skizix

Is there oil in your coolant (look for a fairly obvious rainbow-y film on top), or coolant in your oil (look for a milky, dingey goo)? Are you overheating, any time, at all? Got white smoke from tailepipe? Smell vaporized coolant (smells a bit like a musty old tent bag)? Bad head gaskets usually produce clues like these. Got blue/grey smoke from tailpipe ever, especially when the engine's cold? That'd be rings, implying a full rebuild. Otherwise, probably a busted or burnt valve, which is $$, but not $$$, like e.g. rings. BTW, there are two distinct sets of rings on your pistons: oil rings and compression rings. Most often, oil rings will give first, resulting in excessive blow-by and blue smoke (especially on a cold engine), but compression rings will remain intact enough to keep engine power up and a compression test from reading **problem** (yours is severe enough to indicate **problem** btw). But the reverse is at least conceivable: spent compression rings but ok oil rings. Seems doubtful though. If no obvious sense-able symptoms: think valve job (~$1000? +?) You have my blessing to harass the douche you bought the car from. But all is almost certainly not lost. Good luck.

Ok, thank you. You seem to be the voice of much reason/experience, so I'll bite. So then...which seafoam method? In the tank, or in the intake? Any other tips that might not be enumerated on the bottle? Anything to be concerned about? (Yeah, I know..search. But search on this site seemed limited. Anyone who can tell me how to do an "AND" search here on two or more terms has my gratitude. Seems two search words inevitably precipitates an "OR" search, more often than not yeilding piles of irrelevant stuff, severely clouding one's view.)

Thinking about trying this, but a little sketched out. So, assuming spray bottle...do you do this at idle only, or do you tweak the throttle whilst you spray? If too little spray is not enough, how do you tell when it's enough water? How about too much? Nipper, you say, "do not let the car stall(!)". What happens if it stalls? Bad? Or you're just saying that if it stalls...too much water may have been WAY too much, and hydro-locked the chambers? Better to tweak the throttle to make sure no stall, or better to **not** add enough water at idle to make it stall? I ask because: I've been dealing with hesitation, and jerky accelleration and decelleration. Checked everything and replaced a few sensors/parts (with definite improvements, etc. -- for sure had other probs, now resolved), and am left with few options. Recently did a tank with BG44K, and saw improvement. Jerky accel is all but gone (but not completely), and evil hez is noticeably less frequent. Car is running well, but still hesiation -- occasionally, but obvious -- especially when starting from a stop on an uphill. As if the BG worked, but not completely. Thinking carbon buildup in chambers is a definite possibility for my intermittent, incurable, and "undectable" (OBD-II, etc.-wise) issues. BTW, never had any issues like this with my '90 leg, 2.2l, despite a chronically sooty exhaust pipe (and no other real probs to 235k miles). So, more BG? (napa guy says 2x in a row, BG44K is **baaad** -- wha?), water blast, or seafoam? Is serial BG44K really bad (...said it would "blow my rings")? Is there possible damage with seafoam? And...putting the garden hose down my intake would obviously explode my engine, but if done with respect (and how does one find the balance b/t effective and safe?), can water-blast do damage? So you know: I bought this '02 OBW with 99k miles, and have had to replace the neutral switch (5MT) and the IAC, to get it running smoothly. Neither caused a relevant CEL, and so the car could've been running rich for a while without correction from the ECU -- either or both of those defects could've conceivably caused increased carbon deposits, IME. Ya think? Or...?

Well, I'm not bumping up any inches. 22" and 20" are straight spec for my '02. Bumping up an inch is prolly gonna be ok, but beware: different manufacturers seem to measure differently. Next time you're at walmart, checker, etc. look at different brands in supposedly the same lenghth. They vary by at least an inch. I'd say if you're buying sight-unseen, stick with stock length. While it probably does little if any harm...having a wiper that is truly too long is very annoying, as it hangs up and ca-lunks with every wipe. Personally, I've never felt like I needed any extra inches. YMMV!!!

I got X-Ice's this fall, and they've been great. They are a better than average snow tire. Not the same as having studs on, say, wet ice, but the tradeoff is big. I commute 60 miles a day, and the trucklike drone of studs would piss me off, and the poor handling would as well -- not to mention trashing the roads. Anyhow, my last dedicated snow was a studless Hankook (which? don't remember), and that was great for the money. They were truly excellent in snow, and nice and quiet on dry pavement. But they were really squishy in the corners on dry roads. The x-ice's are much better in that regard. Road noise and cornering on dry pavement is excellent, and better than many, if not most, "all season" tires. The tires I most recently replaced were Dunlop A2 Sport (which is a "high-performance all-season" tire), and...I'll never buy another Dunlop ever. They cornered quite well, but they refused to stay in balance, and also refused to track straight. I'd have them balanced, and bring them back and have them balanced again while I watched, and they'd be good for a week or two, then start vibrating again. And the car **always** pulled. Maybe a little bias towards the left, but more like: anything but straight. Any little imperfection or camber in the road would make the wheel pull strongly to either side -- very disconcerting. Tried rotating with and without crossing, etc. This was to the point that I was **sure** I had a bad bearing **and** something like a bad tie rod end. However, put the x-ice's on, and not only are all those handling issues completely gone, but road noise is actually much reduced (crazy, seeing as I went from performance all-season to dedicated snow). BTW, those Dunlops still had like 75% of their tread left. I was going to sell them used, but I just could not to see fit to putting those shiitty tires back on the road in any fashion -- threw them out! $60 apiece is indeed a great price for X-Ice's. You'd do well to snap them up.

OH, AND.... Public service announcement: TireRack.com is running a BOGO special right now on Valeo Ultimates, throught Dec. 31. And no, you don't have to buy two sets (e.g. buy one 22", your free one does not have to be that same size). I paid the price for one wiper, and got a 20" and a 22" for that price. Pretty much a no-brainer to give these a try, IMO. Hopefully they will not suck.

Wow. Glad you liked 'em. I've had terrible luck. I got rain-x wipers this summer, and they've lasted less time than any other wipers I've ever had. Never again for me. Didn't realize they were silicone, otherwise I probably would've passed. Silicone sounds like a great idea, but last silicone ones I had (several years ago) sucked as well. Not as bad as these rain-x's though. Strange. Did you just get your rain-x's? Mine worked really well for about a month, then started streaking/leaving an unwiped blob right in front of my face. And I live in colorado, meaning I don't really use them too often. After ~4 months of sporadic use...they are total useless garbage. Just ordered up some Valeo ultimates. Seems like a cool concept (i.e. no moving parts) -- hope it pans out, unlike the seemingly cool silicone concept. So, **never** rain-x again for me. Complete junk, worst I've ever had. If the valeo's don't work well (and I mean well enough to justify the higher price)...I'll be going straight back to Anco (nothing exceptional, but work exactly like you'd expect, and the price is right), or Michelen (which I've had good luck with, aren't too $$$, and just happen to be OEM for my '02 OBW). All proving, once again..........YMMV!

I had intermittent bucking and surging, occasional idle problems and a couple of stalls. No CEL or codes. Turned out to be an intermittently malfunctioning neutral switch. To properly diagnose, you'll need a real-time scan tool -- in which case is should be pretty obvious. That switch is like a $20 part though, and not tough to replace, so you might just try one and see if it fixes anything.

Brown and chalky is the sign of a healthy plug and clean combustion, as long as it's not like a super heavy deposit.

For the passenger side: remove the intake snorkel...E-Z: two bolts up front, one bolt on the strut tower. Everything then slides apart easily. For the driver's side: all you need to remove is the windshield washer tank, to get clearance to remove the plugs. You don't necessarily need to remove the battery, but doing so makes it much easier to remove the washer tank. Removing the tank consists of: 2 bolts, two wiring connectors, and one hose which just slides off. Use a turkey baster to empty the washer tank if need be. All quite easy. One thing: the plugs are mounted way down in pipes that penetrate the valve covers. Think before you go to actually unscrew the plugs. All you need is a ratchet handle (3/8" drive probably), socket wrench, and 6" extension. HOWEVER...use a proper plug socket -- it'll have a rubber insert that protects the ceramic, and more importantly, will grip the plug so you can pull it out. MOST IMPORTANT: unless you have a locking socket...duct tape the socket to the extension. Otherwise, when you go to pull the plug, the socket will come off the extension, and you'll be left wondering how to get the socket and plug out of the pipe. So, not the easiest compared to many cars, but it's all pretty easy and can be accomplished by even a novice wrench.

If it's the same gear as my '02 OBW (and I think it is)...getting under the car **is** the problem. Pull the right front wheel, and you'll be able to reach in through the wheel well and get it with a normal open-end wrench, no problem. The rear O2 sensor is a bit trickier to get a wrench on than the front -- might need that special socket for the rear. If all else fails, access can be gained definitively by dropping the cat. Bolts on exhaust flanges can be extremely stubborn or worse though. And if you go this route, have new gaskets on hand for sure. EDIT: Ok, negelected to read the part where you already got it out. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

My '90 (2.2) ticked on very cold mornings for over 100,000 miles (the second 100k of it's life) with no other symptoms. The ticking would go on for a minute or two if I left it idling. But if at any point, including almost right away, if I started driving, even slowly, the ticking would stop in a few seconds. That makes me think it was likely oil pressure related -- except then I'd have expected other problems to surface or the ticking to get worse/not stop. If I understand how it works, piston slap should only stop when the engine block and pistons reach a certain temp and expand enough -- who knows though. Never really got worse, more frequent, or happened in warmer weather. Sold the car at 235k miles, running great. Hesitate to call it "normal", as it's obviously not designed to do that. But I would call it par for the course, and mostly harmless, in a 2.2 with some miles. Lots of mentions on this site and others. If you do let the oil level drop too much, like a couple of quarts (yes, I am embarrassed to say: been there -- did not seem to F up the engine, but it made me a bit sick to my stomach when I saw how low it was)...the engine will tick until you dump some oil in there. Not sure if it's the same thing going on, but the sound is very similar. My '02 2.5 (110,000) does not tick, at least so far.

FWIW...I was told by the dealer that emissions-related recalls expire once you're over 80,000 miles. I had my ECU reflashed at the dealer, which was a recall, emission-related because it dealt with ECU response to the front O2 sensor. Cost me $100, as my 2002 OBW was at 108,000. Bastards were going to charge $50 even if the recall was still in effect, for "diagnosis" (even though I went in and specifically asked for the recall-mandated ECU flash, and said I didn't need any diagnosis). Can't win with the dealer, but seems to be the only option for a reflash. BTW, many assorted scenarios not involving bad cat or O2 sensors can cause a 420 code, with no other code. Any sensor, injector, etc. etc. not performing up to spec can cause the mix to be off beyond what the O2/ECU response can deal with can precipitate this code, with or without other codes. Got any driveability issues?

99lego, we're talking manifold absolute pressure sensor, not mass air flow sensor, here. Similar purpose in life, I think, but a totally different device. Anyhow, thanks for your replies. BitBasher's clinched it for me. Today I found out a MAP was only ~$100 (still a lot for what it is, but I fully expected two or three times that). So I just got one. Put it in just now (super E-Z), and after a short drive, it seems to have fixed things. Tough to be sure, as it's been intermittent, but so far so good. I'll follow up with results over the next week or so. One thing: when I pulled the old one, there was what looked and felt like engine oil on it, and in the hole it mounts in. This thing pops into a hole right in the top center of the intake manifold. Did not look like K&N oil -- not pink, but a nice clean amber color, exactly like engine oil. So......does this mean my PCV valve is hosed? Any other reason to see oil in the intake manifold??? I actually requested that my mechanic replace the pcv last time I was in, but he talked me out of it, saying, "those things never go bad." Where is the pcv valve on an '02 OBW (2.5 5MT) anyway? Is it easy to replace? Is there anything else that could cause this? Should I put the old MAP back in until I fix this, for fear of ruining the new one?

Thanks for some feedback. Pretty darn sure it's not the front O2S. Replaced mine with an OEM unit < 10,000 miles ago, and then a few months later, briefly swapped out the new one with a known good one, just to make sure I didn't by chance get a bum unit, since I was still having suspicious symptoms. Did not change things. Yes, my 2002 has no MAF, just a MAP. I don't quite fully understand the difference in what is being measured, except that the MAF measures the amount of air flowing past it, upstream of the throttle, by the air's capacity to conduct heat away from a heated filament, at any given moment. The MAP measures air **pressure** downstream of the throttle. No filament -- not sure what exactly it is, but I'm assuming either solid state, or some kind of thin diaphragm. Must be some qualitative difference in what is being measured, since some cars have both. So the mechanism is completely different, possibly implying a different sort of failure mode, and different destructive or otherwise side-effects of cleaning it. MAF's reportedly fail gradually like this, but mostly I've heard that a MAP will either work properly or crap the bed completely so the car won't run at all -- and throw a code (a MAP code that is -- yes, my 420 could seemingly be caused by the MAP measuring incorrectly, throwing off the mix). BTW, I've heard of folks having successfully cleaned MAF's, and I've also heard plenty of advice not to try cleaning it. Can't find any info on cleaning a MAP. But since after my throttle body cleaning, the IAC passage was still pretty gunked up and cleaning it helped...I'm thinking the MAP my be as well, since it's in a similar position. So, anybody had their MAP gradually go south? Anyone had success cleaning one? Any way to test it? I'm leaning towards a faulty MAP, mostly since I would not think a funky coil or knock sensor would act up on decelleration, since engine load is minimal. But the MAP, since it **measures** load on the engine, just might. Does that sound right, or is it faulty logic? It would be good to get closer to some determination, since of the three, the MAP is the most expensive to replace.

Oh, and (as if I haven't been long-winded enough)...could my MAP sensor fail gradually like this? Googling seems to suggest that failure of a suby MAP of this vintage would be more likely to cause a no-start condition. However, honda, toyota, etc. forums talk about MAP sensors going south and causing symptoms much like mine. They also suggest that this is gradually eating my engine (preignition, etc.) if that's what it is.

Ok, I've gone over a lot in my '02 OBW (2.5, 5MT; bought it this past spring with 100k miles), and dealt with most of my driveability issues. However, one (or possibly two) remains. Main symptom is hesitation on takeoff. Intermittently. Sometimes I'll go a whole day without it, other days it's almost every takeoff, other days it's ~50/50. Hesitates from 1-3 seconds, with very little power, then takes off like someone poked it in the rump roast. Occasionally it drops out so bad that I stall trying to get going (usually this happens when it's been good for a while, so I've gotten used to not feathering the clutch). Does not seem to happen on a fully cold engine, but kicks in way before full op-temp (like half way between C and the middle). Not entirely sure it never happens cold, but I think that's right. The other symptom I've got is rough acceleration and deceleration. Tough to be sure, but I think it's likely the same cause as the hesitation. Not a harsh buck, but the power does not ramp up or down smoothly. Like I'll be cruising along, hit the gas (not necessarily floored), and it'll tug and let go and tug and let go. Gets up to speed in a reasonable amount of time, just not in a smooth curve. Oddly, it does this when I let up on the gas a bit and slow down, too. Feel the engine brake more then less, and guh-guh guh as it decellerates. These both follow a similar intermittent pattern -- some days it doesn't do this at all, some nearly always, some 50/50. Not a devastating driveability issue, but super annoying. Also, once in a blue moon, I'll get what feels like miss, usually while at maintaining a slow, constant speed, say in a parking lot. Not convinced it's a miss (no miss code), but I do have a little oil on the plug terminals -- need new rocker cover and pipe gaskets, fixing this weekend -- so it could be a miss, but I'm not convinced. And I've never been able to percieve any knock/ping myself, even when I occasionally grind 'er too hard at low rpm's. Also, occasionally when at idle, rpm's dip a bit. Not a lot, but a bit, sometimes for several seconds at a time. So, having replaced plugs and wires (both OEM), front 02 sensor (OEM), IAC (with a used OEM that looked brand new), neutral switch (OEM), fuel filter (fram, like an idiot), and air filter (K&N drop-in). I also got an ECU flash from a dealer, as their was a TSB (still somehow cost me $100) for this, to deal with hesitation by dampening response to front O2 sensor. Also: throttle body cleaned, IAC passage cleaned, TPS recalibrated (wasn't reading 100% at WOT). Coolant temp sensor and thermostat cleared by trusted mechanic. Mech also said: no intake leaks or exhaust leaks, and cat was not obstructed. I also ran a can of Techron and a can of BG-44K-or-whatever-it's-called injector cleaner (the good stuff, suposedly). No codes, except Catalyst Efficiency (420). Mech says I need a new cat, after looking at rear O2S output. Not sure if I buy that (going to replace rear O2S this weekend and see if that works). Could be cat is overwhelmed by bad mix from something else. So, remaining likely suspects would be: MAP sensor, knock sensor, coil, and.......you tell me. Coil tested fine for resistance, looks undamaged/no cracks, did not arc visibly in the dark, even when sprayed with water mist. But one terminal seems to develop a bit of corrosion/carbon slowly. Mechanic said he looked for knock sensor problems, but I think he was looking for defects in the circuit, rather than oversensitivity. He also said the MAP sensor looked ok, but...how did he determine this? BTW, seems as if a funky MAP sensor could definitely cause the 420 code. So I'm starting to think it's the MAP sensor, based on the intermittent behavior, and because the problem exists with **decelleration** too. Problem seems to pop up when load **changes**, not just when load increases. Questions: 1) what do you think this could be? 2) if MAP sensor...how can I test it? 3) if MAP sensor...can I clean it? What should I use? 4) anything other to suspect? 5) how can I zero in on the problem without blindly replacing parts? thanks everybody.

Just for ammo for you: I had an obnoxious bucking problem that turned out to be a bad neutral switch (2002 OBW, 5 speed). Never threw a code, but real-time scan (sube-specific scan tool reading things while driving) revealed the problem. Fixed the buck quickly and cheap. Good luck.

What is wrong with it is that is costs more for zero performance gain. An EFI car designed/programmed to take premium fuel will lose some power if you run regular, but a car designed to run regular will not gain power with premium. It is a matter of compression vs. octane: higher octane fuel spontaneously combusts (pre-ignites, i.e. with no spark) at a higher pressure/temperature than lower octane. So in a high-compression EFI engine (tight heads or boosted intake), low-octane fuel will likely cause pre-ignition, aka knock, and the knock sensor will signal the ECU to retard the timing, resulting in loss of power. Like the WRX referenced above. But if your engine is designed with lower compression, such that it can run regular, without knocking...it will run just the same with regular or premium. Knock sensor will do nothing either way, and there is no other way for the engine to realize it's running premium or otherwise. It is not like there is more energy released when a given measured amount of premium burns vs. regular (at least, no more that could be easily measured as an increase in hp). Some premium fuels supposedly have more detergents and such, which may be helpful in some way, but minimal, I think. On that original topic...I'm running a K&N because a friend had a new one laying around he couldn't use (sold car) -- free is good, so figured I'd experiment. I don't think the one in my car was OE (came with used car), but it was not very dirty at all, and...when I threw in the K&N, the car made a distinctly different sound. Not louder, but quite a different pitch/character, and "smoother" somehow. Tough to say if power actually increased, but it did seem to accelerate a bit more smoothly. Interesting, if not much else. I really don't believe that the K&N is going to harm the engine or shorten it's life. All of the "studies" I've seen on the web on the topic seem flawed. But when it comes time to clean it, I'll probably instead swap it out for an OE filter, out of paranoia combined with not a lot to loose (performance, that is).

I had two bearings go (one at a time) over the long course of owning my 90 legacy. It started as a subtle tire-sounding noise, and got gradually louder until it was obvious that something was not right. Even at that point, the car drove normally, and there was no looseness or binding apparent by examining the wheel by hand with the car jacked up. Never noticed a decrease in mileage or anything else. The only other sypmtom detectable was this: after a long stint on the highway, that wheel would heat up. Like, I'd reach through a hole in the plastic hubcap, and the steel rim would be very hot to touch. Wheels normally heat up a bit, I think, from normal, slight rubbing of brake pads, but the bad-bearing wheel would be much hotter than the others. I had a shop do it, after being advised that I'd need special tools (bearing puller, I guess). My regular mechanic was not equipped for the job, and i had to seek out a specialist. I'm thinking it can't be that hard with the right tool (which you can probably rent), but I'd advise getting some advice specific to your car before launching into that task yourself.

I've cleared codes both by disconnecting the battery (hitting the brake pedal ditches any residual charge) as well as with a lame generic code reader. Both methods turn off the CEL, erase all hard and pending codes, and reset all the component/system ready-states to "No". I don't know if it resets short and long term fuel trim, or any other "learning" states, but I would assume yes, especially with the battery reset. Either the dude really does not know, apart from heresay (it is likely he's only used a Subaru Select scanner), or he's yankin' yer chain.

Hmmmmmmm indeed. If that's it, I'll piss my pants. And owe you some beers. So...I've heard of these diagnostic plugs, but never come across them. Can you help me find them? (green and white? under the passenger side? or...?)

Filters (air, fuel, oil) and tuneup (plugs, wires, clean IAC, clean throttle body, new front O2 sensor). ~2000 miles ago. Car has 107,000 miles. Shop recently diagnosed/replace bad neutral switch (def'y helped, but still have some issues), and adjusted throttle (was not opening and closing quite all the way). Getting the 420 much easier/quicker since neutral switch (makes sense, since nuetral switch off is a precondition for cat readiness). So...pretty sure I have no MAF, just a MAP. That had occurred to me, but thinking idle would be wacky if MAP were bad. My idle is pretty steady. Do you still think it's possible? One thing: recently I was setting up a tent, after driving for hours, on a cool night. So, engine off, key on, headlights on, and...my radiator fan stayed on **way** longer than I'd expect. Got me thinking about my coolant temperature sensor. What symptoms would I look for if that were bad?

Ok, not sounding likely. I did replace my front O2 sensor with an oem one. Still getting the code. Still having some driveability issues (hesitation on takeoff, occasional, but not often at all: what feels like misfire, weird rough acceleration, and due to the above: tough to drive smoothly in stop/slow and go traffic). Haven't replaced the rear O2 sensor. Could that be my problem?

So, I'm getting the 420 code continuously now in my '02 OBW. Not really wanting to dump the $$$ into a new cat until I'm more confident that I'm not running rich for as-yet-unknown reasons, precipitating the code and/or killing the cat. However, suddenly I have a chance to get an OEM subie cat with very few miles on it, for very little $$$. Only problem is: it's OE for an '05 Outback XT (which is, sadly, recently totalled). My car is an '02 Outback. So...any chance these two cats are compatible? As I cannot inspect the '05 unit 'till end of next week, but have to decide now, I've got three questions: 1) Is it, by any chance, plug-and-play, as far as fitting it, or would I have to weld? 2) Would the O2 sensors be compatible. Like, could I screw mine into that cat (they are both new), or are they a different size? Or alternatively, could I use the O2 sensors that come with the '05 cat; would they get along with my '02 ECU? 3) Would the function of the cat be compatible with my engine/ecu? Pretty much the same engine, so I'm thinking yes. Key point being: will it NOT set the 420 (cat efficiency) code?