cptrdbrd Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Hi all I am getting frustrated with the wife's 2000 outback. We have spent to much money on it and it still acts up. 210,000 miles I did the heads, adjusted valves, replaced the timing belt last summer. Coil Has been replaced 2 times last time was about 2 years ago with new good wires. started having problems about a month ago, took it to our local mechanic to pull the codes and it was a po420 so I replaced the cats. After that it started to intermittently fall on its face and flash cel, but when the mechanic checked he found no codes. He suggested replacing o2 sensors. I replaced front and back sensors and picked up a Bluetooth code reader. The new sensors did not help and I was now able to get 3 codes - po301, po303, po420. I replaced the plugs, checked the air filter, checked for oil in the plug holes. This morning we took it for a short trip (about 5-10 miles) and it started acting up again as we were parking in a parking lot. we noticed a strong gasoline smell coming from the exhaust. Is it possible that the injectors might intermittently hang open or does any one have any other ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Possible you have a fuel problem. Subaru Wires? Subaru Coil? Search for P0420, there is some good information and threads on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Did you replace the tensioner when you did the timing belt? Misfire codes are on the same bank which could mean its timing related. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstevens76 Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 (edited) Read the live data from the 02 sensors with that code reader. What brand 02 sensors did you put in? Edited August 17, 2015 by lstevens76 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 How new are the plug wires? These are a common fail point if they are old or anything but Subaru or NGK brand. Will result in bogging down and misfires as they get worse. Generally worse at lower RPMs and will smooth out around 2500-3500 but then bog down again. injectors are a distant possibility. Stick with it. It should be something simple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec03 Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 (edited) Yeah, I also vote to check the timing. If you do it your self, it's just a couple of hours of work, even you go all the way and take off the harmonic balancer. Edited August 18, 2015 by mikec03 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montana tom Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 When you say that it intermittently falls on its face, do you mean its running fine and then loses all power... limping to the side of the road ? with a strong smell of fuel out the exhaust ? Does it restart quickly ? Run normal , till the next episode ? Checking timing belts on that year , always requires removing the harmonic balancer. If you have done that before its not that big a job, but my opinion... is its not going to be a timing belt... if it runs fine , then quits , then runs fine again its not a timing issue. If your timing belts slipped more than just a little bit your motor would not run at all. The fuel smell out the exhaust should hopefully give somebody with more experience than me a clue towards what your problem may be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cptrdbrd Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 Thanks to all It runs just fine then it goes into a 5=10 second episode ware it slowes way down and has no power. wife told me it does it more when it is hot and humid. I do not know the brand of coil I put in but the wires are Autolite. the front o2 and plugs are NGK. I did replace the tensioner with the belt . I switched the wires on the bad cylinders with the good ones and we drove to do some running around last pm. It was highway and in town and had no problum. I put in the reader and wached the o2 read out the whole time we were driving. the entire time it was all over from .1 to.9 like a saw tooth. even on cruse on the highway. Is this normal? I think my next step will be wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Yes, front O2 voltage moves around quite a bit. Does it ever stall when you're coming to a stop? Has it ever stalled while it's just idling? The couple seconds loss of power sound like the symptoms of a MAF sensor failure on the older models. I do know there is a TSB for the MAF sensors on some of the 99-2001 models. If yours has a MAF, try wiggling the wires around and see if the engine stalls or runs differently. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec03 Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I missed the "intermittently" failure of your earlier post. While I also question whether you have a MAF since my 02 doesn't, it does sound like my MAF failure on a 97. The 97 would just stall after driving for 1 to 10 miles, and then after sitting for awhile, it would run OK again. It didn't at first set a MAF code so I was forced to just replace things at random. Finally it did set a MAF code, I went to the junk yard, got a replacement, and problem solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montana tom Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Check your exhaust. I just repaired a 2007 with very similar problems and it turned out to be a plugged second cat, $270.00 later and its all fixed ! You could be having the same issues... worth a check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cptrdbrd Posted August 24, 2015 Author Share Posted August 24, 2015 OK- here is a new twist. I ordered a new MAP from Subaru, it is to be in soon. Today the wife called me at work and told me it had a dead battery. I came home and jumped it then checked it with my load tester. It is not charging, so next I hooked up the scan tool and had 0 volts with it running. I am not positive but I thought I had a reading before. Can I check voltage on a 2000 with a scan tool? Could a failing alternator cause the issues in the above post? I will pick up a alternator Tuesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now