Car wouldn't start

[CorSVXette]

I just went out to move my car and it wouldn't start. Here is what it was doing: it sounded like it wanted to start but it would stall almost instantaniously. It seemed like it was not getting enough gas so I held the gas pedal to the floor and got it to start. I hope it will start for me in the morning for work. What could have caused that? I noticed that when I turned the key, my fans would start blowing! I don't think they should be blowing because I hadn't started the car all day and the engine was cold? Here is waht I did yesterday and tell if this has anything to do with this problem.
1. My CEL was coming on for a while , it would come on and then go off. I checked it out and found out that it was the Coolant Temp sensor. Well yesterday the CEL came on and would not go off so I changed the sensor. The first thing I noticed was that the I need two different socket sizes. The one in the car had a different size nut than the new one I got from Subaru ( part# 22630AA041) Is that the correct one?
. 2nd thing I noticed was that on the brown plug there seems to be only one wire going to it. Is that right? There are two holes but only one has a wire attached to it. Did I loose a wire somewhere?
3. and now the fans don't turn off?
What did I do????? All I did was change the sensor???
4. How do I get the CEL to go off? Will it go off on its own or do I need to clear it?

[Manarius]

After replacing the sensor (you should have replaced the BROWN sensor and it should be the same as the one that was in there before), did you reset the ECU?

[CorSVXette]

Originally Posted by Manarius

After replacing the sensor (you should have replaced the BROWN sensor and it should be the same as the one that was in there before), did you reset the ECU?

No. I did not reset the ECU. Do I need to that? I thought the light would go out on its own. Would the light staying on cause my starting problem and the fans continuously running?

[Manarius]

Originally Posted by CorSVXette

No. I did not reset the ECU. Do I need to that? I thought the light would go out on its own. Would the light staying on cause my starting problem and the fans continuously running?

The fans continuously running says to me that the ECU sees that the temperature is too high - making me think that the sensor is broken.

[SVXelerator]

A bad coolant temp sensor has also been know to keep the engine from starting....

[CorSVXette]

Its a brand new sensor from Subaru? Could it be something with the brown plug? Did I loose a wire somewhere? Its too dark to go outside right now but I thought I only saw one wire going into that brown plug.

[CorSVXette]

Hey Tom. Thanks for calling last night. Well I went out this morning and the car wouldn't start so I called in sick for the day to try and fix the problem. I will get out there as soon as it gets light out. This is on my list to check:
1. Check to make sure I have 2 wires going to that brown plug.
2. If I do I will clear the code by diconnecting the battery for 1/2 hour.
3. If that still don't work I will put the original one back in to see if I can at least start the car.

Tom. You mentioned last night there could be other problems that would give me the same code (21) as a faulty Coolant Temperature Sensor. I forgot what you said. What were they again?

[CorSVXette]

OK I do have 2 wires going into that plug but I broke the little clip that locks the plug down while trying to get it off I hope that will not be a problem. So I put the old one back in and it still wont start so now I have the battery disconnected and am waiting the 1/2 hour to see if that works

[CorSVXette]

Thanks to all the SVX master mechanics on this forum my problem was fixed. It turned out that after I cleared the code by leaving the battery disconnected for 1/2 hr. the car started right up and the fans were not blowing. So let see if I can sum this up correctly so I know what to do for the next time I have this problem or a similar one:
1. When the CEL was coming on and then going off after a few seconds that is when to check for the code. (It is a warning)
2 If you wait too long like I did, the CEL stays on and causes more problems like mine did when the fans stayed on and the car wouldn't start after it got cold.
3. After changing the sensor, You MUST clear the code. Is that correct?
4. Now back to that brown plug. I snapped a little piece off the plug that locks it into place. It that going to be a problem? If so, any way to fix that?

Thanks again for everybody help especially Tom(svxfiles) who called as soon as he saw my post.

[SVXRide]

you can probably ziptie the connector in place. Also, you can clear the ECU by using both of the test probes in the driver's side kickpanel (versus disconnecting the battery). Down load the "clearing codes" document from the How-To section
-Bill

[CorSVXette]

So was I correct in assuming that the reason the car wouldn't start after I changed the sensor was because I didn't reset/clear the code?

[SVXRide]

Paul,
that should be the case, as the ECU still thought the sensor was bad prior to the reset.
-Bill

[Manarius]

Originally Posted by SVXRide

you can probably ziptie the connector in place. Also, you can clear the ECU by using both of the test probes in the driver's side kickpanel (versus disconnecting the battery). Down load the "clearing codes" document from the How-To section
-Bill

I could never get that method to work. I had to pull the battery to clear the codes...

[SVXRide]

you have to have both probes in the connector and then turn the key on (if memory serves me right). I know this worked for me recently when clearing a bad O2 sensor code.
-Bill