Rusty

Dealer says it has a system running rich code and needs a new catalytic converter and 02 sensor for a total of $1392:eek:. I know the cats are expensive but are they that much? Is this a problem that would just happen almost over night? Are they full of crap or is it goodbye tax rebate?

Unfortunately, due to my lack of time and knowledge to solve my hesitation problem in my outback, Im dropping it off at the local stealer tomorrow to try and get it fixed. In addition to that problem, I wanting to get the clutch shudder problem taken care of too. I know theres a TSB for it but Im not sure what that means. Subaru has apparantly acknowledged there is a problem and has found a "fix" for it. But are dealers required to fix it if a car has the problem? What should i expect them to say? Its a 2002 with 109k so its out of warranty but it did have an extended 100k warranty I believe and the PO had the cluth replaced at about 60k I think but I dont know if thats because they were trying to fix the shudder problem or if they burned it up. If they were trying to fix the shudder and it didnt, should it still be covered under warranty or TSB because there is already a record of it? Seems kind of early for it to be worn out but I dont know. If they wont cover it, what can i expect to pay to replace the needed parts? Im not against paying to get it fixed if its reasonable but i dont want to get screwed. I just want to be excited to get to drive it rather than dred it which i do now. Thanks

I saw that before and for a couple days I thought that might have been the problem because it started running almost normal. I finally was able to get the codes read and came up with a P0302 (cylinder 2 misfire), P0304 (cylinder 4 misfire). I cant remember the number on the 3rd one but it was something about "bank 1" which i think has somehting to do with the front O2 sensor? The Schucks guy said he thought that the misfires probably caused the other one, but who knows. The other 2 schucks i went to didnt know how to use the scanner. Yesterday I decided to take it on a longer freeway trip yesterday since I dont drive it that much. The CEL came back on as soon as i started driving and it started jerking a bunch again. I had a hard time even keeping the speed limit on the freeway in 5th gear. When i gave it gas, nothing would happen most of the time even when floored. Then it would just take off. When i let off the gas it would start jerking again so bad i would have to push the clutch in. A couple times i was nearly stuck in the middle of an intersection because the car wouldnt go from a stop. I had to pump the gas a bunch to get the rpms up and then ride the clutch a bunch to get it going. It would almost die and giving it gas didnt seem to do anything. I put some fuel injector cleaner in and some new gas to see if that would help but so far nothing. Coming home last night I found that if i kept it in 4th and the rpm's at 4200 it cruised along just fine but if it droped below that or I shifted to 5th (which also dropped it down) it would start jerking again. Any more ideas? Im lacking on the time/knowledge to do much major stuff so Im probably going to have to take it to someone if I cant get it figured out. Ive been wishing I had kept my 87 wagon, it didnt seem to have any problems in 215k+ miles:rolleyes:.

No, the new "subaru" ones are black and arent numbered and have no name on them. I thought it was strange that they werent but I dont know what genuine ones should look like. The old ones I took out were numbered and say Packard 0102 R-16-AIPS so I dont know if those are the originals or not. The major hesitations started after I put a new fuel filter on but before I did anything with the wires (although it was hesitating occasionally before I did the filter) so Im kind of doubting they were the major or only problem. Hoping I'll have time tonight to drive it some more and get the CEL to come back on.

PO had the headgaskets, timing belt, thermostat, and water pump done at 100k. I put a new air filter in about 3k miles ago, then fuel filter, NGK plugs and the Subaru wires just recently. I got the wires from subarupartsforyou.com. They came in a subaru box but Im not sure if they are genuine or not since they dont say Subaru on them. If Im looking at the right thing, I dont see any type of cracking on it. I dont want to spend more money than I have to but is it worth just replacing it or the MAP sensor just to know they will be good for long time more? I dont have any idea how often they go bad. Probably should check the prices on them before i even consider anything like that though:eek: . I guess I'll try to drive it a little more tomorrow and see if I cant get the CEL to come on again then try and have it read again. Keep the suggestions coming.

I have a 02 outback w/108k miles which I’ve had for about 8 months. It has recently developed (or worsened)several issues. After the last couple fillups, I noticed a slight hesitation that happened pretty consistently for a couple miles. I put in a new fuel filter since I don’t know when that was last changed and my wife drove it a couple days to work (about 30 miles) total and noticed no change. The next day we took it out and started hesitating really badly. At a stop light it would idle fine and it would rev smoothly with the clutch in. But as soon as I started out, the rpms would drop to almost zero even when giving it more than normal gas. Then it would come back and take off. The CEL came on after about 5 miles and it continued to hesitate badly and jerk every time the throttle was increased or decreased. I took it to Schucks to have the code read and the guy said the only one was E104-system running rich, which doesn’t seem to match any of the codes I’ve seen listed. I’ve since then also put new plugs and wires in with no change in performance. The CEL hasn’t come back on yet but I’ve only driven about 5-6 miles. As a side question, how do you tell if the wires are Subaru or not? The ones I ordered came in a Subaru box but only say Hi-performance silicone suppression cable on them. Im not sure what else i can add, so what kind of possible problems could cause these symptoms? Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks