phaedrusbjb

Heyall... I recently got the P0420 code along with P0303, P0304 and P0325. I knew the plugs were far gone (gap was near 0.050" and supposed to be 0.039"), and replaced them. Misfires happened when cold, going up hill, so the plug replacement logic is clean. Cleared all codes, but the P0325 keeps returning. After clearing codes, the knock sensor throws a CEL (P0325) once the engine is hot (the last time about 40 miles after a clear). I've cleared the P0325 repeatedly, so the knock sensor is getting replaced tomorrow. I've read elsewhere that the knock sensors exhibit failure when hot, and maybe look ok when cold. It seems like clearing that one code clears the Catalyst effeciency confirmation check as well, and since I was getting the car inspected, the Catalytic Converters (CC's) showed up as not ready. Had to mumble to the garage guy that I'd disconnected the battery or such B.S. This guy is new to me, and if I mention to him I got a P0420, I don't want him holding me up for a CC replacement, since I'm pretty sure the P0420 came from a CC polluted by bad plugs. The P0420 has yet to reappear in 200+ miles. Question is, who knows how long / many driving cycles / under what conditions Subies need to recheck the CC efficiency? The garage won't issue my inspection until he reads Catalytic Converters / HO2S / etc, ready. Once I replace the failing knock sensor, I'd like to get the inspection done quickly, since I'm out of date. Knowing what driving conditions are needed to recalibrate the CC check could save me some time and headaches. TIA, B.

My pleasure Wayne. Thought I'd post the outcome of my adventures in binding while turning = duty c solenoid. I called a couple of local Subaru specialists, and only one could follow along while I went through the diagnosis developed from the help I got here. The guy started reading me part #'s to help me get the stuff to do the job myself! How many garages would do that? Anyway, he quoted me $250 for the entire job, including parts! New solenoid, two small gaskets for the plate under the solenoid, and the transmission nose gasket. Needless to say, for that price I had him do the work. My '96 legacy outback 2.5L 4EAT now works fine. The garage found the Y exhaust pipe rotted, so they welded on a new neck and replaced the exhaust donut. Total price for all this driving away was about $350. If anybody in VT or NY would like to know, I'd be very glad to recommend these guys. So Wayne, I looked over your thread, and I didn't see if you found the trouble code for the duty c solenoid (code 24). The intermittent / heat related nature of your symptoms really makes me think it is electrical. If I recall, your FWD light doesn't light when the symptom shows up, which to me also points to electrical. Have you done the checks listed in the .pdf manual posted in this thread for the duty c solenoid connections? If you can get the symptom to repeat in the heat, maybe try one of those gel freezer packs on the TCM to see if cooling it down makes the symptom go away. The TCM has to switch electricity to the solenoid to get it to release, and there may be an electronic component (probably a transistor or an FET) that gives up when it gets hot. Back in my electronics days, we used freeze spray to pinpoint components failing on a PC board in much the same way. The heat could also affect an intermittent connector; there are several in the circuit. The FWD fuse / switch is almost certainly on an isolated input of the TCM, because the TCM can sense failure modes through the output to the duty c solenoid. If adding the FWD fuse controlled the solenoid directly (we know one fuse leg is at ground), the TCM would not be able to sense the state of the duty c solenoid circuit, and in fact would sense a short to ground and light a trouble code when the fuse is used. The TCM diagnostics need to sense open, shorted, and resistance (normal). BTW, my FWD light didn't work with the fuse in because of my code 24 / duty c solenoid problem. Let me know if you can't find the circuit diagrams to which I refer. I'm curious to hear where you're at with it. Good Luck, Bryan

Hi Folks, I've got a '96 legacy outback, 2.5L 4EAT automatic. Been reading and researching, since I have the binding during turn problem described in this thread. I was able to get the codes, finally, and the code was 24 which pointed to the duty c solenoid. Putting the fuse in the FWD socket under the hood does not light the FWD light, and the binding is still there. I suspect the 15 amp fuse is specified because its commonly used and is probably loaded as a spare. So this means the duty c solenoid cannot release to FWD only, and is therefore bad, right? I had some trouble identifying the diagnosis connector and the diagnosis terminal. As I subsequently found it, I'll describe it here and maybe someone will benefit. The diagnosis connector's lead wires are wrapped with black tape. The diagnosis terminals (there are two which are electrically connected) are black wires with small pin terminals on the end, which were wrapped in the black tape on the diagnosis connector's lead wires. Looking at the diagnosis connector carefully, it has two thick wires, one white and one blue. It has three thin wires, first orange / white stripe, second blue / yellow stripe, third green / white stripe. To connect for diagnosis, put the terminal of one of the black wires (doesn't matter) into the socket in the connector with the blue / yellow stripe wire coming out. As a check, the blue / yellow wire goes back to the TCM, pin c6 there on TCM terminal B53, which is a 20 pin. This agrees with the schematics. After the black is connected to the blue / yellow (through the terminal) follow the diagnosis procedure, and the codes will flash repeatedly. All this was possible with the 4 .pdf's found in page 1 of this thread, and with the .jpgs found at http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=18356&highlight=binding BTW, thanks very much for this excellent info. Hopes this helps. Regards, Bryan