porcupine73

Hi pdxsuby! Maybe you didn't tighten it enough, you have a bad crush washer, you have gouges on one of the mating surfaces. I've seen it leak a little from the engine oil drain plug on my '00OBW too when I didn't have a sealing washer on it. Started using 20mm crush washers from parts america and it doesn't leak anymore.

I think two of those wires are for power for the heated wire and the other two are for the sensor wire. The ECU knows the intake air temp and stuff and then can tell the mass of air passing by reading the sensor wire. With a meter I don't know if the user could tell whether the output signal is correct though.

Hi Seamarshal and :welcome: ! Does it have a separate indication for each door and the hatch (if so which one is illuminated?) or just one general indication? Those door switches as you've already said you replaced the driver's door one I've found can get a little fussy with corrosion and stuff over time. Does this issue make your dome lamp stay on (provided it's switch is set to come on when a door is open)?

I had that happen on 4eat phase I also, dropped the pan and in order to remove the filter it seemed this pipe/tube had to come out, which when removed another gallon or more of ATF came out over the next few minutes. I don't know if that was the purpose of having that removable tube run over the filter but I thought it was pretty slick to sort of make sure it all comes out when changing the filter. In subsequent changes when not doing the filter I just used the pump and dump method. I've tried that lucas AT fix goop too, man that stuff was so thick it was hard to get it down the dipstick/fill hole. Didn't seem to make any difference and haven't used it since. I agree unless it's a last ditch effort I probably wouldn't use anything like that as good fresh ATF has cleaning properties anyway.

Man that ride still looks hott today. How'd you hook up such a sweet deal?

Hm...what model and year is this Subaru? I don't know all the codes that can cause a flashing CEL but cam position sensor too out of sync with crank position sensor is one of them, which could be caused by a few different things.

If the knock sensor is gone, like to the point where the check engine light comes on because of it, you almost certainly will not get knock because the ECU pulls maximum timing as a 'failsafe' but you lose power. If it's just getting overly sensitive or it's cracked then again you probably won't get knock either because it's output signal may start looking like knock all the time so ECU pulls timing in this case too.

Wow that's a cool story and looks like it was a lot of fun!

If that O2 sensor was replaced previously it may have gotten messed up then or overtightened or galled or no antisieze or something. Like any service industry the dealer is under constant pressure to do more in less time and rather than spend time trying to free the thing up they may have just really laid on it with a breaker bar or impact wrench or something and whoops!

If that pump seal is faulty and the only symptom is delayed engagement, are there any risks to driving it like that if you're patient and wait for it to engage? Like is the pump not going to make enough pressure potentially and start allowing slippage?

Thanks for the info nipper. I'm not really sure how this venom gadget works then. Yah those gadgets on eBay are interesting, especially the 'voltage stabilizer' for more engine power, I think my favorite is the 12V squirrel cage blower 'turbo'. That wiki article is interesting, I saw it says "in Naturally Aspirated engines maximum power is frequently reached at AFR's ranging from 12.5 - 13.3:1"

LOL good one nipper! Are you back from your trip? Well if I don't adjust the belts with the engine running how do I know when they stop squealing? Well it was dark outside and I was relying on the light from the remaining functioning headlamps to kind of illuminate the area.

Hi all, had another low beam blow out on my '00OBW the other day, I think it was the low beam but I can't remember, it was the H1 (smaller) bulb. When I took out the old one, I noticed this brownish gunk around the seat between the bulb and headlamp case. It had this gunk the last time I replaced the bulb and I cleaned it all up at that time and now it's back. Actually last time the bulb wasn't even blown out it just didn't have a good connection on that springy thing that holds the bulb in place. The white plastic gadget has the gasket in place and everything and I don't see corrosion elsewhere in there. Also, I just learned it's best to replace the H1 bulbs with the engine off and key out of the ignition. I tried to it with engine running and accidentally touched the hot wire for the H1 bulb to ground and then heard the engine load up a bit and popped the headlamp fuse. Then I couldn't find any replacement fuse but noticed in the manual it said there were extras in the engine compartment fuse box cover (which i had just removed) and indeed there was!

I've been swapping my ScanGauge between my '96 Legacy 2.2L AT NA and my '00OBW 2.5L NA and watching the IGN parameter. I note on the '96 2.2L it will go as high as 50, but on the '00OBW 2.5L it goes no higher than 40, and on the '00OBW 2.5L it seems to be a little lower overall. I'm wondering if the units are different between the ECU's, or what, I'm assuming the higher number is more optimal for power although of course that's what the timing map is for I'm guessing. I heard most production cars today come with conservative timing maps because it helps keep emissions lower. Anyone see any performance chips or anything for regular (i.e. non spec B or C or Sti)?

Thanks for the info Noah, I wasn't aware of that about the Subaru fuel maps. I was just thinking about reading somewhere that the optimal A/F ratio for economy is like 14.1:1 or something, but for performance it's like 12:1 so I just assumed the Venom would try to make the system run richer.

Hi, I was wondering if anyone has tried the 'VENOM 400 Performance Control Module'. I see Summit has them for various Subaru's. The instructions say the connections needed are power, TPS signal wire, and MAP or MAF signal wire. My guess is that when the thing detects you're really getting on the throttle, it manipulates the MAP or MAF signal to trick the ECU into running a little richer temporarily. Any thoughts? I might like to give it a try but it's nearly $300 so I'd like to know if anyone has had success with it first. Heck for that much you could nearly slip in a 50 shot of NOS.

Had similar issue here in a '96 and knock sensor fixed it.

A coworker recently had a similar problem with his VW I think it was a jetta, we read a code of the CEL but I remember what it was, something like bank #1 long term fuel trim issue; I think he had the MAF replaced and that fixed the problem.

That '04 maint schedule does show to inspect a lot of things, but the items to actually do such as replace coolant, engine oil, fuel filter (why does the wrx sti have double the replacement interval for fuel filter), air cleaner, brake fluid, rotate tires seems pretty straight forward. ATF and gear oil replacement are suggested under 'severe service' which some drivers will qualify for based on their description.

Yah I think the 105k mi belts have Kevlar or something in them that makes them so durable. From what I've seen on endwrench it seems the vehicle will probably start if anything is one tooth off but there will be power loss; two teeth off it probably won't start and that drops compression pressure quite a bit.

Maybe change coolant/antifreeze. What does your manual show for spark plug replacement interval? Probably just depends if you have long life plugs (such as platinum or iridium) in it. Is this an MT or AT? If AT you could add front diff gear oil to the list (assuming on the '04 AT's the front diff still doesn't share oil with the ATF). Could also consider changing PS fluid.

If you're considering a rebuilt engine I hear in other posts the CCR I think it is top notch. The only time you'll see coolant out the water pump weep hole is if the bearing is loose/worn. All the fins could break off the impeller for some reason and there might not be anything coming out the weep hole. The water pump is a pretty simple device.

The next step is to get the exact code of the code reader. Don't settle for them telling you the description of the code that the reader gives, you want the number like P0123. Trying to do anything else without knowing that code is putting the proverbial cart before the horse.

Wasn't this the issue that whole law suit was about? I think Castrol said group III basestocks are synthetic, someone suing them said no they're not synthetic because they're a highly refined petroleum product, but I don't remember the outcome.

Other sensors for that kind of driveability issue could maybe include MAF or MAP, knock sensor, and maybe even engine coolant temp sensor. But first you need to know what the P code is that is causing the check engine light to come on.