coryl

I changed that 7.5A EGI + B fuse and the car starts on the first turnover now. CEL/traction control/cruise lights are gone. I'd still like to know what the B stands for if anyone can tell me?

Anyone know what the B stands for in the EGI + B? That fuse is blown.

Does anyone know where the fuse is located and what it's labelled as to data link OBD connector on a 2008 2.5i? I was solar charging through the OBD port and when I went to start the car it initially wouldn't turn over but did so on the second attempt. CEL came on immediately as did the solid traction control (unable to turn it off), and the cruise control light started blinking. I got only the P1560 code which is a back-up voltage circuit malfunction code. My code reader wouldn't register the code until I started the engine. I think that I've blown the fuse but can't figure out the location of it on this car. Thanks for any help.

What exactly is in their "gold plan"? As mentioned, I negotiated an ultimate full coverage which covered every component on that car (there would be no extra cost for anything) for an additional 4 years for $1800 Canadian with buy back which was all back minus $400 if warranty was unused after the 4 years...also there was no deductible. I negotiated that at car sale on my Subaru 2.5i and I purchased it because I was buying a 2 year old used car. Shortly after my after market warranty expired, I was told my head gasket was leaking...because my aftermarket warranty had just expired, and I had perfect maintenance, Subaru Canada and my dealership fully covered that cost...they didn't have to. I'm so not against extended warranties therefore. You really have to decide if you can afford a major fix down the line if you plan to keep the car for years after the basic (and IMO crap) 3/5 year warranty. That said, negotiate the warranty to as low as you can, because most don't need them, but those who do, are so happy if they have and then need the warranty...if it's at a good price, to me, it's peace of mind. I love my Subaru, I love my dealership, I love Subaru Canada, but I do not like Subarus basic warranty...it's bad IMO.

Good to know that I didn't need to worry with probably less than a quart lost...my friend said that as long as I can see fluid on the dipstick I'm OK to drive it to get it fixed. When you've had an engine removed and so many things fixed on a car, it's so important to keep an eye on what's dripping beneath your car, and to check all fluid levels. I'm now going to keep a very close eye on everything for the next while. Thank you everyone/Grossgary!

Trans cooler line was leaking at the transmission...$86. Hopefully that's the last leaking thing on this car for a while....it's been a long haul with a good outcome since my initial post, "Head gasket potential issue". Thanks to everyone here for your opinions, help, and support along the way. I don't know if anyone knows the answers, but because it was worrying me when I found the leak, although I didn't have any transmission issues... When you're dip stick shows a level 1/2 way to the tip, beneath the low cold level (with cold ATF), approximately how much ATF has been lost? My understanding is that there's around 9.5L of ATF in the system, so with how much loss would you then expect to show any transmission issues? Thanks!

Update... My service manager was amazing helping me further, and with everything that was done on this car, both head gaskets plus machined (thanks Grossgary), the dropped leads in R cylinder head repaired, timing belt, and all the other things added that I'd mentioned above, my final cost with 13% tax in was only $2700 Canadian. I thank Subaru Canada and my dealership friends and service manager...I'm just blown away with gratitude. Tomorrow I go back into the dealership...noticed a drop of ATF in the snow under the car today when I was shovelling. I checked the fluid level and it's very low...cold level is below the low cold level mark. With everything that's been done on this car, where would the likely place be where it's leaking?

Congratulations on your Subaru purchase. First of all, companies such as WV and BMW and others have this "yearly" or later oil change mentality to sell cars. These companies either provide the "full maintenance" service included in the sale of these cars for 3-4 years (and they want to decrease their cost), or they try to compete saying more frequent oil changes aren't needed. When you buy a new car you have a new perfect engine...these cars will survive most likely the duration of the factory warranty therefore, but those cars won't last too long afterwards with infrequent oil changes...what do these companies care if it costs them nothing afterwards???. Do not ever go 10,000 miles on any car for an oil change if you care for your car and want to keep it. .

Almost forgot the most important thing...it all depends on how long your son plans to keep this car. Some people sell their cars every 3 years...why would they need an extended warranty???

Also, at least in Canada, you can buy after market warranties from companies after purchase, but you'll wind up paying premium price. I imagine in the states you can do that too. Problem is that you'll have no room for negotiation as you would at car purchase time.

First of all, do know that before you wind up sitting at the finance office where they then try to encourage you to purchase, rust modules, rust proofing, fabric protection, paint protection, oil changes, extended warranties, etc, you should negotiate them before hand into the deal. Dealerships make a ton of money from these "after negotiated price of the car" items. If you want the extended warranty, negotiate that into your final offer...I got a $3400 extended 4 year buy-back warranty for $1800. Everything is negotiable, including warranties. No one can tell you whether you will need an extended warranty, but if you negotiate it into a reasonable price, then I say it's worth it because I've seen many who have needed it, and especially on cars where the warranty is a 3/5 year.

Sirtokesalot, I wouldn't be putting these tires on my car. First of all, they have been stored for 8 years, so I'm guessing that the tires were not just purchased 8 years ago and then stored, so they are probably many years older? You can check on the sidewall to note the date of manufacture. Rubber naturally degrades over a period of 5 or so years depending on conditions. You will not see cracks in old stored tires like you describe (and tires may look perfect) until they are perhaps inflated to specs or under load, and then it could lead to tire blow out which may risk your life. An example would be of an old rubber band looking good until you stretch it and only then you see the cracks before it breaks. Buy yourself some newer tires, these in my belief are probably just too old.

Matt167, you help me play on the conspiracy theory in my head, and if I didn't know quite a few of the guys at the dealership I'd probably be thinking the same but I'm not ruling it out just yet because I don't personally know the guy who did the final diagnosing on the dropped valves. Grossgary, the warranty from the machine shop was not mentioned, although I may be misunderstanding you/dealership...I do have the name of the machine shop and you are right, they only use one. How much do you think the time/cost would be for the resurfacing of this engine if the dealership was not involved? I'm not understanding on a well maintained car how this even happened...I had absolutely no symptoms of anything...no noted loss of power, no CEL, no overheating, no rough starting, no stalling, no nothing...the car drove like it did the day I purchased it (which then gets me thinking about Matt167's conspiracy theory). ThosL, I agree it's an inflated price...I'm going to speak with the service manager and see if they can somehow reduce cost for me now. I'll keep you updated, and thanks for your help and opinions.

^^^1997reduxe, I had a full aftermarket warranty up until last year, so why wouldn't I take it to the dealership? They've done the recalls and one valve cover for $300, radiator flushes, and since I bring in my own Mobil1 it costs me around $20+tax for an oil change which is cheaper than any other oil change place I know of plus they give me a free car wash while I'm there. It's the reason of my relationship and taking the car to the dealer that got Subaru Canada and my dealership to split the cost of my head gasket repair and not going down the block to my local shop. They found the head gasket leak at my last oil change...so in my situation they were doing the "free" head gasket replacement, so while they were removing the engine in my thinking it would be cheaper to replace some other items and then have that warranty with my dealership too. My friend at the dealership sent me pics of my engine out of the car...I'm now between a rock and a hard place and especially because before I knew the issue, I'd had some new rocker panels put on the car, a door with some rust at the bottom repaired, a new front lip, and new Stoptech cryro treated/slotted rotors with Hawk racing pads, plus new tires. I do get what you're saying, and on my old 1998 Sebring I always took it to a local shop down the block from me where the guy only worked on Chrysler cars...that car never went to the dealership for anything as there was no point because I certainly understand the inflated prices...you're talking to the converted but it doesn't help me now.

Update... After pulling the engine today, this is what was found... Two dropped valve guides on the right side cylinder head. Cylinder head valves/seals with machine shop and resurfacing...$1850. Exhaust donut gasket seized/corroded...$105. Rear main seal leaking oil...$100. 1 of 3 timing belt tensioner pullys noisy...$90. Upper rad hoses getting weak...$150. Timing cover hardware corroding...(no price noted). Water pump is good no need for replacement is mentioned. With timing belt and second head gasket, my final cost with my free head gasket repair will still be over $4G. OMG!!!

What most people don't realize is that you can negotiate extended warranty price as you can with most things. I bought my 4 year extended warranty with buy-back feature for $1800 when the listed price was $3500. This was the top tier warranty that covered pretty much everything minus maintenance items. The only problem with a buy-back warranty is that it plays with your head on when you should use it. With a buy-back warranty you get back the majority of $'s if you don't use it so you start to pay for small items and then the closer the warranty gets to the end you start to debate on the slightly more expensive items because you've already paid for the smaller ones. Just use the warranty is my advice for next time. lol. I think you did well for $500 for the additional years...peace of mind is worth something.

I just dropped off my Subaru to the dealership which was kind of stressful knowing all that's going to be done to it. After thinking things over, I decided to replace the water pump as well, and told my friend that I want the heads machined regardless of what they find. I didn't even ask price, because I've got so much money into this car right now that it clearly is irrelevant...I just want this fix to go as good as can be. Thank you, Grossgary and everyone else for your help.

Grossgary, it looks like I may need to go with their OEM gasket because if something bad happens somewhere in the install, then I'm in trouble with their warranty. Thanks for the info and I know I need to have the heads resurfaced because I want them as smooth as possible because at this point I have so much money invested. I'm going to speak with the service manager tomorrow and see if they will split the cost on having the heads machined which is now what I want, regardless what their assessment is. What am I looking at price wise to have them machined?

That's the problem...if they say it doesn't fit their specs then they won't warranty it. I understood that concept when I purchased my Optima red top battery. The place I purchased this from said it doesn't meet the specs for my car. I contacted Optima and they said that it certainly does, so I purchased it and it's been perfect in my car for years now. If something isn't OEM then it will never meet specs. That said, this is a major head gasket repair and not a battery, so if they say it doesn't meet their specs and therefore won't warranty it, then I'm between a rock and a hard place. I've looked over the EJ25 gasket and I would certainly go with this gasket if I was having a private shop do the work for me. I can't even imagine having two head gaskets leaking as I drive off the dealership lot and having no warranty as they say.

^^^No, you just need that one for the front.

Update....I just spoke to my friend at the dealership and he said that the turbo EJ25 gasket won't fit my Impreza 2.5i according to those in the service center. He also said that because they are doing this fix, that if I use anything other than OEM they won't be able to warranty it. The warranty on this gasket repair is 20,000kms or one year, so not very long anyways. They will check out the heads and see if they need to be machined or not and if it's deemed that it's needed, other than their prep, they will send it out to a machine shop. They will also check out the water pump for me, but doesn't believe it will need replacing...he said it's rare that these water pumps go on Subarus, and usually only when the car has been overheating which is not in my case, "or you're very unlucky". They will be checking out my thermostat but they believe that won't need replacing other than the gasket, and that they will replace any worn hoses or belts.

I can't tell size from your picture, but looks to me to be a tow hook. Where did you find it?

My dealership is splitting the cost of the left head gasket repair with Subaru Canada, so that's where I have to go. I've just sent my friend at the dealership a message asking him to check on the gasket type, and then get the Turbo EJ25 if that's not what they were planning to use. I've also asked him about resurfacing the heads and what's my best route to have this done, because I want to keep this car for a long time to come. They were only planning to do the left head gasket, but I will get both gaskets done, timing belt, and water pump, for $1450 Canadian is my quote. And thanks so much for your input!

Well said, Grossgary! I agree with you 100% and is why I own two cars (both 2008) that are like brand new (minus one head gasket issue)...I was actually the second owner on that car and I'm not sure if it was babied like I do with my cars. I also want good dependable vehicles and don't care for all the bells and whistles that others desire. I spend my $'s on protecting and maintaining my vehicles, and is even why I spent two years of my free time getting ACD/AYC relocation kits made for Evo's/Ralliarts...I can take my entire trunk apart with my eyes shut now. People ask me if they should still relocate their hydraulic pumps to the trunk now that Mitsu has extended the warranty. I just don't understand those who can do something relatively inexpensive that will protect a vital component of what makes these cars take those corners so perfectly and also that will protect other expensive components when these pumps fail (and it's a guarantee that these pumps will fail, it's just a matter of when). Often people purchase cars believing that they will get rid of them in 3 or so years, so what do they care. Most of my friends take me car shopping with them because I do understand cars (and I'm a pretty good negotiator too), but I certainly do a more detailed search now on any car that they're interested in...I've learned from my own and other's mistakes for sure. And I am glad that there are people, like you, who become experts on a specific brand so I can pick your brains when needed. I do know so much more about my Evo than I do about my Subaru, but I'm trying to learn. So, I'm going to do the timing belt when the head gasket is being done, but I'm also thinking of getting the second (right) head gasket replaced as well...from what I've been reading on Subarus, it's usually often only the left that fails. Any opinion on that and anything else? And where can I find your tutorials?

Let us know what you plan to do.