I was pulling away from the gas station and was resetting the trip odometer while in motion and it shut down the speedometer/odometer immediately and completely.  Could the underlying issue be an electrical problem?

Answer
Hey Kim,

You have two issues here.  the first being a intermittent misfire that is most likely stick valves.  The valve stem becomes sticky with sludge and hangs up in the guide, staying partially open when it should be closed causing a misfire.

The second is most likely an issue with the speedo.

If you want it permanently fixed take it to a Subaru Expert in your part of town.

Justin

http://allwheeldriveauto.com/