Steves72

Just a quick followup. I replaced the out of spec knock sensor with one I found in stock at Advanced Auto today. I had it apart and decided to call around and see if anyone had one. The new unit knock sensor fixed my P0325 problem. Steve

I did and it answered a lot of my questions. The only thing that was tossing me was the two different resistance readings on each of the two electrical connections coming off the knock sensor. When I put the wiring harness back on to the unit and I got the exact same 1.4m ohm reading I knew that the part was probably out of spec. Your 500k to 700k confirms that assumption. Steve

Rather than hijacking the existing thread I thought I would start a new one. I have an 2000 Legacy OBW with the P0325 code. Today I pulled the part out thinking that I would 1) learn how to do this job and 2) try RTV on the cracks to see if I could do a simple fix. Well the part came out easy enough but it appears to be in perfect condition. No cracks in the plastic. So I tried to measure the resistance from the two different plug ends on the sensor to the mating surface. On one plug I got a reading of 1.4m ohms. On the other plug I got 3 ohms - essential open. The short pigtail wiring harness has two wires on the end that connects to the knock sensor but only one on the white plug at the other end. So is the open reading on the one terminal normal? And, is the 1.4m ohm reading on the other terminal too high? Update to this thread: I plugged the pigtail harness back into the knock sensor and measured the resistance from the single pole inside the white connector to the ground surface of the knock sensor. The reading was 1.4m ohms. So the open side of the knock sensor is not used and based on other threads to substitute a 560k ohm resistor for testing purposes I am going to assume that the 1.4m ohm reading is now considered out of spec. Am i doing the correct thing to order a new part? I think I am. Steve

I did not see the model or year of the car but for the moment will assume that the car has an OBDII computer. That generation computer will reset the code if it does not encounter the same error within a given period of time. My 2000 OBW light has been coming on and going off for over a month on that same P0325 code. Wait and see if the light comes back on once more. If it does come back plan on replacing the part. I will do mine in September when its not quite so hot outside.

Wait for the quote then decide. With the price of metals - steel included - all up significantly in the past couple of years the buy back may be quite high. The last time I was selling my recycles steel was $14 per 100 lbs. That can make a scrap body worth quite a bit plus the parts that can be pulled. Steve

Please do not read any personal diagnostic abilities into this post. I just wanted to relate a story that happened to me about 6 years ago. I had a 91 Chevrolet Camaro Z28. Almost every time I drove it on the highway the check engine light would come on. It would only come on with a sustained speed of at least 50 mph that lasted at least 5 minutes. Sometimes it would take a half hour or more of sustained highway speeds to get the check engine light to come on. Furthermore, the computer (this was pre OBDII) did not have a code stored after shutting the car off. This goes back to the day of blinking out the codes in the computer but you had to start the process with the car off. The check engine would always be off after restarting the car and no codes were ever shown through the "blinking" method. The engine always ran perfectly. There was no reason to suspect anything was wrong with the car at all other than the light on the dash. I talked to my mechanic who asked me to get the light to come on; drive to his station and not shut the car off. With the car still running he was able to retrieve the soft code in the computer. The code was related to the EGR and a quick check found a very small tear in the vacuum line that went to the EGR. In two minutes the hose was replaced and that was the last I ever saw of the check engine light. In short, if you have an EGR check it and the vacuum line connected to it. Steve

This is a 2000 OBW. The check engine light has been coming on (and going out) for the past month or so. When the light comes on the engine usually acts as though it has no power for anywhere from a moment up to around 2 minutes and then runs fine again. Having pulled the code I know that the code is related to the knock sensor. I suspect that the PCM takes all the timing out of the engine for those brief moments. The light usually goes back out within a day or two of it coming on but I have had the same code turn the light back on four times so far. Question: Should I replace the knock sensor? Or, do I need to look at something else?

Have someone pump the brake pedal and inspect the flexable brake lines. These lines can look fine but may bulge when pressure is applied giving you the symptom of a soft brake pedal. Steve

STAY AWAY!!! 1) I have a 2000 OBW Limited. The moon roof leaks. I have had mine to the dealer - the first time this happened. It has re-occurred like clock work about every year. The last two times I took the headliner down myself and cleaned out the drain tubes. Two weeks ago when it rained I had another puddle in the back of my car. Yup - it's time to rip the headliner down again. I am thinking of cutting a access door in the headliner to use an access point to the drain tubes. By the way my front moon roof has just quite working. (See my other recent post for information related to that problem.) 2) The AT transmission quit on my car with 53,000 miles on it. I was lucky that the drivetrain was still under warranty at that time. I was told that if the car had not been under warranty the price at the dealer would have been over $2000. And, the refurbished transmission exhibts all the typical symptons of automatics from these years: it takes too long to go into gear when the transmission is cold. The first couple of up shifts when cold is so sloppy that the transmission is "out of gear" momentarily. You will see this as the RPM's blip up when it shifts. The period of time that this occurs is exaggerated in the winter when it takes around three minutes for this symptom to disappear. 3) the automatic transmission in my car, and many others as well, are the worst pieces of crap ever bolted to an engine. It shifts at inappropriate times, stays in gear long after it should have upshifted, and generally speaking is a piece of junk. The general - GM - may not do very many things right but it knows how to make a smooth, durable transmission, as do many other car manufacturers. How this slush box ever got past quality control is beyond me. In short, stay away from Limited editions. All of those models have moon roofs and they are simply not worth the aggrevation. Try and find a standard edition which was ordered with the cold weather package and came with a standard transmission. Or, try something before 1997 or after 2001, and test drive it carefully on hilly roads to see if it exhibits the issues I have described. Steve

Thanks for the information. I kind of suspected that the headliner would have to come down in order to do this repair. It covers everything. But at least I know what I am up against. I may just choose to live with it. The biggest problem is that in order to open the rear moon roof you have to "operate" the front moon roof. That may eventually lead to a roof that will not close and seal properly. Steve

On my 2000 OBW Limited the front moon roof does not open on its own. After pressing the button, I can push the moon roof up manually and it will open but eventually will fall back down. The roof does close normally. When closed I cannot open it by pushing up on the glass. I have tried to look at the mechanism with the roof up and I can see two scissor points which hold up (or are supposed to hold up) the roof. Before I start tearing things apart, does anyone have any idea the likely issue and how do I get to the assembly? Thanks, Steve

The car in question is my 2000 obw but the question probably would apply to many other models. Each Monday I have to set the clock backwards by around 2 minutes. I find this rather annoying that in this day a clock will not keep reasonably accurate time. That said, I will not pull the dash apart for just the clock but if I am in there in the future I was curious if there is an adjustment to slow or speed up the clock similar to many of the quartz module clocks powered by a single AA battery found around the house? Steve

I found this over on the Impreza forums. I have the same issues and I suspect that the part installs the same way. http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1024701 Steve

Does anyone know where the intermittent wiper control module is located? Is it integrated into the wiper control stalk? I believe it is failing in my car. Both the mist (pull the wiper stalk for a single sweep) and the intermittent settings often will not operate the wipers at all. For example, I sometimes have to pull on the stalk multiple times before it will actually sweep once. On intermittent, the wipers will either not operate, operate at very delayed intervals, act very slow, or stop in the middle of the sweep. The wipers act normally in both slow and fast modes. They also work normally when the washer button is pushed - two sweeps. Steve

What is the mileage on the car? How long ago were the plugs and wires replaced? Steve

I am going to assume that your problem is steering related and not with the struts. Here is what you need to do. 1) Check the tire pressure and verify that the pressure is set to the tire manufacturer's specifications. I will guess that this is not the issue but check it anyway. 2) Go to an empty flat parking lot and verify that the car tracks straight when you release the steering wheel. If it does not you may have an alignment issue. 3) Check for slop in the steering system. Drive along slowly and turn the wheel to the left or right. How far did you have to turn the wheel before the car actually turned? Did it feel sloppy? Once the car started turning how far did you have to reverse the direction of the wheel to straighten the car back out? If there is wear in the steering system and it takes you three degrees to get the car to turn it will take twice that - six degrees to get it corrected. It's far easier to feel the slop when you are correcting the steering. Also, you may wish to try this test by slowly oscillating the wheel from left to right. If it feels vague it probably is and needs service. 4) A few people have mentioned bushings. They are simply hard rubber insolators used to soften and quiet the road noise that would otherwise be transmitted to the driver through the steering wheel and to the passengers making the ride very uncomfortably. Because they do absorbe this energy and are exposed to the elements they eventually break down. Crawl under the front end of the car and check for these hard rubber parts on the end of anything related to the steering mechanism and other front end components. If any seem degraded, cracked, damaged, or have chunks out of them they may need to be replaced. If you are still uncertain about checking for these bushings go back to the garage where you purchased the tires and ask them to inspect the bushings. If the bushings are severly deteriorated the car's steering could be very erratic when you hit a pothole. Steve

I will have to go with nipper. Grinding is a good indication that a cable adjustment is called for but this one is slipping with the clutch pedal up - no tension on the cable. The clutch should be fully engaged at that point and no amount of cable cable adjustment will make engage better. It's shot and must be replaced. Steve

Get some quotes and place that clutch. Eventually, and sooner than later, it will leave you standing on the side of the road. Steve

Based on comments I would say that this is failry typical of Subaru automatics on this era. My 2000 obw does the same thing. The cars first transmission did it and so does the rebuilt transmission in there now. In my opinion its one fo the weakest parts of the car and I would own a stick if I wasn't for my wife. I would also suggest that you take it easy on the transmission for the first five minutes of driving when its below freezing outside. Let the transmission get some heat in it first. Steve

Do those wires all originate on the motor or on the controls on the steering column? Steve

I have a problem developing with my front wipers. Every time I operate the wipers in either intermittent mode or pulling on the handle for a one sweep pass, the wipers will run across the glass slowly. This does not happen all the time but maybe about one time in six. Slow operation suggests a bad ground or bad electrical connection somewhere in the system. I would like to try and determine what is happening before the wipers simply stop operating one day when I need them. Any help would be appreciated. This is for a 2000 OBW but a few years difference my not matter. Thanks in advance, Steve

Sounds like it will be the switch. I will try cleaning both. Thanks. Steve

If I do nave to replace the driver door switch; does anyone know how much that part costs? I recently had to replace the same item on my wife's 99 Grand Prix. On her car the pw switch for the driver's door is a unit that comprises all four switches and the lock out button. The dealer wanted around $100 for it. Steve

After removing the rear door panel I found a heavier wire pair heading in the direction of the window motor. It was wrapped in a white sheathing and had a green connector. I unplugged this connector and used a battery charger to get the window back up. On my first try the polarity was wrong and the motor tried to lower the window but it was already fully down. I reversed the polarity and the window went up. Now that the motor being bad can be ruled out, it seemed most likely that the problem would be a switch. But something must be in between the switch and the motor to cut power to the motor once the window has reached full up or full down. That was why I asked if there was some type of relay in the system. I still believe that it is the driver window switch that failed since that gets used the most. I wish I had that wiring diagram. Steve

GM sold there stake in Fuji Industries. They needed the cash. Steve