Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

P0420 2005 SubeeLegacy WGN Bank 1 replacement ?


Recommended Posts

SO I have a 2005 Legacy Wgn with about 2005,000 miles on it  . And of course the CEL is on ! Well it's always code P0420 , “Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1) , Ya, YA ! So I'm in Massachusetts and the car is 16/17 years old . CEL doesn't matter anymore for inspection !

I have been doing a lot of highway driving and like to use my cruise control , so what I do is get my handy-dandy OBDII checker and clear the code and then you can use cruise again 50 about 50 miles, which works for me  ! Well that's getting old ! So I'm thinking of actually fixing bank 1 ! I know there are dozens of systems out there, Ebay junk, the big box parts stores etc. My mechanic says that Subaru OEM bank 1 is the only one that lasts , it better for $1,200  ! Well my question IS, is there any decent after market bank 1 out there ? And just WHO makes Subaru OEM bank 1's , maybe get it direct?

The car runs fine, getting great gas mileage !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if we 'assume' (dangerous I know, but a starting place....) EITHER; 1. the cat is not 'lighting off', or, the sensor is unable to report correctly (bad, cut wiring, etc.);

I have never needed to to try it, but if the cat is NOT working, the temp at its output will be the same or lower than the inlet side. If it IS working, the temp at the outlet will be HIGHER (by maybe 100*F)  than the inlet. Try some measurements at the pipes with an infrared therm.

Or, get live data and look at the sensor's voltage.

One sometimes overlooked cause of P0420 is exhaust leaks.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...