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03 Forester - Why the heck is the IACV $300+?


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So I just went to O'Reilly thinking I would pick up a new idle air control valve for my 03 Forester. Not so. Apparently, it's in the system for a staggering $353.99. Autozone has about the same price.

 

https://imgur.com/RNupAun

 

That's not all. I found a more reasonably priced example on eBay and searched the part number. It shows on Amazon for $189.99.

 

https://imgur.com/dHiikQt

 

And the one Advance Auto Parts recommends has the wrong pin layout (4 instead of 6, in a line instead of a square).

 

https://imgur.com/SDqtM6s

 

What's going on here? I feel like these systems are all based on each other, so maybe someone entered the wrong price somewhere down the line? What gives?

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Try pricing at rock auto, better selection anyway ...   $300 for one $150 for another and then one for 10 bucks ??? Knock sensors were  like this a few years ago.  I will say, I bought the 150 one apx one year ago for a 2001 5 speed obw ... today i had to remove it ... car running at 2000 rpm at start up....swapped in one out of a same year 5 speed car ... (O.E. part)    works perfectly..  is the $150 one bad ? Is the $300 one better ? I don't think so, I did clean some carbon from under the intake with the (Bad) iac. That could have fixed it.  I  installed it the doner car and it ran normally ??? Will it continue to run like it did with the o.e. part ??? We will see...  Unlike the knock sensors I definitely would not buy the 10 dollar one. 

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Save yourself the headache and just buy one from the dealer. It will actually work. And yes they are about $350. You really begrudge the car a $350 part after 15 years?

 

You *can* clean them. But doing so properly involves powering them up while removed to get the pintle to run out till it disengages... cleaning, regreasing, and then reassembling by applying pressure while again powering it up so it retracts the pintle back into the case.... if you haven't done a few I would just get a new one.

 

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or get a good known used one?

 

If you want to go new, don't go cheap.  Get OE from dealer or MAYBE autozone.

 

Autozone is now owned by worldpac, so they do have access to high quality Japanese OE stuff.  Might have to ask....it'll be the "duralast Gold" or some crap instead of the basic.

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Autozone is not owned by Worldpac.

 

Autozone had bought Intermotor Corp a while back, couldn't figure out how to integrate quality products into their business model of selling completely overpriced $hit, and sold them to Parts Authority (east coast)

 

Worldpac is owned by Carquest.

 

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Edited by GeneralDisorder
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This is really common. Subaru sensors and parts don’t fail that often. I’ve got 200,000 and 300,000 miles without replacing sensors and that’s not i common.

 

They’re expensive but they rarely need replaced, no big deal. I’m glad they’re generally reliable over cheap.

 

The ideal controllers have moving parts and pads through air which had a proclivity to build up and sticking. Try to clean as stated. I’ve had success and sometimes not.

 

Knock sensors fail the most often in general - get cheap $8 eBay specials. Theyre so easy to replace just buy two if you’re worried about quality. I’ve installed a bunch with 100% success rate.

 

Ideal controllers and other other sensors ocassinalk have issues and are high prices. Get a new OEM it’s not like it’ll happen often.

 

If price is an issue just buy a used one. There’s zero demand because they fail so rarely so they’re nearly worthless. I’d ship you one for $25 because I know it’ll never sell and someone needing it highly unlikely for ubiquitous EJ and EZ stuff.

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Autozone is not owned by Worldpac.

 

Autozone had bought Intermotor Corp a while back, couldn't figure out how to integrate quality products into their business model of selling completely overpriced $hit, and sold them to Parts Authority (east coast)

 

Worldpac is owned by Carquest.

 

GD

 

Sorry, my bad I meant Advanced.  Brain fart on the "A" stores.

 

And Advanced auto owns worldpac, not the other way around.

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You really begrudge the car a $350 part after 15 years?

 

 

This is a basic solenoid which other cars costs about $30. It literally looks like someone put an extra number in there by accident. The techs laughed out loud when they pulled this part number. There is no technical reason this item should cost this much, except good ol' supply and demand. That's what I begrudge  ^_^ 

 

Considering it takes 3 minutes to replace, I'd rather replace 17 of the $20 ones than spend $350 on one of them. Hell, I'd rather carry 2 spares and a screwdriver everywhere I go. That's just highway robbery.

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Dake;  I'm guessing this car is an automatic?     Iacv on a manual is completely different,  (its more than just a solenoid) 

 

Mine's auto. Could that be why?

 

but it's still this right?

 

https://www.carparts.com/details/Subaru/Forester/Replacement/Idle_Control_Valve/2003/REPS313204.html?TID=gglpla&origin=pla&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8MvWBRC8ARIsAOFSVBXpYbewA-DCt0faSV1UhMwJjYVJJMS5_UybVA72JhZOHAATuHK86O0aApXdEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

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This is a basic solenoid which other cars costs about $30. It literally looks like someone put an extra number in there by accident. The techs laughed out loud when they pulled this part number. There is no technical reason this item should cost this much, except good ol' supply and demand. That's what I begrudge ^_^

 

Considering it takes 3 minutes to replace, I'd rather replace 17 of the $20 ones than spend $350 on one of them. Hell, I'd rather carry 2 spares and a screwdriver everywhere I go. That's just highway robbery.

Except that the $20 ones typically don't work at all. Or perform incorrectly. Or throw codes.

 

It's not just a "basic" solenoid. It has 6 pins and requires a special dual PWM signal to open and close it. It isn't such an easy thing to reproduce it would seem.

 

How much is your time worth? Not much if you want to screw around with 17 $20 sensors. You see this is the difference between people that make money and people that never seem to have any - those of us that make money don't screw around wasting time on $hit that doesn't work. Also - you have to spend money to make money. That's how it works. Trust me your time is more valuable than $330. Use it to go make some real money and don't bother with picking up the pennies.

 

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You see this is the difference between people that make money and people that never seem to have any - those of us that make money don't screw around wasting time on $hit that doesn't work. Also - you have to spend money to make money. That's how it works. Trust me your time is more valuable than $330. Use it to go make some real money and don't bother with picking up the pennies.

 

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Not everyone likes throwing a high-end price on a lower-end car. And not everyone has $350 they can casually throw at the car, especially when talking about outrageous inflation. Spending $350 for a sensor will not make him any money, either, nor does paying the highest price auto-guarantee he'll never have another issue with it.

 

Saab was the same way with their coil packs molded into the center of the plug cover that acted like the center of the valve cover. Ironically, they were roughly the same price as the sensor mentioned, though 4 coils + cover vs. a sensor. Heat would cause the epoxy to crack, which would pull on the coils/wiring/pcb, etc. Plenty of us would keep an extra DIC in the trunk, or would grab cheap units to have on hand. Nothing wrong with it except price gouging does NOT save money nor make you more of it..... unless you are the one doing the gouging....

Edited by Bushwick
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That's not the case with these IACV's. They are quite reliable - if you buy a good one. As I said they can also be cleaned so buying a $20 cheap one is a waste of $20 and supports an industry built around selling essentially fake parts that don't work and banking on people not bothering to return them or having to buy them often.

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/17/2018 at 9:47 AM, carfreak85 said:

If you can't afford/haven't budgeted for a $350 repair on a 15 year old car, you really should be riding a bike.  I mean no offense by that comment, but old cars break, machines wear out, that's just the nature of the world.

Unless it's a rare oddball or hi-po variant, etc. most aren't buying 15-20 year old cars to be a money pit. Me personally, I stick with cars that cheap to maintain if older. If newer, they have warranties.

And TBH, $150 gets you an entire engine in my area.... so for 1 sensor I could technically buy 2 complete engines. Makes no sense. Better off buying used.

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2 hours ago, Subaruaru said:

Be happy you aren't buying one for a 2005 Outback. I can't find ANY rebuilt or aftermarket ones. My Dealer says $677.00 plus $32 tax... I found one at Subaru dealer in Katy TX for $549.00 plus $38 shipping.

A 2005 Outback is drive by wire. So you would be buying the entire DBW assembly, not an IACV. You can likely find a good used one. 

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It appears to be an assembly. A housing and sensor or control on top of it.

 What does DBW stand for and I'll go searching for a used one. The dealer did call it the "Idle air control valve" though.

 

Edited by Subaruaru
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DBW or drive by wire means there is no cable connecting the throttle pedal to the engine. Its all electric wiring.  There is a pedal assembly and another assembly at the throttle body.They plug in. 

What symptoms do you have ?  My experience with the DBW cars is, if faulty they simply idle , no rev up at all .  This can happen at any speed , if the connection at the pedal or the throttle body has a faulty signal the ecm sends it to idle. Not fun at 80 mph in the high speed lane for your car to drop to only an idle...

A failing IACV usually has a very high idle, 2000-3000 until thoroughly warmed up. 

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On 4/15/2018 at 6:35 PM, Dake said:

 

 

This is a basic solenoid which other cars costs about $30. It literally looks like someone put an extra number in there by accident. The techs laughed out loud when they pulled this part number. There is no technical reason this item should cost this much, except good ol' supply and demand. That's what I begrudge  ^_^ 

 

Considering it takes 3 minutes to replace, I'd rather replace 17 of the $20 ones than spend $350 on one of them. Hell, I'd rather carry 2 spares and a screwdriver everywhere I go. That's just highway robbery.

Drake,

Pretty sure there are 3 Foresters at the yard, by me, with the part you need. I'd gladly go pull one and send it your way if you'd like. Let me know.

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  • 1 month later...
On 6/10/2018 at 9:25 AM, YnotDIY said:

Drake,

Pretty sure there are 3 Foresters at the yard, by me, with the part you need. I'd gladly go pull one and send it your way if you'd like. Let me know.

Thanks for the offer. Turns out the TCU wasn't communicating properly with the EJ20 engine. Also blew a ring within 15 miles of driving around on this "new" "refurbished" eBay special that ran when parked. I think the oil pump froze up or something to that effect because it started pouring smoke all of a sudden but the temp sensor never moved past the center. Going to compression test it this week to confirm.

Needless to say my first go at working on Subarus has me wanting to turn back ^_^

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15 hours ago, Dake said:

 on this "new" "refurbished" eBay special that ran when parked.

Oh snap - sorry to hear that boss. 

That has some amount of risk embedded into it.  Ebay and used car lots are clearly cars that were traded in, sold, or dumped for one reason or another and you're left trying to guess what that reason was. 

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