Fairtax4me

BPT valves fail often enough that they're the first suspect for EGR problems after ruling out the simple things like split vacuum hoses. If you're sure you have no other vacuum leaks (including all of the breather and PCV hoses) then the high fuel trims are likely due to a fouled O2 sensor. But more diagnosis on that can wait until the EGR issue is straightened out. As far as I know the the EGR valve won't be 100% sealed until there is vacuum in the manifold. It should be all the way closed though, with no chunks of carbon buildup on the valve pintle or the seat. A small amount of smoke leakage from the valve can be considered normal. More than likely there was nothing wrong with the old valve that a little brake cleaner and a nylon brush wouldn't have taken care of. It has to go through a pretty lengthy process to determine if the EGR is not flowing properly. The ECU looks for slight changes in vacuum (MAP), load calculation, MAF, and O2 sensor signals to determine if the valve is opening when its supposed to. It's not something that it can tell immediately because there is no good way to directly monitor exhaust flow through the EGR. The monitor for the EGR meeds a certain set of conditions to be met during a drive cycle before it can run. Then the checks for the monitor have to run overthe course of several miles of steady driving. This is why it takes a day or two for the EGR code to recurr. The conditions necessary for the EGR monitor to complete may not be met on every drive. Control of the valve is entirely vacuum and pressure based with the exception of the EGR solenoid, which the computer will open at certain times such as when the engine is at above idle speed, or it will close the valve if you open the throttle more than about 95% to keep the EGR valve from opening and decreasing engine power.

Did you mean to say 1/4 turn of slop in the driveshaft? That's a little excessive but pretty normal. 3/4 of a turn just isn't mechanically possible unless an axle is broken or something.

Fuel trims are way up there. Like I said before, a vacuum leak can cause both of these codes. You need to check ALL of the vacuum lines, not just the ones for the EGR. If any of them are hardened or have a loose fit they should be replaced. The BPT has a diaphragm in it that is supposed to hold vacuum and they're known to rupture, and this will prevent proper operation of the EGR. I don't recall which port is supposed to hold vacuum but one of them is. The other is a pass through to open and the EGR valve. If O2 readings are both normal then the high fuel trim may be due to a fouled sensor. Need to sort out the vacuum issue first though. The new EGR valve was leaking? Or were you saying that is didnt cure the issue?

Got a test light or voltmeter handy? When it does it see if voltage is getting through the relay. And if voltage is getting to the starter solenoid. If the relay clicks its at least getting power because the same supply wire feeds both the coil and switch side of the relay. The two are spliced together not far from the relay. It may not be getting enough voltage though. Or the relay contacts could be erroded or pitted and not allowing sufficient current flow to engage the solenoid.

Pumping the clutch while still holding the key in start? That sounds like the interlock relay is bad, and the repeated on/off of the clutch switch finally makes the relay click and start working. The relay is grounded by the clutch switch. When the key is turned the relay is powered by the ignition switch start position, and the relay delivers the 12v start signal to the starter solenoid.

Right, I'm trying to establish a measureable amount. Hundredths? Thousandths? Though I'm not quite sure how I would measure it on these since the joint housings are totally round. Having absolutely 0 play would cause binding. A very small amount of play allows for smooth articulation of the joint without causing excessive slop in the driveline, but shouldn't be obvious. What I'm trying to determine is how much play can be considered normal before the joint starts to cause excessive driveline slop. Play in one joint may not be noticable, but if there is play in both inner and outer joints the effects start to compound. Now multiply that by 2 axles, 3 axles, 4?

Yes. Often a timing chain will make a rattle sound (as it slaps against a worn tensioner or guide or the timing cover) or a tinking sound if it becomes loose. You typically have quite a bit of warning as long as you recognize that it is making noise. Ever noticed a Chrysler Caravan sounds like it has jingle bells in the engine? The new vans don't do it anymore, but the vans from the early 90s up to about 08-09 all make a very distinct jingly sound at idle and low rpm. The jingling is the timing chain wobbling around. They get a little bit of slack in the chain after about 30k miles, and start jingling. Then they make noise until 275k miles and its finally blowing so much smoke out the tail pipe you'd think they're fogging for Mosquitos, and its on its 3rd transmission, and the rear wheel bearings have been replaced 6 times, and the fenders are rusted out... But the timing chain is still jingling along. The noise in this case is completely benign. Most timing chains never make noise though, unless something is wrong. In which case you generally have plenty of warning before the chain breaks. Most design the chain to be of such length that it can't skip without an extreme amount of stretching first, which takes quite a long time. On the older timing belt engines, the belts seldom break on their own. The downfall of the belt is usually a result of a failed idler bearing or water pump.

When it doesn't start do you hear a buzzing sound from under the dash? Have you made sure the wire connection on the starter is clean? Does the starter click at all when this happens?

Timing chains generally last the life of the vehicle. The guides for the chain can wear and cause the chain to loosen and slap around, but this usually takes 200k+ miles. The chain is lubricated by engine oil, so lack of oil changes will shorten chain and guide life.

I haven't kept up with the multi-link suspension stuff. I would imagine there is more to it than just spring/strut height since an inch of change can create drastic geometry differences with a multi-link setup. The new Outbacks have almost 3" of ground clearance over the Legacy. That's certainly not all in the strut/spring combo, but would still require pretty substantial differences in the rest of the suspension to maintain proper geometry.

Water is a fuel pump killer. When a car sits for long periods water can condense inside the fuel tank and build up. The pump sits at the bottom of the tank and if there is water it will cause the pump to corrode inside and cause it to seize. Fuel system problems have become much more prevalent with today's uses of Ethanol in gasoline. Ethanol absorbs water to an extent, but only to a certain point, then ALL of the water separates out. Ethanol itself is also corrosive to many metal parts in the fuel system. If the car won't be used every day, start using a fuel stabilizer when you fill the tank. That should help prolong the life of your fuel pump.

Anybody know? I've looked through several service manuals, text books for school, searched google, I can't find a specific definite acceptable amount of rotational play for an CV joint. Kinda like backlash in a gear set. It has to have some amount of play. Too little play and the parts don't get lubricated properly, they overheat, damage occurs. Too much play leads to excess slop, wear. If you can rotate a CV axle shaft and hear an audible click from the joint... too much play?

When you removed the fill plug did you stick your finger in the hole to check fluid level and condition? If its low and/or dark or black and silvery looking then there could be a reason for concern. Hypoid gear sets make a very distinct sound when they go bad. If the sound starts as a low pitched grumble, its probably not the diff.

You could just clean the drums up and paint them.

By issue with startup, do you mean cranking for several seconds before the engine starts? This is a fairly common issue in the newer model Imprezas. Seems like its mostly 2012 and up. I'm not sure of a known fix but there is some info out there if you google Impreza hard starting. Be sure to let your dealer know you're having this problem. This is an issue they need to know about. They may even have a TSB about the problem.

Manual or auto trans? The starters in these are not known for mechanical failures but the electrical contacts in them do wear and can cause this problem. Was the replacement starter used or a rebuild?

Is it FWD or AWD? Have to swap the whole rear knuckle as far as I know. About $40-60 a side from a u-pull yard.

AT Temp light blinks when there is a fault code for the trans. The oil pan on the transmission is very flimsy, it is not designed to have any weight put on it. If you used a jack head under the trans pan there's a good chance one or several of the solenoids on the valve body were damaged. There are also several wires inside between the pan and valve body which get pinched easily. The Inhibitor switch on the trans likely needs to be adjusted, or the cable needs to be adjusted where it attaches to the selector lever in the trans. Did you make sure the selector was all the way in park before hooking up the cable?

#11 here: http://opposedforces.com/parts/impreza/us_g10/type_27/suspension_and_axle/rear_axle/illustration_1/ The part with the lug studs that the wheel bolts to is the hub. It slides into the center of the wheel bearing. If you try to hammer the hub into the bearing without supporting the inner race of the bearing it will damage the bearing. Use a large socket that fits the inner race of the bearing. Run a long bolt through the center of the socket and the center hole of the hub. On the other end do the same with a socket that fits inside the center flange of the hub. Put a nut on the end of the bolt, then tighten the nut to pull the hub into the bearing. You'll need a high grade bolt with lots of grease on it. If the assembly is off the car you can hammer the hub back into place but ONLY if you have a large enough socket and some blocks of wood/metal to support the inner bearing race. The entire assembly has to be sitting on top of the socket so the back half of the inner race doesn't get punched out as the hub goes in. Do not hammer directly on the hub. Use a large socket that fits inside the center flange to hammer on.

There are two wires for the illumination. They run to the same two wire plug. I think the plug is white. One wire is White with either a yellow or green stripe, the other is Yellow with a blue or purple stripe. Sometimes people cut the wires thinking they can connect them to the new radio for illumination control, but it just doesn't work that way. Even of they didnt cut them, there are plenty of sharp edges in there and the wires could be rubbing on the dash frame. Look for any loose wires.

I usually grease them with axle or bearing grease and they to back together much easier. Do not hammer on the hub as this can cause damage to the bearing. You need a way to support the inner race of the bearing while you pull the hub in. A couple of large sockets and a really long bolt with a washer and nut on the end usually works.

The illumination wires for the radio are in a separate plug. Only 2 wires. White with green, and Yellow with blue or purple.

Toe is the final adjustment in the process because it does not greatly affect the caster and camber. The rear is adjusted first because that sets the thrust angle (offset of rear axle centerline to front axle centerline), which will affect how much the front toe needs to be adjusted. Thrust angle on the sheet above is 0.1° to the right, which is well within spec, but the toe angle is fighting to pull the car to the left, which is why the left rear was so badly worn on the inside edge. I see the adjusting bolt covers have been removed on the rear lateral link adjusting bolts, but the covers are still on the fronts. It's possible the rear covers just fell off, but that usually means an alignment shop took them off and forgot them. The front covers still being there suggests to me that the shop never tried to adjust the front lateral links. Having the measurements there, if you can take close up pictures of the adjusting bolts I can tell you if they can be adjusted further to help correct the problem. The covers on the front bolts can be tricky to remove since they collect dirt/dust and harden with age. Dont be afraid to get in there with a pair of channel lock pliers and a screwdriver to pop those off.

No circuit breakers in the Subaru. At least not that year. The combination switch is the headlamp/turn signal switch. This switch only grounds the headlamp relays, so would affect both low and high beams. A relay problem would likely affect either left or right side only as there are separate relays for left and right headlamps. Both headlamps are grounded through the dimmer switch in the steering column. The switch selects the ground side for either high or low beams. A poor contact in the dimmer switch would affect either both low or both high beam lamps. As for the dash lights, does the car have an aftermarket radio? It's common for people to cut the plug that supplies power for the backlighting in the radio. If this is shorting on a part of the metal dash it will blow the illumination fuse.

I had to replace a rear caliper on my GFs car not long ago and got a caliper/bracket assembly from Advance auto. Everything looked fine except the dust boots on the slide pins were absolute crap. They were only about half the length they should have been and were a very loose fit around the little flange in the bracket. So loose that they popped off and exposed the slide pin at only about half travel. Took it back to the store to see if it was just a mix-up during assembly. They had another one, and it had the same crap dust boots on it. I ended up cleaning and re-using the original Subaru dust boots. I also cleaned out the grease that was in it and re-greased the pins with high temp silicone/ceramic brake grease.