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Annandale, VA
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2000 Outback Wagon
mrkablooey's Achievements

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After resetting my ECU (pulling the negative cable) I let the car sit and went to drive home after work. Car started up fine and I pulled out of the lot. Hit the trip meter button so I could keep an eye on the mileage and It said 0.0 mi. Disconnecting the battery also reset the trip meter. From my original post: "I also started to disconnect the battery (negative first) so I could clean under/around it but it sparked once or twice while I was loosening the bolt so I said "Screw it" and just left it in place." Well, my take now is DUH! (also DOH! as the picture implies), that's why my trip meter showed ~100 miles and half a tank... it reset when I undid the battery! Well, I did learn a lot in this anyway, so it's not a loss at all. And the car seemed extra smooth on the way home, too. Probably just a coincidence.... I'll still double-check the gap in the plugs when I get back. Don't want to mess with too much of a good thing... if that's unwise then I'll check them in the A.M. before I leave since it'll be cold, but would rather wait til I return when I can take my time.
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Long-winded post, I know, but I tried to give as much detail. Front O2 sensor is a bit under 50k miles old, it was done as part of a recall at about 44-45k miles. Wires are probably stock wires, I didn't change them. The other items I mentioned in my post: Coolant & fuel filter replaced Thursday, filled up Friday, then again Tuesday. Thanks.
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Car: 2000 Outback wagon (2.5L, auto) Miles: ~94,000 Last week Thursday (8/31) I had the dealer perform: *Coolant flush/fill *New fuel filter (though seeing the instructions on this site I could have saved myself ~$25 and done it myself!) Friday after work I fill the tank, then drive my 35 miles home. Saturday 9/2 I drove it about 60-70 miles. Then Sunday (9/3) I changed the plugs to the ones the book listed (NGK BKR6E-11 V-power) and the NGK as was recommended here. Bit of oil in each one (I'll get to the seals at another point in time), one of them a bit more than the others. When changing the plugs I removed the washer reservoir and the air intake (up to the elbow at the cleaner element compartment, which I left in place). Pretty sure I put it all back right--I know when I had my air filter checked at Jiffy Lube (don't shoot me) they didn't put the filter compartment back together right and I was having some noise on acceleration, but that's not the case here. Since I had driven the car earlier (30 miles?) I let it sit for several hours (3-4) to cool before removing the plugs. During this time I did yard work and hand cleaned the engine compartment and components with a damp cloth. I also started to disconnect the battery (negative first) so I could clean under/around it but it sparked once or twice while I was loosening the bolt so I said "Screw it" and just left it in place. Monday 9/4 I didn't drive it much, maybe 10-12 miles (lazy day!). Yesterday I drove about 80-85 miles total. So last night on the way home I notice my gas gauge is dropping a bit fast, and the mileage on the trip meter only read about 120 miles but I was below half a tank.... I usually get 340 on a tank. I just put 11 gallons in it this morning, for 165 total miles (according to the resetable trip meter), which isn't right. I know I didn't reset it immediately after getting gas, but I'm pretty sure I didn't drive 100+ miles before resetting it. I'm heading on a 145 mile (each way) trip tomorrow, doing some tooling around, then 145 miles back. Normally I could do this on one tank but I'm not so sure now. There's no CEL on and the car drives as usual. I guess I'll find out how this fresh tank does since I know I reset the trip meter, but wanted to know if anyone had any ideas as to what this might be? Adding up my mileage it's close to 200, and I had about a quarter tank left.... so it's a bit short of what it should be. Would an issue with new plugs cause that? The spark from the negative terminal? Is there a reset I should do (removing the battery power completely) before I leave to let it all reset to 0? If it happens when I'm gone, I'll take it to the dealer but I'd rather not worry about it, obviously! I thought maybe it was the fuel sender unit but since the gauge was reading accurately (based on my fill up this morning), I don't think it's that. I'll pick up a new air filter today, but don't think that can be the cause of it that drastically nearly overnight. Thanks!