mattejb

update: Some good news...I have learned my car will pass inspection come this June since it is just visual. Car is still running...No CEL for the past few days, but I am sure it will be back. When the CEL is on it is just P0304, P0302 has not been showing up. I have not put any $ into it besides gas and oil.

update: Car is still running...CEL or flashing CEL P0304 and now also P0302, shaking at idle. I have not put any $ into it besides gas and oil. It does seem to be starting and running a little better now that temps are 40s/50s. Ill keep you posted if it improves or explodes.

update: Car is still running with the same problems...CEL or flashing CEL P0304, shaking at idle. I have also been getting worse gas mileage then I was before (I think that is a mix of temps in the single digits/teens and 100% city driving/WOOT! in the snow. ) I havnt put any $ into it besides gas and oil. Ill keep you posted if it improves or explodes.

I am currently still in college with no money, I will be graduating/getting a job May/June. If I am better off fixing the car before I trade it in I will make that decision before I trade it in. As of right now I will just keep you guys posted...some might want to know how or if it will die.

Why spend the money I don't have to fix something that doesn't need to be fixed? So far the car still seems to be working for what I need it for.

Over the Christmas holiday I took the car on a few trips totaling 1,000 highway miles. Same issues, runs fine at speed but stop at a red light and the CEL starts flashing and the car will shake. I also had it looked at by a local Subaru mechanic while I was home. He tried changing spark plugs and fuel injectors and wires but none of it helped. Also he did a compression test and said that cylinder 4 has really low compression at idle and that it is probably a burned/bent valve or a cracked cylinder ring/head. He said if it is the cylinder it probably would have broken down by now and that if it is the valve it might currently be the worst it is going to get. So that is now two places telling me the same thing.

Thanks this is the answer i was looking for and what I will do if the cylinder really is completely dead.

No...I just pulled the fuel injector wire. Maybe a quart, possibly two (maybe three..i dont check it all the time) between oil changes (3000 miles) if do a lot of highway driving. I believe it is temperature related in someway if that makes any sense. Ill give the dealer a call. it was $48 total and i got "free" front and back windshield wipers. But still if it was misdiagnosed... Also, do u think this could be something like a bad fuel filter or something along those lines. It idles really bad when I come to a stop quickly after driving "fast" (45-50mph) . If i come to a stop gradually sometimes it is pretty smooth idling and then gets worse as it sits. Then the woomp woomp woomp sound starts and the whole car shacks.

So i pulled the plug on #4 injector and P0304 Code went away and I got P0207. All good right? Well I drive the car around for a couple miles and it drives really bad with the fuel injector not working. I could instantly tell I was missing a lot of power and could hear a high pitched sound (belts?) I only hear when I am around 4000-6000rpm. I would even say the shaking was worse because I could feel it even as I am accelerating. I think I would rather risk my car blowing up then drive like this. So I reconnected the injector.:-\

Well am going to buy an new car in 6 months (probably 2010 legacy) and junk the outback. I was just wondering if you think it might be able stay alive till then without putting any more money into it. I am not planing on keeping this car till 300,000 miles. So if its possible that's what I would like to do. Other wise I am looking at buying a car sooner new/used. I don't want to put $1000 into the outback only to have my 4eat blow on me.

Has anyone on here ran a car with only 3 out of 4 cylinders for a considerable amount of time with any luck? Say 6 months? Is that possible if everything goes "ok"? What do you think my chances are?

I honestly have no idea about the other cylinders. I took the car to the dealership because I had a similar problem last year on cylinder 1. They replaced the exhaust valve on it and everything worked fine. The dealership told me that cylinder 4 has no compression and would need to do a tear down to find out what is really wrong with it. I passed. They said I should be fine to keep driving it..once it starts stalling I should get rid of it. I have been driving it like is for a couple months now. Its a 2.5 (1997 outback is only 2.5) Highway driving means driving on the highway 60-75mph, No CEL comes on. City driving, stopping and going causes all the problems. Also its worse the colder the weather gets. And the CEL only comes on after the car reaches temp.

So my 1997 subaru outback w/ 230000 miles has no compression in cylinder 4. So I am running on 3 cylinders. It idles very rough and the CEL flashes at me sometimes. Highway driving seems OK. Should I just put a piece of tap over the CEL and forget about it? How long do you think it could last?

I had it fixed with a clamp. Now 6 months later is broken again. Lets try that again.

UPDATE: ok so its that time of year again. The weather is cold and my car is shaking at ideal and giving me P0302 and P0304. I have not replaced anything since last year. Car was fine all spring/summer/fall. If i start the car and let it warm up to temp it seems to run fine. But if stopping at red lights while still cold it shacks and flashes p0302 p0304. Also i do get a Pop POP pop...if I take my foot of the throttle when wanting to slow down. This might be related to my exhaust flange breaking again.http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=84410&highlight=mattejb <see here Easy fix just let it run for 10mins before driving? Help.