porcupine73

Yes don't wait on getting it checked out. The vehicle might work for a couple days without charging by the alternator depending on battery condition, load, etc., but if the alt is not putting out the car will stall out at some point. The mechanics of the field circuit is here: EndWrench Erratic Warning Light Operation When diagnosing a vehicle with erratic operation (flashing, dim illumination, etc.) of the handbrake/brake fluid warning lights, check the charging system and the charge light system. The charge light system (which receives a ground through the alternator field when the alternator is not charging) is used to check the bulbs of the handbrake/brake fluid warning lights (and some other warning lights on select vehicles).

Also make sure you don't have any exhaust leaks before or shortly after the rear sensor. Even little pinhole leaks.

Hi dmr. Also make sure you're getting a metal separator, not a plastic one.

Hm..really? I'll have to try that out. Maybe we should start a list of subaru tricks.

Nope that's normal. The TCU controls many of the AT's solenoids with a 50Hz square wave of varying duty cycle. I can hear it too with engine off, key on, in gear. Some people say they can hear it with engine on too.

Yah I don't know if he says it on that page, but when I first looked at it a year or so ago, he said he removed the intake like that so that the throttle cables and some other stuff didn't have to be removed or something like that. I haven't pulled an engine so I'm not sure if that's a savings or not. There is most likely somewhere on this board a thread with lots of pictures and instructions about engine removal.

Hi. If you scroll down some on this guy's web page to the head gasket project, he has a number of pictures and description about R&R'ing the engine. This guy appears to like Subaru's, is he a member on here? http://www.staff.uaf.edu/fnjwt/subaru.html

Yes it does make sense that the fans would come on as that is the failsafe. I'm just glad I didn't have my hand or any tools down in there or anything at the time. This was with just putting the key to run, not start or with engine running.

Also just a comment about the engine coolant temp sensor, to be a little cautious if you put the key to run with that sensor unhooked. When I did that, both the main and sub radiator fans came on, which I was not expecting.

OK cool Batavia yes that's not far. You could also check out http://www.psrautosales.com They're in Akron, sort of near Darien Lake 6 flags. I bought my '00obw from Pete there a couple years ago. Seems like a good place and Pete was really friendly. They always have maybe a dozen Subaru's in stock.

Do you mean it would crank, but not start? Or would it not even crank?

Hi wnysubob99 and welcome! Yes..which one! Both have the opportunity to be great cars. If you're not already familiar with some of the particulars of Subaru's, might want to check out torque bind and head gaskets, just so you know a few things to check out when looking at those vehicles. edit: oh I see one of them sold already. Another source for leads would be buffalo.craigslist.org Also autotrader.com has some listings. Yes another western new yorker....excellent...soon they will allll be assimilated.

Yah that should be alright. I drove for a couple weeks on mine when it ripped. You probably won't want to just replace the boot on yours if you do drive it in the rain and stuff. MWE axles remanufactured are pretty well respected on the boards. http://www.ccrengines.com/mwe/index.html Yes you can get remans less expensive at autozone, napa, etc., some people use those types fine; others have issues. Some people are having good results with GCK is it all new axles from the autoparts store.

Ah good call. Wait..this isn't another WRX with an automatic transmission is it....

Sounds good and way to help a fellow out! Say...you need any help with that 2008?

Yes the 5EAT's are available in newer Subaru's. Those are the ones that require the special Subaru/Idemitsu HP ATF. They might be made by http://www.jatco.co.jp but not really sure.

If you bounce the front end by hand/foot does it bounce more than once or twice? Maybe the suspension needs a good shakedown for loose/worn components. Also, some the Legacies from ~96 had a recall for poor quality steel in the springs, so make sure those aren't broken either.

pg 2 of this article shows a diagram for an impreza Evaporator Icing Countermeasure

Connector for speaker maybe?

I got trans cooler hose by the foot before from autozone. They have it in like 25' boxes and will sell you the length you want. Pretty sure Parts America will do the same thing. I lost track of what year your vehicle is, but if it is ~90-92 then it is probably the filter that was added under the TSB. Does it look roughly like a fuel filter? There were a few different kinds. Also some H6's have the ATF filter in this area too.

It is pretty typical for these seals to leak over time. They compress as you can see in the pic and let oil past them and down into the spark plug hole. It's not overly difficult to replace. Also replacing the valve cover gaskets and bolt hole grommet seals is a good idea if taking them off. I think subarupartsforyou.com lists a 'kit' with all the part #'s for doing this with enough supplies to do both sides. Then you see this, the spark plug tubes of course are the two mortar launcher looking things in the pic.

Regarding the availability of MT's in the Outback, check out cars101.com 2008 Outback page. It depends on the trim level; some are available with MT some are not; some have the sportshift autos.

Are these the bad boys you replaced last year?

Excellent fix! It's nice when it's fixed. I believe so, but I believe it is 12V, not 5V. This is why the ECU grounds many circuits for control. It uses an NPN transistor so the ECU can use it's internal 5V on the base as a signal and ground the circuit being controlled through the collector. This 'open collector' method is common in lots of devices; then the device can use a low voltage, as low as 1V even, to control a circuit running a higher voltage such as 24VDC (common in industrial/control systems). When the transistor is not forward biased the collector is esentially unhooked from the emitter, at least for DC. It is proportional, except each injector fires once per two turns of the crank. The ECU controls the injector on-time. It does vary. This is how it controls A/F ratio for the amount of air being drawn in and other parameters. The longer the injector is open at a given pressure the more fuel that is injected. The fuel pressure regulator increases the fuel pressure as the vacuum decreases (and engine load increases), so the same injector on-time at lower vacuum would inject more fuel. The RC network idea could work, but you'd need a diode involved too. The inexpensive analog meter is easy.

Did you order two front sensors then? Good call on using the oem part. I would think maybe extreme cold weather could cause a problem but hot weather should be better. P0420 is probably one of those codes that requires three consecutive trips with fault so it might be happening one trip or two trips, then not the next, etc.