Lawsonmh15
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Posts posted by Lawsonmh15
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Basically, the recipe to reproduce is to brake while downshifting
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The codes are CO054-BLS and CO057-VDC
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Any idea why these lights would come on out of the blue. Wrx only has 20k miles and they come in after driving a short while.
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1
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Thanks for the input. I haven't heard back from them since Monday so this should be interesting.
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You've tried the inexpensive stuff. Unfortunately the symptom you describe is the beginning of a headgasket failure. Exhaust gasses are blowing past a small "break" in one of the headgaskets. That causes an air pocket to form in the cooling system, resulting in intermittant overheating without any particular pattern to it.
My '99 Legacy GT is doing this same thing.....temperature guage will display overheating ONLY when the car is brought to a stop after being on the highway at 75 mph for a while. When the car is stopped, If I momentarily rev the engine, the temperature guage moves back down, because the coolant circulates faster when the engine is revved.
Headgasket replacement is inevitable.
^^^^^^This.
Mine did this exact same thing before mine failed. If you had the coolant drained and filled recently, I'm guessing they didn't do the burp procedure properly and created a bubble. Depending on when it was done, you may still be able to burp it, but...
I got the shop that caused the failure to pay for the replacement.
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I'm getting low-balled by my insurance company. They're offering $2,550 and according to KBB, it should be about a grand higher than that. I'm wondering if anyone here recently recently purchased one or sold one with ~190K miles and what you paid or got for it. Mine was in pretty good shape prior and fit into the "Good" category.
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Hi, my 1999 Legacy SUS was recently totaled and I'm in dispute with the insurance company but perhaps I'm wrong and am hoping one of you good folks can help shed some light on the subject as google has NOT.
I thought my vehicle was of the limited edition ilk and the vehicle was was repaired (body work) prior to my purchase several years ago. My question is this, "how can I tell for sure if my SUS was a standard edition or a limited edition"?
Here's what it has:
hood w scoop
rear spoiler
gold and silver wheels
heated seats
leather
walnut interior trim around gear shift, stereo, door panels
CD
Sliding sun roof
Power windows and door locks
Keyless Entry
ABS
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Before performing surgery, it would be nice if you could show us a picture of what/where it was glowing... just sayin'
If you were to remove the two screws holding the top of the console between the two front seats, you'd know exactly what I'm talking about. Bright orange and produced smoke.
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Ok. Before you start putting in a new wiring harness I think you need to take a look at the basics. Have you tested your charging system? The fact that the car ran fine for a time after you replaced the battery tells me it could be a bad alternate. I said this before....real simple test, 13 to 14v at batt terminals with engine running . Look at the obvious stuff first.
That's the next direction we're going with it. Tomorrow I'm taking it in so they can slap a new one in. Hopefully that will resolve it, but if not, they may need to to weigh the option of replacing the vehicle a bit more seriously...
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After sitting there for two hours, his dude told me I could start calling subie specialists and they'd pay for it, and the repairs, but I asked if we could just try replacing the battery, (which I mentioned when I showed up) and since about 2:30 this afternoon I haven't had any of the issues I was having... wow. Honestly, it runs better than it has in years and my gas mileage is back to ~400 mi/tank.
I actually feel bad for my buddy since he can't afford to fire the guy until a suitable replacement is found. Unfortunately, the dudes who have applied have been mainly from grease monkey or one trick ponies who have experience in one area. If anyone from the Denver area reads this, has good experience doing a multitude of vehicles and is looking for a job, and is very reliable these guys see a ton of vehicles each day and have a service contract with Comcast in Centennial. They pay well and have more business than they can handle. PM me if interested.
Tomorrow morning will be a good test to verify whether the problem is gone or not. Ever since my E brake cable tried to become a nuclear reactor, it has been horrible first thing in the morning so it will be interesting to see how it reacts. I may have them take a look at the ignition too since one of the manager's, whom I also trust, said he thought it could be due to something ignition related. Now that I have seen it here too, I'll likely ask about it. Nonetheless, until they get a solid replacement in for their current guy, I won't be back for any reason, which kind of sucks...
I know that there have been very few of these types of fubars at their shop, and it's weird because the two managers are friends, and I know they were both incredibly embarrassed that I went in for a coolant change, which resulted in a blown HG (which was everyone on these boards pointed to and I went back to over, and over) as well as how the owner handled the whole situation. I can't imagine how bad they feel knowing that the posts here were what diagnosed the problem again. I'm kind of amazed that mechanics don't come here and post when they get stumped. I do computer repair and I'm not ridiculous enough to believe I'm going to conjure up every answer to every problem I come across. That's why taking the time to find the best boards available is a worthwhile endeavor for anything. Google's pretty helpful too.
At this point I've lost the direction with this post and it's time to throw in the towel and call it a night.
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well, i think the first thing, is to tell us what year and model car you have?
Start with the basic.......is the check engine light on? If so, get the codes read, then fix what the codes tell you that needs to be fixed.
99 sus
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Wait you mean INSIDE the car the cable was glowing? I can't even imagine a way to explain that.
Jarl is on the right track. If the battery cable shorted out, the battery is probably F'd. Both power and ground cables need to be replaced. Don't forget the small wire that grounds the body to the battery.
All in all, you need to find a new shop. And a new friend too if he's been working on your car.
Yes. Bright orange.
99 SUS.
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So, the last time was active here, it was due to my friend's (manages a shop locally) mechanic improperly changed my coolant, resulting in a blown HG. Believe it or not, it took about 6 months to get it resolved and the resolution was that I HAD to pay for the parts and they would comp the labor.
So, since that was as good as it got, I took it. Aside from the fact that it took them 7 days to do a 2 day job, when I drove it home after the repair, I could hear relays clicking from the DS dash area. It also would shudder when the relay(s) clicked, with the end result being it completely died while driving, wouldn't start, and smoke came out of the E-Brake compartment. I looked in to find that the cable was orangish red...
I phoned my friend, the manager, told him my car died and was trying to blow me up and he came down and towed me back to his shop. As we looked it over, we noticed that the positive cable that goes from the battery to the starter was black in a certain area and after getting some light on it, it became obvious that the shield had melted and that the cable was grounding out on the engine...
The next day they found five minutes to replace the cable and said it was all good. I go and pick it up thinking, "that's kind of a HUGE ************ up" for the solution to be as simple as "we replaced the battery cable and it's all good".
It was. Now I hear relays click and it periodically feels like it shudders or loses power while driving, and more often at idle at stop lights. It has apparently also taken a liking to display dash lights (mainly the E-brake) for no particular reason and only every so often...
I took it back in, they diagnosed it to be the Transmission control module, ordered it and I took it in today and they said it solved the problem, but it wouldn't go over 10MPH... However, upon picking it up I noticed that the time on the clock hadn't changed so I called my friend to ask if they tried resetting the ECU and he said no.
:banghead:At this point I'm amazed they have any business at all, but since my friend is looking for a new ecu, I let it go at that. My gut feeling is that the bulk of major electronics need to be replaced, (ECU, TCM, alternator, battery, relays) but I'm not a mechanic, albeit I appear to know more than someone who considers themselves such...
So, here's my question, What could it be??? Clearly his mechanics are terrible and any place I've called for help has given me the "$150 diag and we can tell you" line, but since it took like 3 posts from members here to diagnose my past problems, I'm hopeful this will be about the same. I'm REALLY hoping someone here has forgotten to zip-tie their positive cable and had the same result and can definitively tell me what it is. I realize this should be the mechanic's job, but as you can see, I have ZERO faith in their abilities, and the utmost in the community's, so thanks in advance? I'm hoping it's as simple as resetting the ECU with the new TCM installed, or new ecu and tcm, but since they're completely responsible for any and all labor and parts, I couldn't care less I guess. Thanks again.
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Sounds good, I'll likely be contacting you today.
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Looks like I have a HG issue that I need to have taken care of, however, I'm thinking it's going to be hard for me to part with $1500-$2300 to get it squared away. Is there anyone in the Denver area who is willing to get this fixed for ~$1k?
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It's looking like pops isn't interested in having it done over there... So, we're back to square one.
He had suggested it could be a problem with coolant flow (not sure how I'd check that) and he also suggested that maybe the T-Stat I had installed could be a problem. It had been sitting in the box for about 4 years. Not sure where to go with this.
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I'm assuming that pulling the T-Stat would result in a non-functional heater. Honestly, I'm at a loss here. I have a friend who went through this and a year later had the same problem and traded it in. Not sure which direction to go. My dad has a garage and tools, but I'm wondering how big a job this really is providing I have the diagrams and instructions from ALLDATA...
The alternative would be to trade it in for a new, used car and even then, it would likely have 70K+ miles on it so I wonder what kind of problems I would be getting myself in to.
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if it gets hot enough to run poorly or erratically you will probably need a different engine. if you have to drive it, loose the "vent" plug on top of the radiator, driver's side. it will allow the "gases" to vent, escape, and save some coolant. and check the level every AM and top off if needed.
this is not a fix, just a way to drive it, hopefully without damaging the engine, until you make a decision.
change the oil.
how loose does it need to be? This won't send coolant out of the vent plug? Also, how would I know if I've damaged the rod bearings? Will the shop doing the repair be able to tell?
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at this point, I'm not really sure what to do as it has been driven several times. I just recently got the oil changed (maybe a week ago with two overheats since), but what assurance do I have that the engine won't go in the next few thousand miles?
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A range of pricing is typical of a shop that works more closely with the customer - I do that all the time. The difference is that *some* people like to have choices - choices on brands of parts used, choices on what to replace that is "labor free" because of the engine being apart for something else already.... etc. The $1950 quote is from a different type of shop - the way they do business is different - you drop it off and they call you when it's done. Whatever needs to be replaced *in their opinion* for them to warantee their work is what is done and the high quote is to cover their asses. If it comes in well under that then the rest is just pure profit because you aren't going to see a dime of it.
You need to STOP DRIVING IT. Every time you overheat the engine you comprimise the oil - a few of these and you will be very dissapointed when you replace the head gaskets and the rod bearings fail in another 10k miles. You should, at the very least, change the oil EVERY time it overheats. You will kill it if you don't.
There are certain costs that are built-in to that job - parts and machine work mostly. The parts, fluids, filters, etc will run about $400 and the machine work is typically about $200 to have the heads fully rebuilt and surfaced. That's $600 that's built in. Labor would be about 8 to 10 hours at whatever their shop-rate is. About 2 to 3 to pull the engine, 1 to 2 to tear it down, and then about those figures on the assembly and installation side as well. I charge $40 an hour and that works out to about $400. So typically a head gasket/valve job runs about $1000 out the door for people that bring these to me.
I would be wary of any "import" shop - what brand parts do they use, etc? Subaru's do not like many of the aftermarket parts that are availible and some of them need to be downright avoided for a lasting repair. Head gaskets are a big deal and they are ONLY bought at the dealer by people around this community. Same goes for all the other gaskets used in that engine and also a few other choice items like the thermostat, etc.
GD
Ok, that being said, how do I know when it Overheats? I have seen the gauge make it up to the high end, but have yet to have it drive erratically in any way shape or form. Has it overheated?
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Well, I just got a quote from Allstar Imports (apparently Subaru experts as well) and although they're a bit further away, they quoted $1000-$1500 and said they replace the water pump, belts, reseal oil pump, etc... I had never heard of them until today, and wondering if perhaps anyone here has dealt with them. I have recently undertaken some extra work which has me traveling upwards of 120 miles/day and really can't afford to take the risk of blowing the engine up completely.
The serious bummer here is that the Subie's paid off, and I was actually looking at buying an older, truck for the wiring work, but with this repair, it looks like it will be a bit longer. That being said, I can't afford to pay someone the money, who doesn't fully understand the work, and/or creates more problems in the end.
I guess more than anything I'm looking for some help in finding someone reasonably priced that knows the work involved and has experience in doing it. Does it seem odd to anyone else that these guys gave me a range of price when others have had a solid price for the HG repair? I guess I can understand as it may have to do with replacing other parts (i.e. water pump, belts, plugs, etc...)
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Subaru's are famous for HG problems. Sometimes they overheat for the normal reasons. leaks. The last 3 cars brought to me for HG's, 2 were water pumps, seems like no one changes them at the first timing belt change. One was a hose at the throttle body. All were overheating which can cause the head gaskets to blow.
Just food for thought.
Is there an easy way to diagnose?
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This is definitely a rough one. Just spoke to SilverStar (Subie Specialists about a block from my house) and they were saying it would be $1950... Seems steep compared to the estimates I've seen on the board.
ABS, VDMS, hill start come on. 2009 WRX
in 1990 to Present Legacy, Impreza, Outback, Forester, Baja, WRX&WrxSTI, SVX
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So, my buddy referenced the codes and there is an open recall #06-44-12r... That being said, Go Subaru "can't seem to locate that recall". Now, I know I'm more skeptical than others, but if I have to pay those Jack offs $140 to pull codes, then another $waytoomuch, I'm liable to just drive it throw their showroom window.