Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

skizix

Members
  • Posts

    99
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Location
    Boulder

skizix's Achievements

Advanced Member

Advanced Member (3/11)

10

Reputation

  1. You just need to pull the neg. If you don't leave it off long enough, however, it won't reset. Capacitors? Pull the neg cable, hit the brake pedal a few times (to drain any power lingering), and I wait 45 minutes. Overnight will definitely do it. If you still have a CEL right when you fire it up, check the code, 'cause you've probably got something like disconnected, or a bad sensor -- after a reset, engine-management stuff generally takes a couple of drive cycles (or at the very least, until the engien warms up) before it throws a code. And everal misfires are ignored, I believe, before it throws that code.
  2. So somebody want to let me know how to search the site properly? I did search in this case, but this site seems set up so that searching for multiple words are OR'd. That is, entering "eastern catalytic" on the search page returns all pages containing "eastern", and all pages containing "catalytic". I.e. mostly superfluous junk. Is there a way to search for <1 word, in an "AND" fashion? That would've avoided this whole B.S. issue. Really limits the usefulness of the forum, I have to say.
  3. Well, here's how it worked out... EASTERN CATALYTIC CAN KISS MY HAIRY rump roast RIGHT IN THE CRACK!!!!!!! I don't know what kind of drunken morons they have working the factory over there, but there are three point of connection for the cat, and zero of three of them are made correctly. The rear flex joint, as described above, had no tailing pipe to seat and align the donut gasket. Not that big a deal, but WTF? After I first assembled it, the pipes were out of alignment with each other, had to loosen and slide the pipes into alignment -- with the pipe extension, it would have centered itself. To top it off, the rear flange is welded on crooked. Being a flex joint, it still seals, but bolted tight, the bottom of the flanges touch, but the top leaves a ~3/16" gap. The support bracket that comes off the side was whacked too. It did not clear the stuff under the car. Had to bend the end of it way out of the way. Plus the slots that the bolt goes into are too small for the bolt; had to grind out the slot about 1/16". Plus, it tilts the wrong way; had to bend it again. Plus, there are two adjustable slots for the bolt, with a strip of metal in between. That strip just happens to be exactly where the bolt wanted to sit; had to flex the whole assembly sideways a bit to fit it. But those two things, if pathetic, I could work with. The killer was: the front flange is welded on crooked, in such a way that in order for the flange to line up with my y-pipe flange, the converter would have to protrude up through the floor of the car. After tightening the flange bolts, the bottom of the flanges touched, but the top had about a 1/8" gap. I could see plainly that the gasket was not going to seal. But having done all the work, I started the car. Got under it, and...the front y-pipe flange joint is leaking like crazy. Utter and complete worthless junk!!! I hope I can get a refund. Then looks like I'm taking monday morning off work, getting an OEM cat, and doing the job over. SUCKY!
  4. Ok, thanks. That helps for sure. One more thing: I bought an OEM donut-gasket, thinking the new cat would not include that part, but it did come with one. Looks same shape, but the aftermarket donut looks "smooshier" (old one looks almost like metallic fiberglass; new one looks like nothing but layers of soft metal - lead?). So I figured I'd for sure use the OEM gasket, but now I'm not so sure. Think the new one is designed to work better with the "modified" flex joint? And given less contact with the pipe (well, none...contacts flange only), think I should consider using some kind of high-temp gasket-in-a-tube to seal the donut against the flange?
  5. (NOTE: changed the thread title -- read 4 posts down for the reason why...) Just received an Eastern Catalytic bolt-in replacement cat for my '02 OBW. Looks like a decent unit, but after removing my old one, comparing side-by-side, and preparing to install the new one...the new one seems to have an issue, and I'm not sure what to do. The rear joint to the cat assembly is a flex joint -- has spring-loaded bolts and a "donut" gasket. On the old cat, the pipe continues about 1" aft of the rear flange; donut slides on there, then the whole thing seats into the rear exaust pipe. On the new cat, the rear pipe ends flush with the rear flange. Does not stick out past it at all, and there's nothing to slide the donut gasket on to. They obviously knew the setup, since they included the proper-looking donut gasket with the cat. So, what to do? I think the rig will bolt together ok, but while the donut is seated properly in the rear pipe, the junction with the cat pipe will consist of: the flat side of the donut merely smooshed against the flange. Will that seal properly? I'm skeptical, but it might be ok. The thing is: I don't want to mount up the unit if I might be returning it. But I'd like to mount it to see if it works ok (and then keep it). But...will this setup work ok, then fail prematurely? What would you do: 1) Not mount the new unit -- put the old back on, return the new, do the work again later w/ some other unit. 2) Mount it, and if it does not seal properly, get on the phone and *************** until I get to return it anyway (if I even loose just shipping 'cause the unit is poorly designed, it's going to piss me off -- loosing the time spent under car is bad enough). In any case, can we agree that this thing is not built "to OEM specs", as advertised? One other weird thing is: it has a third O2 sensor socket, on the back end of the rear cat. Not worried, as I'm going to plug it with my old o2 sensor, but...what is up with that?
  6. I'd go OEM. The wacky design of those plug pipe gaskets relies just the right properties of the material to seal properly. Besides, I bought the whole set (valve cover gaskets, bolt seals, plug pipe gaskets, o-ring for the oil filler tube) OEM, and it was $40 and change total -- not a lot of dough for peace of mind. You could probably drive a long ways w/ leaky pipe gaskets with no problems. However, word is if it gets bad enough, it can cause misfires. If oil leaches up the plug boot and short out, cable to head). Seemed like a lot of oil in my pipes though, yet my plugs were still bone dry, due to the great design of the plug boots (it was as if they knew the pipe gaskets were stupid). The job is straightforward. Took me ~1.5 hours for my '02 OBW, and I'm sure many could do it much faster (took me 2 long days to swap engines in my '78, and the following week I met a professional wrench who'd done his '79 swap in 1.5 hours). The only tricky bit is: clearance is quite tight for removing the valve covers once they are unbolted -- have to figure out just the right way to wiggle them out and back in. Do get them all the way out though, so you can clean the sealing surfaces. Remove plugs and clean out the pipes with a shop rag while you have it apart. Obviously, a good time to swap plugs and wires, if you need 'em. Factory torque on teh valve cover bolts is surprisingly low -- don't go crazy. If your engine is very dirty, might want to clean it first, to avoid getting crap in your valve train.
  7. Whitney does not have a direct-fit for any subaru. catalyticconverter.net has suby ones, but not one for a 2002 leg/OB (they have up to '01 legacy). ecatalyticconverters.com and ebay have the Eastern Catalytic unit. Any other sourcing ideas?
  8. Ok, can't reply from work, but now I'm back. Car has 117k miles on it, and it's a 5MT. I replaced the front o2 sensor with an OEM unit around 12k miles ago. Last time it was in the shop, I even had 'em temporarily replace the new front o2 with a known good one -- no difference. So front o2 is good. Haven't replaced the rear. I bought a universal for the rear, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Rear o2 could be causing my 420 code, but I doubt it, since I've smelled the rotten eggs and the cat rattles (slightly, muffled) when I smack it. Other things I've done to look into the hesitation/driveability: new plugs, wires, replaced coil with a very clean looking used one ($50), air filter, swapped out MAP sensor, checked for intake and exhaust leaks (none). Ran a can of BG44K in the tank. Ran seafoam into intake. None of those have made a noticeable difference. Nice, clean, used IAC ($50), which did solve my low speed bucking issues, but not hesitation. Have not tried knock sensor, but I'm told that would not cause intermittent problems, but steady. Could a chunky cat be causing intermittent hesitation on takeoff, occasional "stepped" acceleration and deceleration, and once in a while a lurch when I let off the gas suddenly? Shop said my exhaust tested good for not being obstructed, but if stuff is rattling around in the cat, seems like it could occasionally become partially obstructed temporarily. Power seems good (except when hesitating), and revving high is not a problem. One clue: the hesitation does not seem to occur before the engine gets up to running temp (i.e. when in open loop mode). Also, resetting the ECU seems to help things for a day or two (tough to be sure on those, since symptoms are intermittent). Those makes it sound like a bad front o2, but as above...checked/fixed that. Makes it sound *not* like knock sensor. Little confusing. Any other ideas? BTW, as for the cat being maybe fried...when I bought the car (100k miles), it had a bad neutral switch (no ECU, but realtime scan revealed it). Replacing that improved driveability for sure. Not exactly sure what the neutral switch does on a manual tranny, but presumeably it affects engine management -- maybe was running chronically rich and killed the kitty? BTW, bad neutral switch prevented CEL from checking cat efficiency (says that is the case, right in the factory manual), and not coincidentally, it threw that code for the first time right after I replaced it. Anyhow, thanks for the feedback. Sounds like I can avoid shelling out for the OEM cat, which is good news. I suppose I'll try changing the rear o2 first, but I really doubt it's going to help w/ CEL or driveability, given the other evidence. No opinions on Eastern Catalytic's quality? So again: do you think if my cat's bad (but not totally clogged), could it be causing hesitation, etc.?
  9. Ok, looks like it's time for a new cat for my '02 OBW (2.5). Got the 420 code, occasional sulphur smell (not lately though), ocasional burning metallic smell (more lately), rattles a bit (front cat) when I whack it (could that be just the heat shield?), and intermittent hesitation on takeoff (no major revving issues otherwise though) despite eliminating nearly all hez-inducing possibilities (except knock sensor, but I'm told that would not be intermittent), and some other tough-to-otherwise-explain minor intermittent driveability issues. So...what cat to get? Usually, I'm pretty strict about going with OEM replacement parts. But best I can find on an OEM cat is around $500 shipped. Aftermarket cats are *so* much cheaper. Being a non-turbo, I don't really want to mess with flow/backpressure too much. And I'd rather get a direct-fit, rather than deal with welding anything. Definitely need to pass emissions, and really would like to see my CEL extinguish and stay that way. Would of course like to see the replacement cat last for a good while. So then, what is a good aftermarket cat for a 2002 2.5l outback? The one I've been eyeing is an Eastern Catalytic, for around $250 shipped. Is that a decent product? Anybody have any other rec's for an aftermarket cat? Or am I best off sucking it up and plunking down for the OEM cat?
  10. Ok then...I'm an idiot, since it's in the owner's manual and all. Odd, I've never driven a car with this feature (at least that I noticed). I like that they shut off when the car shuts off, but apart from that, it'd be nice if they were rigged to a thermostat rather than a timer. Whatever. Thanks folks.
  11. Been using my '02 OBW in the snow a bunch lately, as here in denver(ish)...we've had a lot. Car works incredibly well in the snow, of couse. But one thing: my rear defroster, as well as the heated windshield, turn themselves off after 10-15 minutes. It is not like a thermostat, since they never turn on again. Also, by hitting the buttons, I can turn them off immediately after they shut down. But I usually don't notice the dash lights on these two buttons have gone out; usually I notice that my window is icing up or the wipers are icing up. Is this a feature, or a bug? If feature...WTF??? It's pretty annoying, for sure. Is this the way it's supposed to work? If not, what could be wrong?
  12. I was told by a dealer that emissions-related parts are 80K miles warranteed as well, by federal mandate.
  13. Years ago I had problems with a cheap replacement windshield. It had ripples -- undetectable on casual inspection, especially from outside the car. But from the driver's seat, it caused distortion that was very headache-y, every time I drove the car from then on. Got used to it, to where I didn't really think about a whole lot, but it was chronically annoying. That was the only time I've replaced a windshield, and I was broke, didn't have w/s coverage on my insurance, and got the cheapest one I could find. So, I have no idea if all windshields for a given model are in fact made by the same mftr., but I would say: I doubt it. Shop around for the best $$$, or get the proper ins. coverage (if they will do it without inspecting your current one), a while before changing it out, if possible. Then you can ask the right questions, and get the proper replacement.
  14. Sorry, no idea what to ask for seats. I'd post a feeler in the marketplace forum, if you've got at least a little time.
  15. Sway bars are the best handling upgrade you can do for the $$$, IMO. Body roll goes down quite a lot, with only a minimal loss of passenger conformt. However, be aware that having a big burly rear bar, relative to the front, will result in oversteer when you start to break loose in a turn. Most consumer cars are engineered with a bit of understeer, because it is safer, especially for non-expert drivers, if you start to loose it. Most drivers' instinct is to hit the brakes as soon as the car starts to break loose. That will safely bring an understeering car back under control, but it will only make matters worse if the car is set up with oversteer. To anyone who's played around with handling at the limit, it's normally dealable, but if you have a big imbalance, front to back, it can indeed be dangerous.
×
×
  • Create New...