hankosolder2

Not to threadjack, but this one was about 12 years old when I got it and was reliable for another four years 'till the rear diff went out. The secret was replacing the horrible Lucas electronic ignition with an aftermarket unit. Also, my son is dressing as Gort this halloween. (vis a vis your avatar) Sorry for the digressions. Nathan

I had (apples to oranges, I know) a '76 Triumph TR-7 (manual R&P) with this exact symptom. Problem turned out to be a seized U-joint. I think it had two of them, and if I remember properly, the binding happened about every 1/4 turn of the wheel or so.

Hmm. It's either the wrong ratio, or there is a SERIOUS gnome infestation on this freeway, definitely one of the two.

I think you could probably even make the argument that it's more important to replace the idlers than the timing belt itself. I've certainly heard of more idler related timing belt failures than timing belts which fail by themselves.

I was wondering if anyone has tried removing rattling Y-pipe heat shields off and replacing them with header wrap (that high temp synthetic fabric stuff.) I think GD once mentioned that removing heatshields might lead to low cat efficiency codes due to the converter not staying hot enough. And it seems like anything that raises under hood temperatures might not be A GOOD THING, so I'm inclined to put something on there instead of just ditching them all together. Also, would small oil leaks dribbling on the header wrap pose a greater fire risk than the same leaks on the heat shields? (I'm just thinking that oil could soak in to the wrap, accumulate and cause smoke/fire.) Thoughts? Nathan

Well, right or wrong, there is a bit of a stigma attached to "stop leak"- many consider it a "mickey mouse" repair, worry about clogged heater cores, etc. "Coolant conditioner" doesn't carry the same kind of baggage. A dealer could list that on a routine service invoice and the majority of customers wouldn't blink. It's all about trying to manage customer perception.

I replaced it and it fixed the problem! Passed OBDII emissions inspection just the other day. I used P/N 42084FA120. It's got large bore (> 1/2") fittings on each end. The '98 Legacy and '98 Outback use completely different vent solenoids. The outback uses a smaller bore vent solenoid. BTW, here's the diagnostic procedure I used. Pulled purge line off of charcoal canister, applied vacuum to the purge fitting on the canister (using a mityvac) while energizing vent solenoid valve with 12V. It should hold vacuum. If not, plug the end of the vent solenoid hose leading to the canister. If it doesn't hold vacuum, you've got a leak elsewhere (filler neck, gas cap etc.) If it does hold vacuum, reconnect the canister>vent solenoid hose and pull the hose off the other end of the vent solenoid. Plug the end of the solenoid and see if the system will hold vacuum now. If so, the solenoid is faulty. There are more straightforward ways to check it (you could just apply vacuum directly to the canister side of the vent solenoid while applying 12V to it) but I didn't have the fittings to adapt my 1/4" mityvac hose to the large bore hose for the valve. Nathan

I suggest jumpering the contacts of the fuel pump relay and seeing what happens. Jumper Red to Black-red (pin 2 to pin 4.) and the fuel pump should run with the key on. If that works, you've got an issue on the ECM side of things. But, you can probably start and drive the car by pulling the jumper when you turn the car off! If it doesn't work, get your voltmeter out. Unloaded voltages and continuity readings taken with an ohmmeter are almost useless. A high resistance due to a corroded connector will not show up unloaded. You want to check voltages under load with a complete circuit. Verify the voltage at the relay jumper wire to ground. Low? Problem is "Upstream" of that. OK? Check voltage at hot wire of fuel pump (Black-red) Low? Issue is wire or connectors between relay and fuel pump. If voltage at hot terminal of fuel pump is OK, measure voltage between fuel pump ground (black) and chassis ground. If you measure any significant voltage, you've got a high resistance connection between the two. Let us know what you find!

Tell me about it! I think I'm going to call one of the online parts suppliers and let them sort it out. It's definitely the vent solenoid, not the purge or pressure control ones....

Your measurements seem logically inconsistent. IF the 1 2 3 terminals are indeed the balance pot, it is a single section device. As such, the "wiper" (middle terminal) should be connected to ground. There are fixed series resistors in the circuit which provide the attenuation, and which ever end of the pot is 'closer' to ground loads down the signal in that channel more to provide a balance effect. IF this is the style circuit you have, you can defeat it by disconnecting all the terminals of the balance pot. I'm wondering if you have misidentified which section of the pot is for the balance, or if the problem is not even in the balance pot. If the volume knob is concentric with the balance, sections 456 and 789 are probably the volume sections, one group for left, one group for right. I'm wondering if you might actually have a faulty volume pot and when you're fiddling with the balance pot, you were flexing the connections to the volume pot. Sometimes the elements in pots will crack or the riveted connections to the solder terminals will loosen. You should be able to perform resistance checks on the volume sections to verify their integrity. The tests will work better if you do it out of circuit. Finally, finding replacement parts for this kind of stuff is EXTREMELY difficult. A dual (stereo) volume pot + a concentric balance pot is fairly custom. None of the standard generic parts suppliers carry stuff like that. Nathan

My charcoal canister vent solenoid on the '98 Legacy isn't holding vacuum when energized. Hope this will finally solve my evap emissions codes. (Replaced the rusty filler neck, replaced rat chewed through wiring to the vent solenoid, replaced a rat chewed through evap hose....) Anyone know the P/N for this? I can't find it on the online subaru parts places. They list some solenoids, but there are three different ones (purge, pressure control, vent) and I want to get the right one the first time! I did do a search. TIA, Nathan

I just came across this ad- thought I'd throw it up here. (not my car, know nothing about the seller.) http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwi/cto/3070021239.html

Well, the CEL popped on with a P0440, so I think I pending code was preventing the monitors from setting. Back to the drawing board....

Thank you for the information, nipper. I'll have to reset the ECM right by the entrance to the expressway at a time when traffic is light to be able to follow that procedure! I'm pretty sure I have the scan gauge set up correctly; it reads out all the parameters just fine. I'll let you guys know when/if I resolve this. Nathan

Took it on the highway today and was cruising at a steady 70 MPH for a couple of miles before I got caught in traffic. Still no luck! Up to 240 miles now since last reset. I'll try a longer highway journey this weekend, I guess, unless someone has a different idea. This is really vexing! Nathan

1998 Legacy L 2.2 4EAT, 215K miles. Had some P0440 CEL issues, replaced rusted through filler neck. CEL came on again, found an evap hose I knocked loose during the filler neck replacement. For whatever reason, the code would not clear with my ScanGauge II (it seems a bit flaky -w- Subarus), so I disconnected the battery to clear the code. No CEL issues as of yet. I've now driven the car 200 miles and it STILL hasn't set the readiness monitors. Any tips? This is a "town" car for me, so I haven't had it much over 50 MPH. Is that why? I need to set the monitors so I can pass the OBD II emissions inspection here.... Nathan

No experience with the cable driven speedos, but here's a guess. Perhaps you know this, but the AT has separate dipsticks for the ATF and the gear oil for the front differential. When you said the fluid level was OK, did you check the ATF or the gear oil? Make sure the gear oil level in the front diff is OK, and that the ATF isn't mixing with the gear oil. Also, if there are breather vents on the trans, make sure they aren't plugged. Good luck!

I would also consider the MAF sensor- they can be highly intermittent and not set codes. As Fairtax mentioned, the coolant temp sensor is also a good suspect and is a common failure, so +1 on that. Nathan

Well, there's enough torque to spin all four wheels when it's up on jack stands under no load, and then there's enough torque to actually transfer some power when attempting to accellerate a 3000lb car. That's my guess, and it is a guess.

One key thing you're failing to mention here is the year of the Impreza 2.5. It could be a phase I (two camshafts per head) or a Phase II (single camshaft per head) engine-- totally different kettles of fish head-gasket wise.

It's hard to say- it might be OK. It sounds like you were going down a long downgrade if I understood your post correctly. There's a reason I suggested touching the lug nuts and not the rotors :-) sorry to hear that you burned your finger! I've lost track-have you also done the front brakes yet? If not, you can file the rust off the edges of the pad backing plates, pull the caliper / pad holder brackets and clean the pad slots in them as well, make sure the sliding pins are free, lube a/r etc. It's free except for your time- pretty much the same drill as the back, and if there's some meat left on the pads you might not have to replace them. It really doesn't take much brake drag to generate a lot of heat. Glad to hear you're being sensible and not using it in traffic until it's fixed.

I can't believe no one has taken you to task for the condition of your brakes and tires! Most of us have had kind of dubious vehicles at times, but that's really pushing your luck and the luck of everyone else who is sharing the road with you... anyway, I'll leave it at that. I hope you can find a decent set of used tires. I paid money to recycle a set of tires much better than that and would have been happy to send them to you instead! Maybe someone else on here has a legal set of tires they can donate to help you out?

Ugh! As someone who now carries kids in their car, stories like that changed from being mildly amusing (in a schadenfreude way) to utterly terrifying. Had a friend who also had a late-ish model OBW throw a CEL and shortly thereafter go up in flames. He did not hit a deer on his trip back home after his car burned, so I guess I should tell him how lucky he is! Nathan

Well, I got the filler neck and valve installed today. How do people deal with getting the old one out? I ended up snapping it in two with a pair of channel lock pliers and then pulled the bottom part of the tube out of the gas tank hose. Blocked the gas tank hose with an old vacuum tube (it was the perfect size!) and then drilled out the 3 screws holding the top part of the filler neck to the car. (I was nervous drilling the screw out with all that gas vapor nearby, so that's why I removed the bottom portion of the neck and plugged the hose to the gas tank. It really reduced the fuel odor and puts the fuel vapors a couple of feet away from where you're drilling.) I'll reconnect the battery tomorrow and we'll see how we're doing CEL wise soon.

As a QC check, touch the lug nuts on each wheel after you've done a bit of driving. Both fronts and both rears should be equally warm. (Fronts usually run hotter because they do more of the braking work.) Side-to-side temps should be very close. If one side is much hotter, you've still got a problem with brake drag. Hope doing the other side and fronts gets you where you need to be with the brakes. Nathan