Subaru - Outback :: Intermittent Check Engine / Code PO420 - Catalyst System Efficiency
My 2004 Outback now has 120K, has always been maintained and repaired at the dealership (except tires and battery), and has always run great! I've had the plastick-y parts replaced over the last few years including head gaskets when one cracked and made smoke. In July I got a jump from a AAA tow truck, who said my battery tested as needing replacement.
In September my check engine light went on, and the dealer found the code PO420-catalyst system efficiency. They didn't seem to look any further into causes. The cat converter replacement was to cost $2521. They reportedly tested the battery as OK as part of their routine checkup. I declined the new cat converter till learning more. Meanwhile, my check engine light seemed to cycle on, then off, then on, then off . . . every several days.
In December I had the battery checked at Sears, who replaced it under warranty. So I guess it wasn't okay after all. After that my check engine light stayed off for somewhat longer than usual, then back on for most of January. I was just about to give in and get the repair done when it cycled off briefly a few days ago.
I've lost trust in the dealership because of their battery check which differed from others before and after theirs; and for their lack of specific diagnostics. The light is back on and I don't know what to do next.
Subaru - Outback :: Clunking Sound Only When Accelerating - What Could It Be
My 1999 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport recently got new tires. After, I really started to notice clunking noises when accelerating, but they would stop when the brakes were pressed. It is sometimes loud, other times it may be harder to hear. My dad says the car has been doing it for a while now. When I first got the car in 2011, I remember the car would creak repeatedly when slowing down, but it had to be the right circumstances for the vehicle to be noisy when coming to a stop. Now it does the clunking noise (gets faster as the car goes faster) only when accelerating, does not creak or make noise when turning.
View 3 RepliesSubaru - Outback :: 2006 - Wobble / Shudder While Accelerating
Took my 06 Outback (106K miles) in to have the right front inner & outer CV boots/axle assembly replaced (one of the boots had torn open and was slinging grease everywhere, so no surprise there). When I was driving home after picking the car up, I noticed what felt like a wobble or shudder that seemed to come from the center or right side of the car (I couldn't tell which). It would only happen while accelerating, kicking in at about 20mph and then seeming to go away at about 30mph. It didn't happen at all while coasting, braking, or decelerating. The more of a load there was on the engine, the worse the wobble/shudder was, and if I accelerated very very slowly it wouldn't happen at all or would be just barely perceptable. I didn't feel it in the steering wheel; it was more like something felt through the seat and the car itself, if that makes sense.
So I took the car back to the shop the next day, and although the owner of the shop said he drove the car and didn't notice anything, he decided to go ahead and do the job over under warranty just in case they had installed a bad axle or had otherwise "botched" (my word, not his) the job. He also rotated and rebalanced the tires on the off chance that's where the issue was. Within about 15-20 minutes of picking up the car the 2nd time, I started noticing the wobble/shudder again, always under the same conditions as I've already noted--only while accelerating, always kicking in at about 20mph and going away at about 30mph, and always worse the more of a load there was on the engine/the faster the acceleration. The only additional info I've been able to glean is that it doesn't ever seem to happen when I drive the car first thing in the morning, but starts to happen as the car warms up.
At a complete loss, I crawled under the car and starting looking and poking around for something that might be loose or knocking around. I was particularly interested in determining if there was any play in the U-joints or some kind of damage to the drive shaft. I didn't notice anything except for this--at different points on the drive shaft there are what I assume are balancing weights welded to the shaft. Well, I found a bare spot toward the rear end of the shaft that seems as if a weight used to be there (although I can't say with 100% certainty). The drive shaft is painted entirely black, as are the weights, except for this one shiny, bare-metal, square-shaped spot. "AHA" I thought to myself...balancing weight broke off (although how that would happen beats the heck out of me since it's fairly well-shielded from road debris...maybe it was just a cr@ppy weld), now the shaft is out of balance, hence the wobble/shudder. However, the more I thought about it, the more I wondered...if the shaft was out of balance, why would it only wobble while accelerating? I understand why it might only do it at certain speeds, but if a shaft is out of balance, shouldn't it wobble/shudder at those particular speeds regardless of whether I'm accelerating, decelerating, or coasting? And why would it not seem to happen until after the car had been driven for 15 minutes or so and had warmed up? Again, it seems like an out-of-balance drive shaft is going to be apparent regardless of the operating temperature of the car.
So, could I be on the right track? And if so, is the fix as simple as welding a new weight on there? Can this be done with the shaft still on the car? I think Subaru considers the shaft a non-serviceable part, but I don't want to trash and replace an otherwise perfectly good shaft for what seems like a pretty easy fix (albeit one that is probably beyond my own abilities).
Subaru - Outback :: 1997 - Oil Leaking Down Differential And Onto Exhaust
I recently rebuilt a 97 Subaru Outback Legacy, and everything was fine however, whenever I've taken it on the highway, I began noticing a distinct odor of burnt oil. Last night I got home and I actually began seeing smoke. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that oil was running down the differential, dripping onto the power steering and then onto the exhaust. When I looked at the flywheel it had no oil on it so I'm assuming it's not engine oil, however the oil that is dripping looks like engine oil (Im using mobile 1 full synthetic). The fluid levels are all ok, transmission levels ok, engine oil is a little more than full( I added 1 gallon before starting it up for the first time) and there is differential oil, but I know the smell of differential oil, and the oil that was dripping down the differential was not differential oil.
View 3 RepliesFord Exhaust System :: Exhaust Manifold Leaking / Louder Than Normal Knock When Accelerating
Leaking exhaust manifold? The truck has a much louder than normal "knock" when accelerating. At first I thought and had some bad fuel in the tank. I eliminated that with a full take of good fuel and some STP but the "knocking" continued. Then I thought that perhaps it wasn't firing on all cylinders but it felt like it had full power. I took it to my mechanic and he said it as a exhaust manifold leak. He said that he has never replaced the exhaust manifold but that it was a "nightmare" and expensive. He also said that it's not a safety issue but on the long run the leak would cause the truck not to pass its emission test. He said the problem was with rusted bolts that would be difficult to remove.
View 12 RepliesSubaru - Outback :: 2001 - Radio / Power Steering And Engine Cut Out While Driving
A new issue has cropped up with my 2001 H6 Subaru Outback (which I believe is technically a Legacy). We've put so much work into this thing to keep it running and this might be the last nail in the coffin. However, what's going on...
My wife reported to me yesterday that the vehicle was turning itself off while driving. I was not in the car to verify any of this, so this part is anecdotal. After 45 minutes of driving, she said the engine was "hiccuping" and the gages were dropping to zero and then bringing themselves right back up to the current RPM and speed. She said the ABS light came on. The first time the vehicle did this, she reports that it did it many times in rapid succession. She described it as "the gages were going crazy". After turning around to come back home this happened once more, though not in rapid succession. It was a single occurrence of turning off and back on again. She indicated that the vehicle did not require a restart with the key. I suspect that this was because she was driving at highway speed at the time.
She brought it right to the mechanic and - as is the case with all intermittent issues - they were not able to repeat the failure in any way. So, being an engineer, I decided I wanted to experience it for myself and do a few tests.
Today I drove 45 minutes to work, 10 minutes of small town driving, 25 minutes of highway driving, 10 minutes of small town driving. Lucky for me (!), in the first five minutes of driving, the radio cut out, power steering died, and I heard fuses or relays clicking as I was gently braking and gently taking a right turn. I continued the right turn off into a parking spot on the side of the road and stopped the car. I turned the key to the off position, put it into park and restarted the vehicle right away. No problems. All was fine.
The vehicle did not do this again for the entire trip. However, I did perform some tests to see if I could repeat a similar failure with the ignition alone.
1) Turning the ignition off and quickly back on again by hand while rolling at highway speed (~55 mph) will cause the vehicle to kick back into a normal running mode.
2) Turning the ignition off and quickly back on again by hand while rolling at lower speed (~30 mph) will require a restart by turning the key all the way to the "start" position and not just the "on" position.
3) Turning the ignition off with the key (as in 1 and 2) DOES NOT cut out the radio. Note that when the intermittent defect occurs, the radio will cut out and then come back along with the engine and instrument panel.
4) Wiggling and stressing the keys to put strain on the ignition switch doesn't seem to cause anything to happen.
5) The battery is only a few months old and a general inspection of the battery terminals, cabling, and fuses indicates that everything appears to be in tact and clean.
I'm not the most experienced car person, so my terminology is probably a little off and that's all I have for now. I feel like this is a common ground issue and if I could only identify which ground services the instrument panel and radio and spark plugs I could inspect it and clean or replace a connection. My limited research reveals that there are many grounds throughout the engine compartment, though.
Subaru - Outback :: Glass Bottle Clinking Sound Occurs When Accelerating Around 20 Mph
I have a 2010 Subaru Outback that is making a sound that sounds like glass bottles clinking. It occurs when accelerating around 20mph and/or around 40 mph. Can really hear it when there is a load like going up a hill at these slow spends. Dealership did a lot of flushing and lubricating and new filters etc, but that wasn't it. Also replaced my heat shield (yikes$) but that wasn't it. Then they had me run a tank of 93 octane and they didn't fix, so put in a bottle of engine cleaner and it didn't work either.
View 7 RepliesSubaru - Outback :: 2011 - Fumes / Smell Like Exhaust When Come To A Stop With Heater On
Why when I come to a stop with the heater on, the car smells like exhaust? I took in into our local Subaru shop and they couldn't find anything wrong. When I'm driving it's fine, but in town or in traffic, I have to keep shutting off the heater. If I forget, the car fills up fumes and I have to drive with the windows down or my daughter's asthma flares up.
View 14 RepliesSubaru - Outback :: 2005 - Overheating And Skipping When Accelerating / Head Gasket Failure
I brought my Outback to one mechanic due to overheating and a strange skipping feeling when accelerating. First mechanic said head gaskets needed to be replaced, I wasn't surprised since I have about 142k miles on it and it has been leaking oil, quoted between $1800 and $2000. I took it to another shop, recommended by a friend, and they agreed the gaskets needed to be replaced and there was also a misfire due to the spark plugs. This shop quoted me at $2200-2600 for the head gaskets, spark plugs, all wires and timing belt, all other engine gaskets, thermostat, engine oil and coolant. I still owe a good bit on this car (parents bought on the fly from a less than stellar used lot and now it is my problem), and my thinking is I do not want to bring on more debt by attempting to trade this one in and go for a new car. My question is, do I go with the second mechanic that wants to basically rebuild to top of my engine, or would I be ok limiting the repairs to the head gaskets and spark plugs?
View 11 RepliesSubaru - Outback :: Potential Exhaust Leak - Smoke Coming From A Pipe Underneath
Recently, my car has been sounding louder than usual. It seems to be coming from under the vehicle, and when I checked, there was smoke coming from a pipe underneath. My best guess is that the exhaust is leaking. It kind of looks like there's a disconnect here....
View 3 RepliesSubaru - Outback :: Exhaust Smell In Cold Weather When Idling At Stop Light
Whenever the temperature is below 20 degrees F and am idling at a stop light, if I have the heater fan running I get a horrible exhaust smell inside my car. I have discovered that I can lessen the bad smell by turning off the fans when the car is idling and then turning it back on when I start to drive.
View 3 RepliesSubaru - Outback :: 1996 - Rocky Idle And Some Smoke Coming From Exhaust At The Manifold
I have a 1996 subaru impreza outback. It is now dead. Billowing white smoke, coolant coming out of the tailpipe, terrible rocky idle and some smoke coming from the exhaust at the manifold. (assuming it cracked from the harsh idle) I'm pretty good with cars but I've never taken on a head gasket problem myself. I have time to fix it, I just don't really know if it will be worth it. Should i just replace the motor w/ a scrapyard motor? Should I take this opportunity to rebuild and upgrade? I have a crappy chevy to get me around in the meantime. Should I give it a try or just scrap it. I paid 800 bucks for this car and it has 220k miles. No major problems until now. New alt a few months back. Previous two(only two) didn't have any problems at all. I feel like it would be worth it.
View 17 RepliesSubaru - Outback :: 2005 XT - Hard Cranking / Fuel System Full Of Rust
115,000 miles, adult driven. Hard cranking, took into dealer. Replaced 4 injectors - cylinder 2 misfiring. Showed me return gas line clogged with brownish material. Dealer stymied.
Now, Subaru headquarters diagnoses replacing all steel fuel lines, fuel rails, fuel pump...full of rust from inside. Tank looks Ok, as does filler neck. Premium gas used always, added Drygas seasonally as needed.
Question: where the heck would rust come from? What can I do to prevent this problem again? Love the car...would like to get 200,000 from it.
Subaru - Brakes - Outback :: Anti-lock Braking System Engaging Noise When Speed Gets Low 5 - 15 MPH
I recently had my wheel hub and bearing replaced. The mechanic said I might hear a little noise with the brakes but they'd work. Turns out that noise is the Anti-lock braking system engaging every time I use the brakes. It happens when the car speed gets low, maybe 5-15 mph. Also, if I'm driving slow in a parking lot or something, and let off the gas, that change in speed sets the ABS system on too, without my foot being on the brake pedal.
I've also noticed sometimes when the weather is very cold, the ABS light will go on and the ABS brakes won't work; just regular brakes. Is this something that I'd be able to solve at home? Could I possibly bleed the brake lines to check for any air ( although braking seems fine ) , busted fuse for the system, anything else to check before asking the mechanic?
Subaru - Outback :: Check Engine Light Comes On And Off
What are reason for the check engine light to come on and off and when a different person drives it. When it comes on? I guess I am looking for other opinions when I drive it I drive it respectfully but the owner bit of a speed lover.
View 14 RepliesSubaru - Outback :: 1992 - No AC Until Engine Warms Up
Recurring intermittent problem with the AC. It has been in and out of the shop three times in the past year. First time, a basic checkup with service to specs. Worked okay for six weeks or so. Second time, revolution sensor replaced. Worked okay for a little over six months. Next time, revolution sensor replaced under warranty. No change - problem still there. Dealer shop wants to replace compressor/clutch assembly. I'm not convinced. The problem only occurs in the morning after the engine has been at rest overnight .
No AC until the engine warms up and the engine is switched off and then on again. You can check it after a few minutes and no AC. Shut down the engine after 20 minutes or so, turn it back on, AC is good and will be good for the rest of the day, even if the engine is at rest for a few hours. Next morning, same drill. There is a three wire connector at the clutch with one black wire running to the clutch. I am unsure what voltage I can check there to see if the system is calling for clutch engagement. How I can narrow it down to clutch/compressor malfunction or some other sensor problem?
Subaru - Outback :: 2005 - Engine Is Blown
Riding on the highway to the summit of Vail Pass, car loses power, check engine light goes on, by the time I maneuver it past huge trucks to right shoulder, BAM!!!! White steam radiator fluid explosion dead car....mechanic says "small block" (I think) broken, need new engine. Towing it back to my guys who sold me the car about 2 months ago with reconditioned engine & brand new head gaskets.
View 19 RepliesSubaru - Outback :: Engine Rev When Pressed On Gas But Car Would Not Move
I have an 09 Subaru Outback. I filled up the tank at the gas station I usually goto. Drove about 30 miles on the tank to the airport where the car was parked for 5 days in an airport gated pay lot. Left the airport, I got about 10 miles and then the car would no longer accelerate. I pressed on the gas and could hear the engine rev, but the car would not move. I had to be towed to the Subaru dealer, where they said they could find nothing wrong with my car and they think I got some bad gasoline. They drained the tank and filled it up 1/2 way and the car runs fine. It still starts a little sluggish though. It sounds like it is laboring/revving when I first start the car after it has been sitting awhile, but once it is in gear it's fine. Is there anything I can do to fix the engine struggling when I first start the car?
View 13 RepliesFord Exhaust System :: Dual Exhaust Without Engine Possible?
Is it possible to do so with out engine problems later? I would love to go with duals front to rear 3in pipe and tips. Any do's or dont's?
View 11 Replies