BSOD2600

I had a compression test done today and it turns out the #4 is at 10 psi. The others are between 145 and 155 psi. Car has 151K miles on it and I've only owned it for 3 months. Haven't even had the chance to drive it hard because shortly after buying it, the 4EAT that was swapped into it was dying. Basically been babying it ever since I've owned not. Not cool. This car is looking more and more like a lemon that I bought from a localish dealer... So now the question is if I should just have the #4 replaced or do them all? What type of costs for parts and hours would this entail?

I bought at the end of the summer. I changed both on 9/20/2006 when it had 149650 miles. Penzoil filter and Castrol 10W30. That was trying to fix the HLA's sticking, so I put in half a can of seafoam and it went away. Then changed the oil again on 9/22/2006 with 149666 miles. The car now has 151K miles. Planning on changing the oil again in December after I drive home. Also, is it normal for exhaust/white vapor to come out the dipstick hole, when it's out and the engine is cold?

Before going for a ~450 mile drive last weekend, I checked to make sure my coolant, oil and PS fluids were all topped off. The entire trip, the car never overheated nor did I notice any smoke. This morning before going to drive the car since last weekend, I decide to check the levels again. First was the oil. Pulled out the dipstick and it was dry! WTF?! Check it another time and still nothing. So I put in a whole quart, then I'm able to see some fluid at the low mark. As I take off the oil cap, I notice white crap on it and the downtube, which I know means moisture. This a sure sign the engine needs to be rebuilt?

I'm using Vikash's great program to monitor my ECU metrics. Since I'm unfamiliar with the various ranges of the parameters, would someone look them over and give some feedback? Unfortunately since I'm using a old rump roast laptop, the battery is dead so I can't drive around and monitor values. I did drive around town to get the car warmed up, then sat in the driveway idling. Idling: RPM 625-700 Coolant 192-203F Ignition Timing 15 Airflow 1.04-0.98v Load 39-42 Throttle PS 4.68 Injector PW 2.4-2.6ms IAC duty 0.365 O2 0.04-0.8v Fuel trim -1.56-2.56% Timing correction 0 Boost control 1.56% Bar pressure 663.75 torr Boost/Vac -18 inHg Reving: & holding to around 3-3.5K RPM Coolant Ignition Timing 47 Airflow 1.9v Load Throttle PS 4.2 Injector PW 2.1-2.3ms IAC duty 32.50% O2 Fuel trim 3.12% Timing correction Boost control 93% Bar pressure Boost/Vac 1) Is the O2 sensor ok? Seems kind of low, or would that change more while driving? 2) The barometric pressure was reading at 663.75 torr, which is 12.82 PSI. I'm at ~4300 ft. This limits by boost range a lot before the fuel cut could kick in, right? 3) How are the other values?

Probably was me.. Aftermarket on the left and OEM on the right. I had a hell of a time burping my 2.2L Turbo. Yours turbo or NA?

Since my 4EAT is slowly dying, I'm going to have a used 5MT swapped into it, in about a month. Besides putting on a new clutch and flywheel (if needed), what else should be replaced? Basically what things typically break, that I should replace while the tranny is still not installed?

Yea, but the other problem is that I don't think there is anyone in this hicktown (Klamath Falls, OR) that could do the swap. Being a student, I really need transportation. Furthermore with winter close, it's getting damn cold so walking/biking to school becomes less and less of an option. I'd contemplate driving back to Seattle for a weekend if it could be swapped out in that short of a time frame.

Well AAMCO called me back and they said the transmission is dying Going to charge me $1750 - 2000 to rebuild it. I'm going to think about it for a while.... I suppose now would be the time to contemplate doing a swap to a manual tranny. But DAMNIT, I just bought this car a month ago!!!

Called AAMCO (1:30 pm) and they said there was a lot of metal in the bottom of the pan. The filter/cleanable screen was also clogged with metal. Said while filling the tranny, they had a funnel in there and acted like a megaphone where they could hear transmission working, which apparently is not good. Said they were just filling it up again with fluid to see how its working. GUH! Not sounding good at all .

I bought my car with 149K miles. Just before I bought it, there was a 89K mile tranny put into it (the old one apparently had a bad reverse gear). I drove it around Seattle for 2 weeks and I didn't notice any odd noises. Fast forward 1K miles later and 4300 feet higher. Now I'm noticing a whine while accelerating. I swear it's less noticeable at lower elevations (was at sea level last weekend). I'm pretty sure it's not the turbo I'm hearing -- since I do hear that along with this new whine. I've made an inspection appointment at the local AAMCO shop for next week. Additionally, I noticed there is a delay when in reverse, from when the car actually engages. Typically the engine will rev up to 2K before it kicks in. I know, not a good sign. I made a recording with a crappy hand held recorder. There are two clips. Both I'm accelerating up a hill to about 70 mph when the tranny shifts and I then slow down. http://bsod2600.home.comcast.net/subaru/tranny_noise.zip Ideas on what it is?

Sure you've removed all the air from the coolant system? I just replaced my thermostat the other day and have had overheating problems while idling for a while, but driving is just fine. Still in the process of slowly removing all the air out of mine. Sure your fans are turning on?

More news... An hour after my last post, I went out and started messing around again. Right away I noticed the coolant overflow tank was dry! Yay, that means the engine sucked all the coolant in there up. I started up the car again with the coolant cap off and let it warm up. Once it reached the normal temp range, coolant started to come out the coolant tank on top. I capped it and let it idle for a while longer. Temps seemed to be ok. Went for a drive around a few blocks and the temp stayed normal. YAY! Drove back home and let it idle some more in the driveway. Then the temp started to climb back up to the overheating point. Turned it off and let it sit for 2 hours. Came back and put more coolant into the top coolant tank and did an errand on the way to school -- the temp stayed normal. So I guess, there was a giant amount of air in the system which caused the coolant not to flow properly? I plan on checking the coolant levels every day the rest of the week to continue to get rid of all the air.

How exactly does one check the radiator for obstructions -- stick a hose to the top and see of water comes out the bottom? Went out this morning and removed the coolant cap and heard a sucking sound. Noticed the coolant level dropped so I added more... a lot. Kept massaging the upper radiator hose and adding more coolant to the tank. Then started the car and let it run with the cap off. The level slowly went down. Eventually when the engine reached the normal operating temperature, coolant started to continuously come out. I decided to then put the cap back on. Sure enough, more slowly this time, the temperature crept up back to overheating. This time though, the upper radiator hose was hot, while the lower was still cold. Turned the car off and then took off the smaller hose that goes from the coolant tank to the upper radiator area (right above the large radiator hose). Soon as I took it off, a lot of air/steam came out. Let the car cool down for 10 min and then put coolant in that small tube. It didn't take much before it wouldn't really drain down any more water. I left the small tube disconnected and up in the air. Turned the car back on and let it warm up. Steam kept coming out the smaller tube. Once again the car slowly got to the overheating temp and I turned it back off. I've got a CEL that I need to find out. Also once it cools down, I plan on taking off the large upper radiator hose and see if there is any coolant in the radiator -- if not, filling it up. If all of that doesn't work, then I guess it's off to Subaru I go... *sigh*.

I really don't want to warp the engine block or anything. Plus I've got towing on my USAA insurance.

Well I replaced the thermostat with a OEM subaru part... also got an aftermarket -- damn what a difference! Aftermarket on the left and OEM on the right: Anyways after getting the new one installed, I left the car idle for 5 minutes. After a while the fans kicked on but I still didn't feel the upper radiator hose getting warm. A few minutes later the temperature gage crept up past the 'normal' mark and sure enough the car was overheating again! Oddly enough this time the engine didn't suck/blow any coolant from the overflow. Guess my water pump went bad? A new one from Subaru is $114, plus who knows how much for labor. The subaru dealer is 3.1 miles away from my house, think I should risk driving it there or get it towed? Also, I plan on having them do the hydrocarbon sniff test, just in case the engine is on its way out.

Ok, went and got more coolant and filled it up. Started the car and let it idle until the temp was in the normal range. Started to drive around the block and the temp gage climbed back up till it was overheating. After I got back home, I felt the top hose that goes into the radiator -- it felt warm. The radiator and the bottom hose that goes into the water pump felt cold. Since I don't have a leak around the water pump nor any odd noises, I guess it's the thermostat thats bad? Any tips to replacing it?

I'm quite sure. When I pulled into the gas station, I popped the hood and could see all the coolant bubbling out the overflow tank. Same with when I got home.

I checked the coolant tank this morning and the sucker is dry. Going to buy some coolant this afternoon after classes. Obviously the green antifreeze is ok to put in -- what about the clear 'universal' stuff NAPA sells? After I fill it up, hopefully this overheating thing was a one time deal... I'm still failing to understand how the radiator/coolant cap could be leaking. If it's under pressure from the system/heat, I'd expect some coolant to be leaking out; which I don't see.

How does one test the thermostat? The fans operate fine. What could be defective about the radiator cap? Nothing seems to be leaking out of that...

Ok, but why all of a sudden would this problem pop up? I've done several long road trips in the past 2 weeks and never had a problem. I used one of those coolant/antifreeze measuring devices and it's fine. Also, since it's been an hour since I got back, the coolant overflow tank is now dry -- I assume the engine sucked the remainder back in? That mean I should go get some more coolant and add it to the system?

The steam is/was coming from the coolant overflow. Just got back from a long drive and I have a LOT of coolant overflowing out: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?p=522238 Ideas?

Got a 94 turbo legacy wagon. I just got back from a 215 mi drive and when I pulled into the gas station (right off the freeway), coolant started to spew out the overflow. Then I continued home and the temp gage was about at 3/4, which is a LOT higher than I've ever seen it. A few minutes later, I get home and coolant is still spewing / bubbling out the overflow. I just did this 215 mi drive on Friday with zero problems. Any idea why this is happening?

Yea, I only run premium fuel -- the gas cap says to. As for Seafoaming, yea I've already done that too. Had a lifter sticking and it fixed it :-) http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=64947&page=3. I checked the ATF levels the other day and it seemed fine. Although, being that the tube for the dipstick is angled, it seems like some fluid would rub on/off and throw-off the reported level. Whats the proper way to check it? Cold/hot, etc?

My Legacy has a turbo. What I ment about the power mode, is with my automatic tranny, there is actually a power light that turns on. Up in kfalls, I've never seen the light turn on when WOT. That's why I'm asking if the ECU changes anything with elevation.

Nope, I haven't. Since I've got the legacy turbo, it seems there are a LOT more tubes, etc that I'd have to move to accomplish this. Furthermore, is it common for the overflow coolant tank to slowly go dry? Example, before going on a 215 mi road trip yesterday I checked the overflow tank and there was a little in there. When I was idling at my destination city, I once noticed some steam coming from the left corner (as sitting from the drivers seat) of the hood. So obviously more coolant was boiling out the overflow. Something to be concerned about or just keep putting coolant in the overflow tank?