eagleb

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but my 96 obw 2.5 is having some P0505 problems, and I needed to know what tube you are referencing on the IAC. History: A couple days ago, the idle on start up was over 2k, and stayed there, then threw p0505, so I took my wife's car. Next day, problem seemed to work itself out. Yesterday, went to started the car, and it proceeded to just rumble and die. Tried starting again, and gave it some gas when it rumbled, then opened the hood and messed with some hoses and the electrical connector to the IAC, now it seems to idle fine. Still would like to clean out the IAC. Where should I check for potential vacuum leaks? thanks, eag

I get a reading of about 4 mA across the fuse terminals. I bought a cheap harbor freight multimeter that reads up to 10A, and when I have the fuse in and check the gap from + post to cable, it's initially at up to 10A, then drops to about 60mA, because checking the gap causes the doors to unlock resulting in the high reading. I found the drain at first by using the turn signal bulb from my motorcycle, and connecting the leads to the + post and cable. My guess is this caused the door lock circuit to stay open while it tried to unluck the doors, since not enough power was going through to actually unlock them? So maybe I don't have a drain after all. I'll leave the fuse in and see if I notice any changes in battery performance, unless I should try something else first.

I have an aftermarket stereo, one was installed when I bought the car as well. The keyless entry is an aftermarket alarm, which is on a separate circuit. All the lights function properly, and the only connection for the maplights is a vampire clamp to the dome light power. When the fuse is pulled, I only notice the interior lights not working, everything else seems to function fine. I pulled all the bulbs, one at a time, and I didn't notice any major changes. What is the best way to check power drains from the lamps? Last night I pulled them when the positive cable was disconnected, and used a lamp to check current. Is there a way to do this without pulling the positive cable? I hate having to reset everything so often. Thanks again.

No, I've had it since Feb '06, installed the maplight myself. Haven't had this sort of problem before. The wiring diagram in the Haynes shows more lights than I have, I think newer outbacks had lights at the bottom of the door panels. And what are step lights? I'll start pulling bulbs and see what happens, thanks for the response.

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I also had a parasitic drain on the battery, and traced it to the clock-room lights fuse in the engine compartment. 96 OBW 2.5 AT. After pulling the fuse, the drain rate is down to about 50mA. Any advice on where to go from here? I can drive the car without cabin lights, but it gets old pretty quick. What would the cause of the drain be? bad grounds? short? something else? I have maplights in front which are connected to the dome light power wire. Also a light in the hatch area because it's a wagon. Any help is greatly appreciated. eag

I'm not sure if any of the brake band adjustment scenarios apply. The closest one would be the "braking" symptom from 2nd to 3rd, but that doesn't quite seem to fit the problem.

Trans is from a 98 OBW, other than the slow shift there aren't really any issues. There's no surging during the shift, and I can't feel any problems when it shifts from 3rd to 2nd. I'll read about the brake band adjustment. Thanks.

The transmission gods don't seem to like me too much. 96 OBW 126k, AT (98, 75k) Replaced my 96 OBW AT with a 98 OBW AT earlier this year. The 98 trans had been sitting for a year or more, and it took a couple of weeks to work out all the popping and binding. Doesn't bind at all and works well in general, with one exception. When the trans is shifting from 2nd to 3rd, there is a delay that seems to be up to 4 seconds (+/- 1 second). During this delay, if I press further on the accelerator, the engine speed does not increase, it just feels like a slow shift - out of 2nd......into 3rd, no slipping. Just had the fluid replaced, and put in TransX additive, no dice. I can definitely live with it, seems to be the only problem with the trans. Any thoughts?

you might check crutchfield.com for some options, FWIW

+1 on that. nothing like Gear Acquisition Syndrome to make your wallet shrink!

I will for sure. I had it load tested after my alternator went out a few months ago and it was in good shape then, maybe the cold months took their toll.

well, i charged the batt, and it started up. It's possible tha the cam angle sensor was the culprit, I'll know for sure tomorrow. Maybe I just need a new battery. Thanks for all the help, hopefully this problem is now solved.

solid. I'll get it charged and start checking for spark this afternoon.

1) Could you go without using the short pin? The buckle would swivel more but still be securely attached. 2) Is the buckle attached to the seat or the seat rails? Would swapping the rails work? 3) You could drill a hole for the pin into the forester seat frame, just tape off the bit so you don't drill into the seat, and use a rivet or small bolt as the pin. Just some ideas.

One thing to note... I hooked up jumper cables to the car because the batt was getting low (cranking slowed down), and with cables connected the engine didn't seem to be turning over excessively fast. I know I said the engine was turning over fast, but it was never much faster than normal. After I disconnected the jumper cables, the car would barely crank. I think it's low juice as I didn't mess with too many components.... Since the tbelt appears to be in good shape, It seems more like a spark/ignition issue. Should I still be considering a starter issue? There are no 'weird' noises when cranking, no metallic noises, no grinding, etc. We'll figure this out yet