wookiemail

Well, bad news. The fix didn't really work. So I am looking for what would be next. I am pretty sure nothing is leaking. Any suggestions? I'd even take a good hunch. There must be lore on how to fix this. Tnx, Bill Hale

I've had this problem with an 03 OBW. I missed it when I bought it used with about 20K miles on it. Could smell it in the garage; never a hint of antifreeze around. Dealer replaced one head gasket on warranty. Not sure this affected it much. Maybe should have done both sides. The warranty bill was nearly $800. Messed with the radiator cap... replaced it as I remember with no improvement. At 70K miles, it is still exhibiting the same symptoms. Not a lot worse. Not using much fluid. I've forgotten about it except when I go into the garage. And like the other poster, I've never had a car do this. Anyone have any luck with the recommended sauce to put in the radiator? BH, Loveland CO

For those searching on this problem as I did... Cold starting was hard; didn't even have to be that cold. Backfiring and poor drivability until warm, then OK. No check engine light. Based on previous suggestions, I replaced the coolant temperature sensor. That completely fixed it. Good thing, too, I'm not sure what I would have tried next. BTW, getting to the thing is a b*tch. I once did it on my '95 impreza and couldn't remember just how. This article was most helpful! Step by step photos. www.lovehorsepower.com/SubaruDocs/CoolantTempSensor.html Those hoses didn't just slip off, however! Bill Hale Loveland CO

I should have followed this advice. I replaced the coolant temp sensor which wasn't as bad as I had guessed. The one I pulled out measured 2K ohms at room temperature, which seemed ok. One of the commentators suggested that even if they seem OK, they may be flakey, so for Autozone $25 I get a new one. I reset the ECU and sure enough the codes went away. I've driven about 100 miles and it seems OK. And the cooling fan is off. Trying to learn from this, it would seem resetting the ECU then immediately checking the codes if the ECU light comes on might help reduce the mulitple number of codes. As it is, I'm not sure if I fixed this or not... might be a fluke. But who is to argue with sucess? Thanks for the suggestions. Bill Hale

Found but not removed ... yet

Thanks for the tip on resetting the ECU. I guess I could just disconnect the battery too. The connector that has no mate has a gray top with two female blade connectors. Still looking for the coolant temp sensor. I've looked in the archives and the pix doesn't help. 1.8 engine. Bill H.

Thanks for the suggestion. I had assumed the EGR was driving the problem, but maybe it is the coolant sensor. This would be easy to check. Room temp R? Is the cluster water temp gauge driven by this? It does read correctly. On resetting the ECU: I have a pair of connectors on the memory side but only one two pin female connector on the left side. Doesn't look like the documentation. To reset, I must connect both. Do I short the two pins together on the left side connector? There is nothing else to plug it into. Checking for smoke! In the EGR line, there is what looks like a filter. I can't find it on anyones parts list. What is is properly called? About 2 1/2 in diameter and 2" long. Seems maybe it should be replaced. Thanks for the consel. I hope I can return the favor sometime. Bill H.

Collective Experts: 95 Impreza, 120K miles, never a hiccup! Now CEL is on hard, with errors 56, 21 and 23. It is very slow to warm up... barely runs for first minute or so... then fairly normal except radiator fan is on all the time. So it sounds EGR related. I don't get #34, the EGR solenoid failure which would have been my guess. So, switching from math & science to lore, which will be much more powerful fixing this one! Thanks for any suggestions. Bill Hale, Loveland CO