mattejb

update: Some good news...I have learned my car will pass inspection come this June since it is just visual. Car is still running...No CEL for the past few days, but I am sure it will be back. When the CEL is on it is just P0304, P0302 has not been showing up. I have not put any $ into it besides gas and oil.

update: Car is still running...CEL or flashing CEL P0304 and now also P0302, shaking at idle. I have not put any $ into it besides gas and oil. It does seem to be starting and running a little better now that temps are 40s/50s. Ill keep you posted if it improves or explodes.

update: Car is still running with the same problems...CEL or flashing CEL P0304, shaking at idle. I have also been getting worse gas mileage then I was before (I think that is a mix of temps in the single digits/teens and 100% city driving/WOOT! in the snow. ) I havnt put any $ into it besides gas and oil. Ill keep you posted if it improves or explodes.

I am currently still in college with no money, I will be graduating/getting a job May/June. If I am better off fixing the car before I trade it in I will make that decision before I trade it in. As of right now I will just keep you guys posted...some might want to know how or if it will die.

Why spend the money I don't have to fix something that doesn't need to be fixed? So far the car still seems to be working for what I need it for.

Over the Christmas holiday I took the car on a few trips totaling 1,000 highway miles. Same issues, runs fine at speed but stop at a red light and the CEL starts flashing and the car will shake. I also had it looked at by a local Subaru mechanic while I was home. He tried changing spark plugs and fuel injectors and wires but none of it helped. Also he did a compression test and said that cylinder 4 has really low compression at idle and that it is probably a burned/bent valve or a cracked cylinder ring/head. He said if it is the cylinder it probably would have broken down by now and that if it is the valve it might currently be the worst it is going to get. So that is now two places telling me the same thing.

Thanks this is the answer i was looking for and what I will do if the cylinder really is completely dead.

No...I just pulled the fuel injector wire. Maybe a quart, possibly two (maybe three..i dont check it all the time) between oil changes (3000 miles) if do a lot of highway driving. I believe it is temperature related in someway if that makes any sense. Ill give the dealer a call. it was $48 total and i got "free" front and back windshield wipers. But still if it was misdiagnosed... Also, do u think this could be something like a bad fuel filter or something along those lines. It idles really bad when I come to a stop quickly after driving "fast" (45-50mph) . If i come to a stop gradually sometimes it is pretty smooth idling and then gets worse as it sits. Then the woomp woomp woomp sound starts and the whole car shacks.

So i pulled the plug on #4 injector and P0304 Code went away and I got P0207. All good right? Well I drive the car around for a couple miles and it drives really bad with the fuel injector not working. I could instantly tell I was missing a lot of power and could hear a high pitched sound (belts?) I only hear when I am around 4000-6000rpm. I would even say the shaking was worse because I could feel it even as I am accelerating. I think I would rather risk my car blowing up then drive like this. So I reconnected the injector.:-\

Well am going to buy an new car in 6 months (probably 2010 legacy) and junk the outback. I was just wondering if you think it might be able stay alive till then without putting any more money into it. I am not planing on keeping this car till 300,000 miles. So if its possible that's what I would like to do. Other wise I am looking at buying a car sooner new/used. I don't want to put $1000 into the outback only to have my 4eat blow on me.

Has anyone on here ran a car with only 3 out of 4 cylinders for a considerable amount of time with any luck? Say 6 months? Is that possible if everything goes "ok"? What do you think my chances are?

I honestly have no idea about the other cylinders. I took the car to the dealership because I had a similar problem last year on cylinder 1. They replaced the exhaust valve on it and everything worked fine. The dealership told me that cylinder 4 has no compression and would need to do a tear down to find out what is really wrong with it. I passed. They said I should be fine to keep driving it..once it starts stalling I should get rid of it. I have been driving it like is for a couple months now. Its a 2.5 (1997 outback is only 2.5) Highway driving means driving on the highway 60-75mph, No CEL comes on. City driving, stopping and going causes all the problems. Also its worse the colder the weather gets. And the CEL only comes on after the car reaches temp.

So my 1997 subaru outback w/ 230000 miles has no compression in cylinder 4. So I am running on 3 cylinders. It idles very rough and the CEL flashes at me sometimes. Highway driving seems OK. Should I just put a piece of tap over the CEL and forget about it? How long do you think it could last?

I had it fixed with a clamp. Now 6 months later is broken again. Lets try that again.

UPDATE: ok so its that time of year again. The weather is cold and my car is shaking at ideal and giving me P0302 and P0304. I have not replaced anything since last year. Car was fine all spring/summer/fall. If i start the car and let it warm up to temp it seems to run fine. But if stopping at red lights while still cold it shacks and flashes p0302 p0304. Also i do get a Pop POP pop...if I take my foot of the throttle when wanting to slow down. This might be related to my exhaust flange breaking again.http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=84410&highlight=mattejb <see here Easy fix just let it run for 10mins before driving? Help.

It was a balance and a rotate..sorry. But they did have to put some kind of balancing weight that was missing. Its hard to tell if its vibrating as bad. I will have to wait till I drive on a longer trip. Though i noticed there is a vibration in a lower gear while accelerating. It goes away if accelerate through it or if I let off the gas and let it to shift. The highway vibrating is much worse on some roads then others. The axle boot was fixed but they took everything apart and inspected it before putting it all together. The clicking started after they did the axle boot. As did the vibration. Its kind of hard to get it to click if you want it to click. Like if i turn the wheel all the way on way or the other and go forward or revers it doesnt always make the sound. It really shows itself in normal city/parking lot style driving.

Do you have a problem pulling into parking spaces or making tight turns? YES (It is much better with the FWD fuse in, but I still have the clicking when giving it gas while making sharp turns) Do all your tires match and are properly inflated? YES just had them aligned as well. When was the last time the transmission fluid was changed? ??? no clue possibly years. I know I have torque bind but I just dont know if this clicking is coming from that. Should I try changing my transmission fluid?

I took it to the dealer...They said the noise is coming from the torque binding of the AWD clutch. They also said the car was missing a weight in one of the wheels so they did an alignment and "fixed" that problem. Total price $30 (including a Free 3.0 outback rental for the day) What do you guys think? Just let it tear itself apart? Would driving with the FWD fuse in save the clutch? Is that safe or will I get more problems? So I just try doing a Transmission flush?

Car: 1997 Outback Miles: 225000 Transmission: Auto Problems: When making sharp turns left or right (more so when left) when parking I can hear clicking that speeds up or slows down as i go faster or slower. It seems to only happen when I am on the gas while turning. Though I may be wrong.5 months ago I had a torn front drivers side axle boot replaced. I probably drove about 2,000 miles on it torn. though After the dealer fixed the axle boot I noticed the car would vibrate slightly around 70mph. Just enough to annoy you. It didn't bother me too much so I didn't say anything. Its getting worse, now it seems to vibrate 65-75. But more so on some roads then others. I am thinking these problems could be from a couple of things. Need new wheel bearings, Axle, transmission, alignment or all of the above. I have no tears on the Axle boots, I checked the power searing fluid. Have not had the transmission fluid changed as far as I know in years if ever. I do have torque bind at slow speeds as well. Any help? :-\ PS: I really beat this car hard in the winter months.

ok thanks guys. Ill take a closer look at it later. Its too cold and snowy out now. Ill probly end up driving around with it rumbling for a month or so. Money is tight. I am from Hazleton. But I go to school at RIT, in rochester ny, thats were i am at now.

1997 outback 217k So when I started my car today it sounded like I was starting a modded WRX. Only problem is it sounded like it was coming from rite below me. I get out to look and cant see and damage to the exhaust system. It seems to be coming from around the catalytic converter. It seems to smell alittle more then normal. Its pretty load. Iam not upset that its load, But wondering what you guys would do. Iam I losing backpresser? Are other problems going to come from this?

Everything is OEM. All they told me was it was a front exhaust valve on cyl 1 that was tight and they replaced it. They thought it was the fuel injector but then realized it was not (I told them it problly wasnt) The Valve was done at Van Bortel. P0301 has not come back, car was running much better. Now this morning it threw the P0302/P0304. I cleared it and it hasnt come back on yet today. PS: how much does a Valve adjustment cost (how long does it take/ how many parts) This car would not have had it since the HG problem around 100k...now its nearing 217k.

plugs/wires/coil/battery are all basicly new or have been checked and are fine. I do not know if the valves were adjusted but i dont believe they were. Just that the one on cyl 1 was changed becasue it was tight. I just cleared the codes so ill keep you posted. I am hoping it is just the cold.

So today while driving my car I got these 2 codes after pulling from a stop. P0302 and P0304. #2 and #4 missfire. About a month ago I was getting P0301, but was fixed with changing a valve. Do you think the valves might need changing on #2 and #4 as well? As of rite now there is no shaking at idle, like it was with P0301. Also note that today was really cold out Probly dipping into the negatives during the night and about 5 degrees when it happend and the car was still just warming up. It happened inbetween being cold and coming up to temp. I have noticed it runs the "roughest" at idle when its just about up to temp. But once warm runs smooth. 1997 2.5 outback 216500 miles 4eat

Problem seems to be fixed. Front Exhaust valve was tight and binding. The front exhaust valve has been adjusted with a new shim valve. Running smooth, no CEL. What problems could I expect later?