beezer

I was kind of wondering here. In the owners manual, under towing, it says not to tow an awd faster than 30 kph and no more than 50km.(with all 4 wheels on the ground) As far as I can see towing and coasting are pretty much the same thing right? So why would they recomend this, is it a safety issue or can it cause damage to the drivetrain somehow? Beezer

Like Legacy777 said, look at the coolant temp. sensor. Seems to be a fairly common problem and it also seems to rarely throw a code. For $30 it is probably worth a shot. Tunered I 'm pretty sure most of the sensors are working before the engine gets up to temp.(except for the o2 sensor for a brief time when cold) Since the engine is controlled by the computer it is probably essential that it is receiving info from the sensors to make it work. Good luck Beezer

In my owners manual in the manual trans part, it has written in bold letters "never coast in neutral". I would say they put that in there for a reason, what the exact reasons are I don't know. They recommend to downsift to use the engine as a brake. That should probably answer the question. Beezer

Have checked out the TPS and the IAC? That's my short and sweet response. Good luck Beezer

Did you check to see if there is voltage to the MAF? The car will start with the MAF disconnected, but will only run for about 3 seconds. Seems to me that is probably the place to look. Good Luck Beezer

I haven't bought a coil yet so I don't now the price on that. The wires I got for around 40.00 the plugs 4-5 a piece the VC gaskets 75.00. I live in Canada too. Go to your nearest parts store and get some prices you will probably be much happier. Got to go, someone will help with the testing etc. Beezer

Holy crap! What kind of plugs are they puttin in the car? I would agree with their recomendations..... not sure if the valve cover gaskets would cause any of these problems. I would start with the plugs and wires. If you have a multimeter you can test the coil pack to give you an idea of whether it is good or bad. None of this is hard to do, save yourself $900.00. Beezer. Oh forgot... any parts store should be able to get you those things. I have found it is mostly the sensors and some of the seals I have to go to the dealer for.

Just a little tip from when I did mine. The pin on the passenger side can be punched out more easily if you put the punch in a socket on a 3" extension. I think it is the exhaust that is kinda in the way. You can take a little better swing at it without worrying about hitting something you don't want to. Good luck with the ball joints, they can make a person very mad. Beezer

Might think about replacing the coolant temp. sensor. It is in the same general area as the IAC. Pretty common problem, it doesn't always throw a code, pretty cheap fix too. Beezer

Yeah the haynes manual has the testing procedures for it. It is located just above the crank pulley, it is small, black and has 2 wires coming from it. Just a long shot here, but, I noticed when I did my timing belt the crank sensor was corroded and had a heck of a time gettting it out. Maybe the corrosion is screwing things up a little. Might be a long shot but worth a try maybe. Beezer

I am sure you are right about subaru's, and that is all that matters since this is a subaru forum. Some vehicles you do have to check the trans fluid with the vehicle in neutral. Not all cars are like this, but some are. There are many people who say this, check out forums about rv'ing, plowing etc. I know the older dodges with the cummins are like this. Oh well, if it's not a subaru it's not worth talking about here. Beezer Have a Merry Christmas everybody!

There very well could be a bad connection at the IAC. Took me a long time to figure this out on my car. Good luck Beezer

First, I do not know about subaru auto trans, so keep this in mind. I know alot of american made cars and trucks do not circulate the trans fluid in park. For guys who snow plow and haul trailers around they will let the trans sit in neutral to let it cool down. Like I said Subes may be different, but the mechanic wasn't completely wrong in saying that fluid does not circulate in park, some trans don't. Beezer

Maybe look at the coolant temp. sensor. They don't always throw a code.

Good job! It almost looks as good as my car..............yeah right! Cleanest part on my car is the hood latch! What kind of boost are you looking at running? Is there any issues with the trans when adding that kind of power? Will you have to upgrade the cooling system? You still have the NA rad right? What does it cost to put your car on the dyno? Good job again! Beezer

Did the mechanic check out the codes again? What were they? How is the fuel filter? What screw was adjusted before? If it was the idle screw it could the TPS out of whack possibly. I imagine the check engine light will probably tell you where to go looking. Good luck! Beezer

Yeah my subaru gives me peace of mind with the familly in the car. And that stupid grin at the sight of snow that subaru drivers only know. Good luck Frag; hope your wife has a speedy recovery! Beezer

OK I'm a little confused here. What actually gets out of whack when you clean the TB. I've read about the coating on the TB, and that shouldn't be taken off. Why then would Subaru recommend TB cleaning? What has to be recalibrated? the TPS?, the idle screw?, the butterfly thing?my head?(a given there) Thanks, Beezer

Brain damage.............yeah I got that. Could it be oil dripping onto the exhaust that you are smelling? Beezer

I guess that makes sense when you think about it. Thanks

Is there any check engine light on? Check out legacy777 website for retrieving trouble codes. Could be the crank sensor, maybe the igniter. If you have a Haynes repair manual, it gives a pretty good description on how to test everything. Beezer

I would make sure all the pulleys are there. Check and make sure the idler pulley on the bottom is there. Also make sure all the sprockets and pulleys are in good working condition. The mechanic should have checked this..... but who knows. Not sure why it would skip. At least for my '92, these belts are on there pretty tight. I would make sure this problem gets resolved before driving it anymore. Lucky twice, the third time........ could be bad. Beezer

I would check out the knock sensor (code 22). I'm not sure if that is the whole problem or not. It is located under the intake manifold on the drivers side of the car. It is a small black circle with 2 wires coming from it. It is probably cracked pretty badly. If it has a black connector, most people recommend to replace it with the new grey connector even a code isn't being thrown. I think it cost me 90-100, that is Canadian dollars though. The fuel purge solenoid isn't a big big deal, but should be looked at sometime. Start there, then go looking for other stuff if this doesn't fix it. Beezer

Well, I now know what the problem is! A bad connection and the "C" terminal on the air control valve. I'm not sure why the fuel purge solenoid code would come up too with it though. This morning I hooked up all my little wires to the MAF and the IAC in the hope that the car would act up when I started it this morning........ it didn't. I measured the voltages on the IAC and the voltage produced by the MAF. Every thing seemed fine. The voltages across the IAC stayed pretty steady and so did the MAF. I thought maybe I could reproduce the symptoms by disconnecting a wire from either the IAC or the MAF. The car just dies when the MAF is disturbed. When I pulled the wire on the "C" terminal on the IAC.............you get a car running on 2 cylinders. I'm sure the fuel purge solenoid is fine, I tested it again yesterday and it is fine. I cleaned the solenoid also. I hooked up some wire to the solenoid (I removed it from the car) and hooked a ring connector to the positive on the battery. I cut 2 small lengths of clear tubing and put them on the valve openings. I filled the one tube with some brake cleaner and then touched the other wire to negative post on the battery. This sucked the cleaner through the solenoid and out the other tube. Does it help............. don't know. I sprayed the connections on the IAC, MAF and the purge solenoid with some electrical cleaner, hope this helps. At least I know what the problem is now. Thanks for the help everbody! Beezer

The prices here in Ont. are much lower than that. I would probably wait and look for a better deal. A similiar car here sells for around $7000.00 cdn. Beezer