Fairtax4me

I think I'd fix it, but it depends on the condition of the rest of the car. There is also one more hurdle to jump, which is California emissions. It's possible you may need more work once you get there to pass smog testing so you can register the car. What you might consider, is selling your car, and buying a decent used Subaru once you get to CA.

This is why you're going to find a new mechanic. He either doesn't know what he's doing, or knows full well what he's done and is trying to hose you.

Yes the magic smoke is what all electronics run on, and if it gets let out they stop working. It's the smoke you get when something electronic overheats and burns out or even catches fire. Very distinct smell. Usually it's caused by a short.

Could be the water pump, idlers, tensioner, belt rubbing on the cover, many things. Do you have a list of exactly what they replaced?

Make sure it's not a burnt valve first. If it is just a burnt valve, pull the heads and have a valve job done, or slap a replacement head from a junkyard engine on it. If you have a valve spring compressor you can do your own valve job pretty easy as long as you don't need new seats. But any machine shop can press new seats into a ripped down head for practically pennies.

You don't honestly expect them to be able to read do you? Or possibly know the difference between a transmission and an engine? So I guess they also probably threw away or destroyed the trans filter before finding out that the engine oil filter they tried to replace it with wouldn't fit?

I've never understood why it always seems like the flanges seem to rust out faster than the rest of the pipe. I'd also like to know why they don't make stainless steel spring bolts for these things so they won't rust so bad that you can;t get them apart if you need to. If it's more than 1/8" then it's probably OK.

I don't have the FSM handy so I can't look to say if the YL wire on B137 2 should have continuity to pins B47, 22 or 20, but generally if there are separate wires to the ECU, it's for a reason. It does have fuel in the tank right? Did you check all the fuses after doing the electrical work? I'd hope that you disconnected the battery beforehand so the ECU should be cleared.

I hope you didn't drive it after that. Now you'll have to drain both the front diff and the transmission, and refill with the proper fluids, in the proper places. Never ever assume the people at those oil change places will check everything, or even make sure that new oil actually gets put in the engine. I have heard many horror stories about people driving away from those places and making it half a mile down the road before the engine locks up. How they even made it out of the parking lot with the engine screaming absolute bloody murder, is beyond me.

Wow that looks thin. Might just be the pic but it looks like you could bend it with your bare hands. Those flanges are usually about 1/8" to 3/16" thick when new. You can try it if you want, but if the gasket is thicker than the flange you're probably better off to cut it and clamp/weld a the section of pipe on there instead. If you can get it perfectly clean (no surface rust at all) and spray it with a high temp primer it would probably last a decent amount of time as far as rust is concerned. But being that thin, it might bend or twist and end up breaking.

Yes, 'tis the reason for the disclaimer.

Simple is always good when it comes to car repairs.

Maybe start a new thread since this one was 3 years old? Knocking at idle may be low oil pressure. Flashing CEL could be due to a misfire or an EGR problem since it was on the highway. Or it might be your catalytic converter falling apart.

Wow! You're having a lot of fun! A little trick I learned (kinda shade tree but it works as long as you're careful) when you have wire that is suspected to be bad between two connectors and you don't want to tear into the harness, splice a new wire of equal gauge in place of the "bad" wire between the two connectors and see if the problem continues. You can run the wire wherever you want, and it's easy to put everything back the way it's supposed to be if it doesn't fix it. I've done this a few times, and I think it's best to cut the old wire for testing, then strip it and solder it back together, and heat shrink wrap it if the "new" wire doesn't cure the problem.

Very easy to leave this one unplugged. It's hard enough to see, and even harder to get to when it's mounted in the place it's supposed to be. I moved mine because I broke it trying to replace the vacuum hoses on it. It's tucked away pretty good under the runners of the intake on the passenger side. I just cut a piece of plumbers tape about 6 inches long and attached it to the intake, ran it up between the runners and bolted the solenoid to that up on top.

Cam/crank sensors are hall effect sensors. Probe them while cranking and look for the signal to pulse. It's best to do these with an analog meter. Digital ones don't generally react fast enough to see the full change in voltage. The coil pack can be tested by an auto parts store. Another possibility is the ignitor, but have the coil tested first, and check signal on the cam/crank sensors before going to the ignitor. I don't know of any test procedure for the ignitor but they're easy enough to find in junkyards and most of the time the junkyards don't know what it is. Just tell 'em it's a relay or something dumb and you get it for like 2 bucks.

Yeah the cranks sensor idea isn't so "wild" on these. Those things go bad all the time. And yes, it does work the same way on Subarus, as well as on pretty much every other engine that has computer controls. You'll want to find a FSM for the car for wiring diagrams and ground locations if you think it's a wiring issue.

Ever had the timing chain replaced? I wonder if it would be worth having a look at the timing marks to verify that the chain didn't jump.

If you suspect you have a leak. Get a friend/helper/wifey/etc. to cram a rag into the tail pipe and hold it there for a few seconds while you hunt around for the source. I like to do this when the pipes are relatively cool so I can put my hand around them to feel for any leaks. Ever put your hand over top of a hot catalytic converter? Kinda like sticking it in an oven with the broiler on.

Does it do this while the car is sitting still?

The air coming into the car often passes through the engine compartment before entering the cabin through the blower fan intake. So obviously, unless the engine is off, the air getting into the ventilation system is going to be a bit warmer than the rest of the outside air. Just one possibility. If you think there is a real problem with the car take it to the dealer and have them look it over.

Temperature has nothing to do with it. What the sensor is reading is oxygen content. It does this by measuring a reaction created by the catalyst of the sensor with gases in the exhaust stream. This creates an electrical pulse which the computer measures and translates into high or low oxygen content (lean vs rich). The only thing temperature has to do with it is the sensor has to be about 600°F before it will create the signal, until the ECU sees a signal from the sensor it runs in "open loop" mode. Basically a preset group of values that will allow the engine to run regardless of sensory input, though far from optimal performance. The trick is used only for the rear sensor because that is the "check" sensor. The rear sensor only measures the difference in oxygen content after the catalytic converter has done its job. The rear O2 sensor is there only for the computer to determine when or if there is a problem with the catalytic converter. If the change in signal voltage from the front O2 sensor compares to the rear O2 sensor is inside a certain range the computer sees that as evidence of failure of the catalytic converter and sets a trouble code so that you will go get it fixed. Several reasons to do that, the least of which is environmental impact. By placing the rear sensor in an anti-fouler, it pulls the sensor out of the main exhaust stream which gives the impression of a higher oxygen content which makes catalyst efficiency codes go away. The front O2 sensor is used for adjusting how much fuel is injected into the engine. A high oxygen content will tell the computer the engine is running lean, and it will then inject more fuel to correct the condition. But the same deal applies when it is placed in an anti fouler. It pulls the sensor out of the main stream, which can make it read a higher oxygen content. The computer will then enrich the A/F mixture driving down performance and fuel economy, while at the same time driving up the work load on the catalytic converter which will eventually lead to failure. Then that catalyst efficiency code will actually be set for a good reason. Which is why you don't put anti-foulers on the front O2 sensor. Make sense?

What is the code? Does it smell like rotten eggs?

Check the linkage for the shifter first. If there is any slop in the bushings it can bind and give the impression of being stuck in gear. Also check the fluid level and the condition of the fluid. A more common reason for a manual transmission to stick in or out of gear is the clutch is failing to fully disengage. This could mean there is air in the hydraulic lines or the cable is out of adjustment depending on which type of actuation system the car has. Another common problem on Subarus is for the release fork to crack near the pivot. This causes the fork to flex more than normal and can prevent the clutch from disengaging. Unfortunately, this one requires removal of the transmission to repair.