river rat

thanks for the tip...my reason for asking online was to get some experienced insight into what one can do to bypass/ override this emission system to stop the cel. in my area there are no pollution or emission tests to worry about. the evap system appears based on a pressurized smoke test to be shot full of pin holes and i cant afford to replace all the c**p. any advice would be appreciated. glenn

skip the shop says its a to440 code but based on what i'm reading he must have said po440 does this ring a bell? glenn

skip, the shop says it has consistantly been a TO440 code whatever that means. any ideas? glenn

skip, i am interested to compare the code i find and the one you think may be caused by leaky plumbing, hopefully they are the same and there is an easy fix. is there any where i can find a diagram of the evap system so i know what all is involved for tubes, pipes and hoses? glenn

skip, i'll get the code...i think though the big issue is that the evap system plumbing in that area has rusted and is now full of pin holes. if there was a diagram of the system it may enable us to remove the bad bits and bypass it with some rubber hose etc. up here in nova scotia (surrounded by sea water and with roads covered in salt is where the rust gods live.....) glenn

Skip, they did not mention a specific code all they said was it directed them to the evap equipment back in the pass. side qtr panel. they indicated there is a canister and a bunch of hoses that i assume control and manage gas fumes that evaporate from the tank. it was in this area that the smoke leaked from when they did the pressurized smoke test. they said the smoke came from many places indicating that there were a lot of holes in the plumbing (not the filler neck which is somewhat new) my question is is it possible to bypass the system with a hose or hoses? there are no pollution tests in this area so this is not a worry, my issue is the damn check light... glenn

hi, its been a while since i bothered any one but here we go. 1997 legacy wagon 2.2l std trans. i have a check engine light that gives me a code for the fuel evap. the place where i get service put a smoke test on the fuel system and it pored out of many orffices in the evap system area. my question is, is there a simple way to by pass/ over ride this so i can get my engine light off. i certainly don't want to replace all that stuff if i can avoid it. thanks all glenn

thanks, this is the kind of advice i was looking for, is it common for a connection to mess with the sensor and give bad error codes? river rat

hi, it doesn't seem to matter, it has been cool and wet here but i don't think there is a specific type of day that makes it happen. the thing that has me confused is that the CEL is on and off and frankly i don't actually know how the TPS works so i don't know if is a cleanable/tweakable item or if i should just replace it. as i said this car is an auto and this issue does seem to mess with the idle and mileage. my other subaru is the same model and year but 5spd and it has no issues (i realy don't like autos and i'm always nervous of that being the problem) thanks in advance for your assistance and reply. river rat

hello everyone, its been a while but one of my 97 legacy wagons has a strange problem. my check engine light comes and goes and when it was checked both times it says its the throttle pos. sensor. i haven't rushed out to replace it as every time i get it checked it goes away for a while only to come back then go off again the next day. when it is on it idles fast and appears to get bad mileage. question is should i just bite the bullet and pay the couple of hundred to fix it or is there something i should know about it. the car is a 97 wagon (ls) auto with 245,000km (canadian) and i just had it on two 2,000km trips in the last three weeks with this being the only trouble.(drove home from maine yesterday at 120kph for 10 hrs and no light!) please offer what advice you can. thanks river rat

hi, i've got a new?? 1997 legacy L wagon and i noticed the light (s) are out in the heater control area of the dash (push button lights incl ac still light but nothing in fan knob area or any general illumination. i assumed there would be a bulb (s) of some sort so i stripped the dash out this a.m. and i have the control unit free (except the cable) and i cannot see any signs of a bulb to change......HELP glenn

thanks for the reply, to the best of your knowledge where is a good place to look for used spares like head rests etc. i'm in canada so they need to be up north or ship north glenn

carl, greetings from the north. the dealies in question are screw mounted with a strap tie slot in it , two screws. no obvious place for a head rest post so i'm thinkin' the mount would need to be changed. did the 97 outback have rear head rests? about the car i'm buying it from my doctor who has maintained it very well and it appears solid in all ways. he is asking about $3000 us so i think its a good deal. glenn

thinking about buying a used legacy wgn today, with few exceptions car looks and feels great and i think its a good deal. one issue though is that it does not have rear head rests. it appears there are tie down points or something where it looks like head rests should go. are there retro fits available for this? were they an option? please let me know this and anything else i should look for in the car (190,000km, 5spd, L version pdl, pwd cruise etc.) thanks river rat