MilesFox Posted September 15, 2003 Share Posted September 15, 2003 i have been at 86subaru's (Jim) plce for the weekend fixing soobs. i suggested spraying simple green on the motor and washing it off. i rinsed it off with water from the hose as the motor ran. jim turned off the motor while it was still wet. he went to start it some 10 minutes later, wouldnt fore. no problem, i said check the dis cap and sure enough there was moisture. we wiped it out and we started it up. well, this morning jim made a parts run, and the speedo doesnt work, and it was flashing code 32: bad o2 sensor. but the o2 was replaced at the soob dealer a few months ago. the ecs light will come on and go off. it stays off at idle but comes on as you drive it. jim drives this car daily, but within 10-15 miles from home. i told him that maybe the computer stored a code when it didnt start with the wet cap, and now that it is dry the code is still stored. he disconnected the battery and the ecs light came back. so i have 2 questions. one, would water cause a spedo cable to fail, and two: is it possible the computer cant make up its mind about the code, considering it has onlt ben driven 10 miles since the light came on? Can the computer be tricked or "confused" i said its possible the code may clear up when he takes me 100 miles back to butler. water cant cause an o2 sensor to fail would it? i would hate to think that washing the motor would mess it up, especially ater getting a deadbeat turbo to run and converting an xt with a bad front diff to a 2wd. the only ar to mess up is the one we didnt touch! and YES it IS an spfi ON AN 86 sedan. it was one of 20 factory prototypes and originated from the toledo dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLCraig Posted September 15, 2003 Share Posted September 15, 2003 Are you sure you are reading the code right? Code 31, which is the speed sensor code, would make more sense. The speed sensor attaches to the speedometer and tells the ECU and cruse control computer (if you have cruse installed) how fast you are going. Since the speedo cable isn't driving the speedo, the speed sensor would eventually think that's something wrong. As for the speedo cable, hey they just brake sometimes, crap occurs. Also, 86 spfi isn't really that rare, I believe that all of the 2wd automatics got spfi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archemitis Posted September 15, 2003 Share Posted September 15, 2003 i bet you guys just pulled the speedo cable out of the back of the speedo a little. its easy to do on accident. just reach up where it goes in the back of the speedo, and push it back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted September 15, 2003 Share Posted September 15, 2003 sorry this vintage Soob will not clear error codes when you disconnect the battery. All this does is reset the "learn mode" Please read the instructions for clearing codes. http://www.westol.com/neper/ecucodes.html or http://www.troublecodes.net/Subaru/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted September 15, 2003 Author Share Posted September 15, 2003 thanx for the info, Skip! I believe i found the problem....I pulled the instrument cluster to find the speedo dome 6 inches behind it. i got under the hood and found a heater hose ran under the speedo; Jim installed a coolant flush kit, and had a little trouble removing one of the hoses. so in his efforts he must have tugged on the speedo cable causing it to come off the back of the instrument cluster. i know it just didnt fall off, and if work was done to the hose, then there you go! I'll get it put together and report my findings!!! i feel i must be extra careful on jim's ride, it is his pride and joy, but i am glad he trusts me to work on it while he is at work. he'll be happy to see it working by the time he gets home!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted September 15, 2003 Author Share Posted September 15, 2003 i got it all put back togeter, i had jim's wife pat take me to autozone in it, and the speedo was reading like it always have. the ecs never came on, even tough i havent reset it. i cleaned up the interior and polished all the plastic. jim will be a very happy man when he gets home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted September 15, 2003 Share Posted September 15, 2003 Good stuff Miles... I could definitely see Jim roughing things up along the firewall!! Sounds like you guys got down to business the past two weekends. I know both of those rigs had issues, and I got to hand it to you for knowing your "Legos". John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted September 16, 2003 Author Share Posted September 16, 2003 i would have had the brakes done on the xt, but jim drove the turbo wagon to work, with the rotors in the back. but hey, nothing like a 3-day weekend full of soobs! now ALL of jim's soobs RUN AND DRIVE. only thing left is carb issues on the brat, and the title to the XT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.