Steves72

OK. I did another test with the code reader in live data display and I think I see a pattern. First, I now believe that the O2S B1 S2 (v) display is for the front O2 sensor. The O2S B1 S1 (v) is probably the rear sensor. I drove the car around the mostly empty streets in my neighborhood and noted that the S2 sensor mostly stayed around the .7 volt range under light throttle. The voltage dropped to 0 when I removed my foot from the throttle and allowed the car to coast. The voltage climbed to almost 1.0 volts once when I floored the throttle - I only did this once. The variations I saw on the S2 sensor lead me to suspect that this one is the front sensor. The other sensor - S1 - mostly ran around 1.5V varying only a little from 1.45 to 1.6 volts when I glanced down at the reader. What was interesting was the S2 sensor appeared a little lazy, taking its time to drop to 0 on a few occasions. Other times dropping quickly to 0. Changing the throttle position was noticed quickly by the TPS % on the scanner (throttle position sensor?) but the S2 sensor took several seconds to react to the change in the gas pedal. I believe that I have to replace the front O2 sensor. Does my analysis make sense? Or, am I really off? Knowledgeable opinions sought. Thanks. Steve

I have an Equus 3130 reader. The manual gives general instructions on how to use the scanner; such as plugging it in; scanning for codes; how to bring up the live display; how to bring up the freeze frame; etc. What it does not talk about is how to interpret the information given by the scanner, and I can understand why. The number of variables involved with an OBDII computer would make such a guide massive. So I turned here for some idea on how to interpret what I am seeing. I know I saw a thread somewhere - either here or on subaruoutback.org - talking about expected voltages from the O2 sensors. I have to do some more searches and see if I can find that thread again. And, the weather is cooperating so I will give the scanner another go when I get home from work with the engine at temperature. Steve

About a week ago while driving at a steady 60 mph the check engine light comes on. Not to worry I have a code reader. After finding out I have a P0420 code and no other codes, I stopped by here and began reading the myriad number of threads on determining just what is wrong with the emission system. Short of throwing parts at the problem I did learn that the O2 sensors should operate in a specific range of values. And, since I do have a code reader I thought I would take this opportunity to learn a little more about what my code reader could do. Now before you read any further understand this - my first attempt to make sense of the information on the code reader was not a valid test. I failed to fully warm up the car before staring at the code reader. So I will have to repeat this another day. Now my questions. 1) To test the O2 sensors in this fashion can I do so while the car is idling in the driveway or must it be driven while the readings are observed? 2) I observed two items that I believe are the O2 sensors but which one is the front and which the back? One reads O2S B1 S1 (V) and the other reads O2S B1 S2 (V). What I observed while the engine was not fully up to temperature was the following: The S1 voltage varied from 1.4 to 1.6 volts. The S2 voltage varied from 0 to 1.2 volts. The second set of numbers mainly ran in the 0.3 to 0.75 range but did drop to 0 and did spike up to the previously mentioned 1.2 volts. Obviously, I am new to scanners so if I made any bad assumptions I would appreciate being led down the correct path. I will repeat this test tomorrow weather permitting or Sunday. Steve 2000 OBW Limited auto

vic622 I just wanted to let you know that your conversion from Km to miles is way off. 335,000 km is close to 190,000 miles. 1000 km around 620 miles - etc. If you are uncertain of the cars prior maintenance history, call your Subaru dealer and see if there is any service history on the car in the data base. If no history is available, and with the mileage on that car, plan on doing the timing belt for your own piece of mind even if head gaskets are not required. Edit: not ~190,000 miles ... how about 207,000+ I should not try and do this in my head. Steve

I am not a mechanic so take the following story as just my experience: My previous car was a 91 Chevy Camaro Z28. Every time I drove the car for a sustained period - at least 10 minutes - at highway speed, the check engine light would come on. The car never missed a beat and other than the light on the dash you would never suspect that anything was wrong with the car. This was a pre-OBD2 computer in the car. No code was ever stored in the computer. After shutting off the car the light would be out and not return until the next excursion on the highway. When I related my story to a mechanic friend he told me that older computers could easily get soft errors that would not be stored. I was told to drive the car to his service center with the light on and to not shut the car off when I arrived. He was able to diagnose a pin sized hole in a vacuum line by pulling the soft code from the computer. Steve

I do not know the quality of the gas sold in Houston but around my home I lose 2 to 3 mpg each and every winter. It does have to do with a change in the formulation of the gasoline. The mileage picks back up around late March. That may be a part of your reduced fuel mileage. Steve

I returned from buying a string trimmer at a Stihl dealer. Looked down at the odometer and saw this: I had the head gaskets done (external leaking) and had the timing belt replaced at that time. I did both front axles at different times. That's it so far. Steve

If you fix your car, you know what you have - warts and all. If you go out and buy something else you may not know the issues you are buying and it may cost you even more. 570 is cheep to keep a car on the road. Some new car payments can exceed that amount. Steve

I own a 2000 Outback Wagon Limited. I have two complaints about the car - the moon roof and the automatic transmission. First, regarding the moon roof. The drainage tubes that carry water and drain it to the outside of the car seems to have a tendency to clog. At least my rear tubes do. The first time this happened to me I paid the dealership to clean out the drainage tubes. I did it myself twice after that first time. And, it is leaking again which means those same drainage lines are clogged once again. I usually park it nose down (even a slight angle is sufficient) to keep water out of the rear wagon area. On my car I have never had to clean the front drainage tubes only the rear ones. Second issue with the moon roof is that the front unit does not open as many other cars moon roofs. It only pops up for some ventilation. The rear section does open but I was disappointed by the front unit's inability to open. Third issue with the moon roof is that something in the front mechanism has failed and the unit no longer opens or closes on its own. I have been told that the entire headliner must come out to repair it and the unit is expensive. I have not bothered to fix it. My "other" complaint is with the automatic transmission. It seems to have issues with timely and prompt gear selection. It is very much a "slush" automatic. I takes its time to make a required up and downshifts. When slowing to a near stop but not actually stopping the transmission is very slow to downshift into first making it very sluggish to accelerate from a rolling start. After a stretch climbing up a hill the transmission is very slow to up shift. I have been told that this has been corrected on later models. Because my wife does not drive a manual car I had to buy an automatic. I do like the winter package which includes heated front sets, heated outside mirrors, and a heated area on the front windshield. This was standard equipment on the Limited edition in 2000 but you also got the moon roof - one of my sore points - with the Limited edition. The winter package was available as an option on the standard OBW in 2000. Look for the winter package on any car you are considering. By the way the six cylinder engine was not available until 2001. Steve

My wiper control switch is going - the longest delay no longer works. I have been told that there are at least two different switches used on this model. Is there a means to tell which one I need to order? Take it apart and check for a part number on the switch? This is a 2000 Legacy OBW Limited. I would like to order the item online to save a couple of dollars. Thanks Steve

I use a garage in North Wales where the mechanics are pretty good. Let me know if you are interested. Just be aware that any shop will charge you extra for the parts and labor rates range from 60 an hour up to 100+ at the dealerships. I recently put a driver's front axle in using a friend's lift. It is a pretty easy job if your not laying on the ground. I did the right front axle on my 2000 Outback wagon laying on the ground. That made the job take longer and was uncomfortable on the cold cement. Steve

Thanks for the information about how the tank operates. Now I know the thermistor must be the issue. I think I will try the Techron. You also mentioned accessing the fuel sending units under the carpet behind the rear seat. I will take a look there. Am I looking for an access panel down to the top of the fuel tank? Thanks Steve

So .... Is the thermistor and the float device, or whatever operates the gauge, in the same well? or is one in one well and the other in the opposite well? Remember my original question that it appears to me that the OBW has two fuel wells in its gas tank, one on either side of the drive shaft. Now, if and only if, these two separate measuring devices were in different wells it would be possible for them to be out of sync. Let's say one pickup in one well failed to pick up any fuel, this would cause one well to be drawn down while the other well stayed full. If the float was in the full well and the thermistor was in the empty well, I would be experiencing many of the symptoms I have described. Steve

Why not? It is certainly cheaper than ripping everything apart. I will give it a try. Steve

First, let me tell you that the car is a 2000 OBW Limited. This has been occuring since the weather turned pretty cold in mid December. I began having the low fuel light turn on at around 200 to 220 miles of travel into a tank of gas. Normally on summer fuel I would make to around 285 to 305 miles before the light would turn on. While my fuel mileage has dropped on the winter blend of gas this was quite a surprise to have it come on this early. I should also note that the gas gauge did not support the fact that my fuel was that low. I was around half way between empty and the 1/4 mark. Not wanting to take a chance I stopped and filled the car. It took less than 11 gallons the first time I reacted to the low fuel light indicator. This trend has repeated itself since that time. Another instance was when I first started my car one morning in my driveway. The driveway has an incline of maybe 10 degrees and the car was nose up. The gas gauge was midway between 1/4 and 1/2, and the low fuel light came on! It did go out about one mile down the road but something is not right about that light. Tonight I started the car at my work, on flat ground, and again the low fuel light appears. About one mile down the road the light disappears and remained out for the remainder of my commute - around 14 miles. There was just under 1/4 of a tank of gas in the car according to the fuel gauge. Now I had the car on a lift this past weekend doing some routine maintenance and I noticed that there is a double well to the gas tank - one on either side of the drive shaft. Is it possible that the low fuel indicator light works off of an indicator that sits in one of these wells and that for reasons unknown to me that fuel is only getting picked up from that well? perhaps because of a clogged pickup on that side of the tank? If the low fuel light worked on an indicator in one well and the fuel gauge off of a float in the other well, that might explain why the two indicators are out of sync with one another. This is all speculative on my part and someone who knows where things are located in the tank might be able to provide a better answer. Thanks, Steve

I had the P0325 code on my 2000 obw. The car would occasionally fall flat on it's face while attempting to accelerate. The computer was pulling all of the timing out of the motor. The meaning of the code is the computer is not liking what it sees down that electrical connection to the knock sensor. While it may be the wiring I would bet on the knock sensor being bad. My knock sensor physically looked OK but when I checked the resistance to ground I was getting a reading around 1.4 million ohms. I forget what was considered to be in spec but if memory serves it was in the 500,000 to 600,000 ohm range. Do a serch here and you will get that answer. I bought the part at a local parts store for 82 + tax; put it in myself; and the light went out. The car also drove much better. I found it to be an easy 20 minute job. I removed the air cleaner box to reach it but only because I found it easier to get my hands down to the sensor. Forget Pepboys. Get an ohm meter and see if the knock sensor is out of spec which it probably is and replace it yourself. The head gaskets are also a very easy job. For that kind of quote I would buy the parts elsewhere. Steve

Good News. I received an email back tonight and I will purchase the MWE axle which always was my preference. Steve

Did you read this thread before commenting?

I went over to Cardone's web site and they sell new half shafts under their Cardone Select line. Rockauto has the Cardone Select axle for $56.79 which is a whole lot cheaper than NAPA. That will be my fall back position if nothing else pans out. I wonder if anyone has an MWE axle they would be willing to sell? Steve

I just got off the phone with the NAPA store that is local to me. The MAX axle is just a brand name that NAPA carries. That name applies to both the remanufactured axles they sell, which are Cardone axles, and the new units that they sell. The person on the phone could not tell me who made their new axles. The remanufactured axles go for $56.xx plus a $93.xx core charge. The new axles are $128.xx but no core charge. I have read enough stories related to Cardone axles on the web that I would prefer not to purchase one of them. But, I may have to if I am backed into a corner with no other option. Steve

That would have been my next choice. I think they are asking 125 outright for a new axle where an MWE axle or one from CVAXLES would be around 75 plus shipping plus return shipping (for the old axle). I will apologize for my earlier flippant remark about the owner being dead but it is very frustrating to want to order something and getting no where. I have one MWE axle on my car now - the front right - which I put on the car two years ago. Now the front left needs to be done. Steve

I would love to buy MWE axles but I think the owner of the business has died. I left a voice mail on Monday and sent an email on Tuesday and I have not heard back from anyone. I need to do the job by next weekend so that my car will pass the my state's safety inspection and I cannot wait any longer to get an order in. Someone on this board had recommended http://www.cvaxles.com back in 2003 and I wanted to know if anyone has used them recently. Steve

I found this site in an old post - www.cvaxles.com. Has anyone used them recently? Do they sell a decent product? Steve

Do you have an email address for the business? Steve Sorry about this post - I found it at http://www.ccrengines.com/mwe Steve

Can anyone give me a "best time" to contact MWE? I called there yesterday and left a message on the answering machine and have not had a call back. I tried to call two additional times yesterday and twice more today. No answer on any of my calls. Steve