Zomicon

Thanks nipper. I checked the belts and all the hoses last night and everything seems to be in good shape. I also got under the car last night and checked for oil on the engine, and found a few minor leaks. I noticed a small amount of leakage from the transmission harness--more like seapage, no drips or anything. We had it looked at by a mechanic before we bought, and he noticed minor leaks in the valve cover and rear vent plate. I don't exactly know where those are located, but I checked under the car and couldn't find any drips or oil. I called the mechanic that checked it out and he said the leaks were minor...

Okay guys. So I have the knock sensor and the coolant temp sensor is coming. When I went to order the O2 sensor, I found that there were two, one for the front and one for the rear. How do you know which one to change? They are $100+ each, so I had hoped to start with one and see how it goes. Which one should I start with that could cause the problems I have been experiencing? Thanks, Zomicon

Hi guys, Thanks for your help on my car thus far. I got a code for Knock Sensor and 02 sensor on my 97 outback 2.5L. I looked for parts and found there are 2 02 sensors (front and rear). How can you tell which O2 sensor needs replacing? They aren't exactly cheap so I would like to know which one needs replacing before I go to it. Secondly, what do you think about using one of the Bosch universal O2 sensors? I only ask because I am very time constrained and they are in stock, while the model specific ones have to be ordered? Lastly, if you got an O2 sensor code and had to start with one sensor, which one would you start with? I am less concerned about emissions and peak fuel economy at this point and simply concerned with the major dirveability issues that these sensors seem to be causing. Thanks, Zomicon

Thanks so much for the help everyone. I am going to drive the car home from the shop, and I will check out the timing belts, check for oil on the engine, etc. My girlfriend and I are going to tow it on a car carrier on back of the uhaul truck up to Portland and deal with it there. I might try to get to the sensors before then, or I might just wait until we get up to portland. Either way, I will be posting on the board asking for help soon! Thanks

Thanks for the help guys. I have been banging my head against the wall, wondering if the previous owner unloaded a complete lemon on me. I'll start with the knock, coolant and 02 sensors and go from there. Do you think I could just let the car run at idle for a while to try and reproduce the behavior, or do you think it needs to be driven to get it hot enough to make things start going crazy? I would try it myself, but the car is in the shop. The horror of it all, is that my girlfriend and i were planning a surf trip through mexico and beyond, and we bought this vehicle to do it. It looks like we'll have to change our plans, because there is no way I am taking this car down there... I am a complete newby when it comes to cars... Is it possible to change these sensors myself, or do they require a lot of skill / specialized tools and best left to a shop? Thanks.

In the meantime...does anyone have any thoughts about the behavior with my 97 Outback? If it were you, where would you look first? Zomicon

Thanks for the advice. I registered on my.subaru.com and am waiting for ownership to be verified so I can check the recalls. The T/B recall is related to a missing part that does not allow a complete return of throttle valve, which causes high idle. Probably not related to my problem, but I still don't like the fact that they told me it didn't need to be done if it did. Re: alternator. I called the dealer where the original owner bought the car, and they did not have the alternator recall performed there. The dealer I took it to did catch the Transverse Link recall and I am scheduled to get that done on monday. I will ask about the alternator then. Wow...4 recalls. Makes me really scared.

The work order I got back from the dealer said "REPLACEMENT NOT NECESSARY" for both throttle body and alternator. I held off on the O2 and knock sensors because my local mechanic told me that the problem could be related to the throttle body, and I should check out the recall before I sprung for the knock and O2 sensors. He also didn't think the knock sensor could cause the kind of behavior I had.... Incidentally, I looked online and found that my vin seemed to fall under the range for recall for the the throttle body even though the dealer told me it didn't need replacing. How can you definitively know if your VIN range requires a given recall? Can that information be found anywhere on the net?

Hi all, I just bought a 1997 Subaru Outback (2.5L) with 44K miles for $6200 two weeks ago. Great deal I thought... I had it checked by a mechanic, drove it for a while, and found it to be in great shape. Since I bought it, I have had to have it towed to a shop twice because it stalled after freeway driving and became undriveable. I could start it again but every time I tried to give it gas, it would sputter and die. If I let the engine get cold, everything returns to normal. The details to the best of my knowledge are below. I would greatly appreciate any help you could give me to diagnose the problem. Thanks in advance! Incidents so far: The car drives fine around town. Everything seems to work well until I try to drive it at highway speeds for 10 minutes or so. The idle is good, acceleration is good, slight lifter noise but no knocking. Incident 1: We had previously driven about 30 miles on the highway with no incident and had driven on short jaunts around town with no problems. I had been driving for twenty minutes or so and started down the freeway, after about 5 minutes the check engine light came on. I came to a stop and the engine started to idle roughly, like it was struggling to stay going. I tried to accelerate from stop and the engine died. After that I tried to start it 6 or 7 times. Each time the engine would start and idle okay, but as soon as i pressed the accelerator the engine would die. I tried gentle acceleration and revving it high in nuetral then popping it quickly into drive. Each time the engine died. I let the car sit for 30 minutes, started again, and got the same result. I called a tow truck, which took about 45 minutes and towed it into the shop. By the time I got it into the shop, the car basically ran fine. The shop checked the OBDII codes and found: Knock Sensor and O2 Sensor. I also found there were recalls for alternator and throttle body issues, so I took it into the dealer. Neither one was defective (according to them.) After all this, the car ran perfectly again, with no check engine light, and I was able to drive around town for a few days without incident. Incident 2: After a few days, I changed the air filter and filled up with premium gas. Everything was running perfectly for about 30 minutes. Once again the check engine light came on on the highway. I noticed that when I would slow down, I got the same chugging, low idle behavior. I continued to drive and hit some hilly sections of the highway. I noticed that when I tried to accelerate up the hills, I would push the peddle to the floor but the engine had very little power. After a few seconds, the engine would "catch" and normal power would resume. During this time, the check engine light would come on and off again eratically. A few miles later, I got off the highway and came to a stop. The engine chugged and died. I tried starting it a few times, but was unable to keep the engine going. White / Blue smoke was coming from the exhaust and there was a serious smell of gas. I let the car sit for about an hour and tried it again...same behavior: chugging engine, white smoke, strong smell of gas. The check engine light was blinking as I tried to start it. I called another tow truck, which took about 2 hours to get into the shop. By the time I got there, there was still smoke coming from the exhaust and the check engine light was on, but the car had noticeably improved. By the time the shop looked at it, everything ran fine, there was no smoke, the check engine light was off, and there were no codes. Has anyone seen behavior like this before? The mechanic told me flat out that he is totally confused by the problem and thinks it could be related to the Knock Sensor, Air Flow Meter, O2 sensor, or Coolant Sensor...I don't know even how to diagnose it, let alone fix it, because the only way to make it happen is to drive long enough away from home to the point that I have to tow it back. I read online about a specific knock sensor problem that causes hesitation, and I think this could have something to do with it, but every piece of advice seems to be about Gary's Fix: a home built electrical work-around that de-sensitizes the knock sensor, but I can't find any info on it except for an outdated web page. Please, please help me!!! Incidentally, we were supposed to drive the car up to portland this weekend but we can't move, because we can't drive it more than a few miles. THANKS