brus brother

Meh... wouldn't be caught "dead" in this! HehHeh

The wear pattern you describe is probably a good indication to use anti-sieze on the moving parts as suggested by others. At 126K miles, my pads have worn a bit of a channel in the rotors but it doesn't seem to have affected performance. I would think that to have the rotors turned would unnecessarily thin out the bulk of the rotor and increase the chance of warpage.

They couldn't care less. You could always say they were vibrating if someone asked.

You may find that the rear pads aren't as worn as the front since the front does most of the braking. I check the rears but usually get two front changes to one rear. I use Duralast Gold from Autozone. A bit dusty but they have a lifetime warranty. Bought the set once and waddayaknow, the same pads fit my 05 and 08 OBs. Replace, return, repeat.

Well if they did the umpteen point inspection, check oil level should have been done. If you are burning or leaking that much oil in one week, it should have been evident. You are due for a timing belt service (water pump, seals etc) at 105K miles so if you can wiggle some room out of a free HG job or even free labor for the HG, you can also supply the parts for the timing belt as that labor is redundant if doing the HGs. This vintage does have external HG oil leaks as you describe which is why the uber-wrenchers here recommend HG change with timing belt. The recommendation is to use the HGs spec'd for the turbo as the design seems more durable. You might end up lookin' pretty smart after all.

Had a shop check the freeze frame data today when the cel was on with p0420. Didn't see much. Trims looked fine but did mention something about the temperature coolant sensor but no code was thrown. Shop owner dismissed it but seemed somewhat puzzled. When I googled p0420 and temp coolant sensor, there are some links that also mention the coincidence of these issues. I will go back to the shop and dig deeper next time the light comes on (it went off on the way home). Just throwing this out there to see if this makes sense to any of the uber-wrenchers here struggling with this demon.

mine is an 05:dead: 0420 hell

Camshaft Belt: Inspect at 30K Replace at 60K http://www.subaru.com/content/downloads/pdf/maintsched/1993_IMP_NA.pdf

OK so here's another twist. Why is it that you only hear about P0420 Bank 1 and NOT bank 2? At least that is my experience reading the forums.

Did you use genuine Subaru cat (1 year warranty??) or aftermarket?

Anyone grabbing freeze frame data with these codes? I just got the code again yesterday after highway driving. I'm going to get the freeze frame data before I clear the code this time and see if someone here can interpret them for me. In the meantime, Lucas is a pretty cheap fix! (fingers crossed) Keep us posted Ivan on your hill climbers.

60K is the timing belt interval although years also play into the equation i.e. you couldn't let a car sit for 20 years in a garage even if it was undriven and not expect the belt to dry rot right off that buggy! If you are not comfortable with the price don't drive down there 6 hours. You'll seem too anxious and needy and you'll never get a date acting like that! Make the seller a firm offer that you are comfortable with and then tell him to call you back if he is interested. Good luck.

KaraK, Squeal may just be the brake "squealer", the metal depth indicator tab that rubs on the disc and tells you hurry up, you've only got a coupla thousand miles left on the pads. See A below. Just removed the squealer on my car today. The pads I had on hand as spec'd by Autozone didn't fit. For some reason my 05 OBi takes pads that are spec'd for the gt. The ones in their system have tabs that are too wide. At least I won't be listening to a screaming banshee until I get back in there.

I have a a very basic scanner that I paid less than $20 that reads the codes and readiness and clears codes so that I can slide by emissions when I need but nothing about freeze frame graphing trim/o2/maf etc. that will aid in a deeper understanding of this P0420 gremlin. The reason I asked about the laptop (or BT as you suggest) is that I am guessing there would be more info available with that interface. I am still curious if any of the heavy wrenchers like Ivan (who seems to be in the middle of an epidemic of these) have run these tests.

What sort of scanner do I need to get? It seems like this sort of information is vital to getting an accurate and individual diagnosis and end the speculation? Do retailers such as Autozone sell scanners that will give this info? I have seen OBDII readers that connect to laptops for readouts. Does anyone have any idea which is best to use?

To Ivan, GD Shawn and the rest of the uberwrenchers, I found the following video on 0420 on an old Toyota. As I have mentioned, My 05 OB seems to get the code more when I am the main driver than when my wife or daughter are lightfooting around. They have however gotten the code when on extended highway roadtrips. Could this be the answer to the P0420?? I don't have the tools to do the diagnosis but I guess I could borrow a Autozone scanner to check. Just askin...

Nah, I'm not going for barometric or angle. As I said, I'm here in the flatlands of CT and I'm leaning towards heavy load. My observation is that the code shows up more frequently if I have been driving than when either my wife or daughter are driving. I definitely am a more aggressive accelerator.

OK then back to my pondering how my 05 OB appears to throw code more often with my versus wife's driving since I am more of a stomper? But doesn't the loop (closed or open, I forgot) change during heavy acceleration and therefor make the question irrelevant? Coincidence?

Leave the hood off the car and make the tb changes even faster.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_professional-grade-rubberized-undercoating-%2816-oz-%29-3m_7141477-p?searchTerm=spray+undercoating Autozone has the above 3M rubberized version that will be less likely to drip into your eyes.

Reporting here from the flatlands of CT (no engine braking) where my mechanic is also stymied... 0420 for the past two+ years on my 05 OB.

Any case histories with good ole' Seafoam? Threw some in the tank a month or so ago and then threw the code again. I wish I could see a pattern as it's now been around 300 miles since I last cleared the code. This has been going on (and off) for about 2 years. I've read too many stories here and on other sites about "did this... did that" without success.

My SOA local dealer csr blamed the winter fuel additives here in the northeast damaging the cats. Obviously soa could track their warranty and other repairs so a pattern might be able to be detected if there were regional statistics to support this theory. Not sure that soa would give this information up though. Any members down south or others without winter additives experiencing the dreaded 0420?

Advise customers that this usually happens to people with high IQs. They will thank you and may even question why they didn't experience it sooner!

So is it just coincidence or my wife's driving patterns (easier on the gas pedal) having anything to do with when codes occur? I seem to be code king around here. To get freeze frame, do I need to get readings when the codes occur?