Olnick Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 After all, it's what makes a Subaru, a Subaru! Right? I need a little help. Back story: I met up with my son, Eric, and we flew to Colorado to pick up a car. Our good buddy Larry Dew had dropped an EJ22 engine into a '98 Outback for him. We roadtripped back over the Thanksgiving weekend. Car drove beautifully, although it did have a CEL on--P1520 (Radiator Fan Relay 1 Circuit High Input.) Went to have emissions checked and it failed. There was another DTC--P0106 (MAP/Barometric Pressure Circuit Range/Performance Problem.) I futzed around with it for two days and finally threw in the towel--went to an Authorized Emissions Specialist and "bought" a waiver. Now the P0106 has disappeared--but we have a new code--P0441 (Evap System Incorrect Purge Flow.) And still have the P1520 too. Any Gurus in the Seattle area willing to take a peek under the hood and offer help, guidance, suggestions? It would be greatly appreciated. You can PM me or call me at 808-2 eight 6-5 four 7 eight. (I'm flying home Sunday, 12/13.) Mahalo, Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 (edited) The 2.5s have a funny emissions setup. Is the hood original? Should have a VIN sticker and an emissions/vacuum routing label. You need to make the vacuum hose routing match that label. That will get rid of your MAP and Evap codes. No good news on the p1520. Connect the green test mode connectors under the dash and turn the key on, then check to see that the Main fan relay 1 clicks and the fan operates. If the relay doesn't click, you can try swapping with one next to it. FSM says this code could be because of a short to battery voltage of the control circuit for the main fan relay (12v applied direct to ECM). To check this you remove the relay and check for 12v on both terminals for the control side of the relay. The last step of the diagnostic says, "repair battery short circuit in radiator fan relay 1 control circuit. After repair, replace ECM." Edited December 11, 2015 by Fairtax4me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 Thanks, Fairtax. Will dive in again tomorrow. Love the finality of that last statement: "After repair, replace ECM." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 (edited) That's the "good news" part! 0.o Good luck! Hopefully just a bad relay! Edited December 11, 2015 by Fairtax4me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 If the fan doesn't work in the TEST mode you could verify that the ECU isn't making the ground connection to the relay coil by manually grounding that point. If the fan now works and there is no trouble with the wire connection to the ECU you have found that problem. This is a fairly common issue. The purge problem may happening because some hoses got hooked up incorrectly to the wrong points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 Thanks Cougar. I'll certainly try that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 @ Fairtax: Here's the sequence of events . . . we arrived in Seattle with two codes, P0106 and P1520. The Emissions Specialist couldn't determine the vacuum hose routing because the engine had been swapped. He suggested trying a different source of vacuum and hooked the hose from the PSSSV (solenoid) to the nipple on the backside of intake runner #3. Result was that P0106 disappeared and P0441 came on! (Gas mileage went to he11 too!) So I switched the routing back to the way Larry Dew had it--PSSSV to the tee under the passenger side intake runners. The P0441 went away and P0106 came back! Noticed also that there was no "filter" in the line between PSSSV and the tee. Should we look for a replacement MAP Sensor? Do they go bad? Get weak? Any way to test the signal? Is it suffering because it prefers high-altitude Colorado over sea-level Seattle?!! Should we replace the little filter? Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 @ Cougar: I think you hit the nail on the head--I have a much better understanding of P1520 and what's happening now. But I need some "how to do it" help! I bench tested the Aux Fan and the motor works. I swapped relays around in the under-hood fuse box and they all seemed to work--but in Test Mode the Aux Fan isn't being commanded to turn on. Where, and how and what, do I manually ground to check the control circuit? Do I have to physically remove the fuse box mounting from the car to get at the wiring underneath? And the big question: Is the ECU possibly fried at this point?!! Really appreciate any help or guidance you can offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I suggest you try a new MAP sensor to see if that will fix the issue. You might be able to get a used one from a salvage yard. To activate the fan relay locate the wire that ties to the ECU for the relay circuit you want to test out. Grounding that lead should turn on the fan. You can also what the voltage on that lead. The voltage should be close to zero volts when the fan is supposed to be ON. A grounded lead. When the fan is turned off the voltage will go high. If the fan is supposed to be ON and the voltage doesn't go low then the ECU has a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 The Emissions Specialist couldn't determine the vacuum hose routing because the engine had been swapped. Not much of a specialist is he? The engine is just a source of vacuum, it doesn't care what's hooked up to it. The components (MAP, evap, EGR, etc) need vacuum at the correct times. The various solenoids (PSSSV, evap purge, EGR) control that. The vacuum hose routing on the engine just needs to look like the diagram that's on the bottom of the hood, then all of the components are happy, and that makes the ECU happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 Thank you Gentlemen for your excellent input. I'm no longer in Seattle but if/when the weather improves up there, Eric will pursue your suggestions. Mahalo nui loa! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 Question about the relays: When I was swapping them around I noticed they had 4 spade terminals--two silver colored and two copper colored. But I saw no printed diagram or molded-in markings to indicate what is what! Anyone know which ones are control circuit (+ and -) and which are power circuit (+ and -)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 On these the copper terminals are usually the high current side/switched side. Plated or silver terminals will be the control/coil side. Quick check is the poke them with an ohmmeter. One set of terminals will show some amount of resistance (8-15 ohms maybe, depends on the relay). The other set will show either infinite resistance or 0 resistance depending on if its a normally open (most common) or normally closed relay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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