1999 Subaru Legacy B4 rough idle

Hi there, my partners above started a rough idle and auto gears are erratic in changing.If you touch the wires around the AFM the car dies (possible dodgy wiring) I ask because we are in CHCH and currently it is our only car as I crashed mine last week and now could be months before mine can be sorted with the quake.My partner is mechanically minded but not so much with Soobies, just asking in case someone else has had this prob.It is tipronic, full tank of the right gas, has a burnt catalyst smell nd this only started when stuck in traffic and we did a u-turn to get out of the queue. Help is much apreciated, otherwise we will persevere. it still drives but gear changes are very odd and idle is too erratic to stop without brake & acelerator at the lights etc. cheers - The lady of the house :)

Bump. Pleeease anyone.

let me get back to you bout this.sounds like gbox needs look at.try the afm again.check wires.

Id disconnect the plug to the AFM carefully, then spray some CRC into the plugs on the afm and the afm plug itself, also lightly tug ont he wires on the back of the afm to make sure they are not coming out the back of the plug, then reconnect the afm and make sure the plug wont just fall out again by lightly pulling on the plug itself, otherwise, It could be numerous other things, like the crank angle sensor, but more than likely the Throttle position sensor, I would also check that the coils are plugged in and that one of the coils hasnt some how wriggled lose , it may not necessarily be the box thats giving you troubles, it may be that the car doesnt know how to cope with whats happening to the ecu or engine

OH and check for air leaks after the AFM, irratic idle and other problems do happen because of this too

thanks ginga4lyfe, we are giving all of the above a go. forgot to add that the check engine light is on also and have tried to clear but keeps coming back.Hopefully it is just a failed sensor and not a gearbox.
cheers