Poorly Legacy Outback

[edar]

Our leggy Outback is feeling a bit sick at the moment and just wondered if anyone has some advice; The engines' been suffering with a sufficient amount of hesitation and juddering under light and overtaking acceleration. The gearbox also doesn't kick-down into a higher gear when this occurs. The engine light has come on and recently flashed when I've been trying to collate some diagnosis when driving.

Our trusty Legacy has covered 175,000 miles but has been so reliable up until now.

2002 Legacy Outback 2.5 non turbo auto.

Has any one else suffered this problem or can advise to what it might be? I'd be grateful for any help.

[GravelBen]

My first guess for hesitation would generally be MAF sensor. If check engine light is/has been on there will be a fault code logged in the ECU which should tell you what it thinks is wrong.

[ScoobieWRX]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Wot he said

As it's a 2002 car you should be able to plug any OBDII diagnostic interface in the OBD port on your Leggy and read/clear codes if there are any.

Equally buy yourself the latest VAGCOM cable and download a copy of FreeSSM and you'll be able to see all the diagnostic info the dealers see.