Failed emmissions test - computer problem

[new2subaru]

I just purchased a really clean 1991 Subaru legacy from a private
party. I bought it knowing the censor light on the dash was
malfunctioning and wouldn't go out - dumb, I know! I had it at a
reliable mechanic's for 4 hours this morning - it came up with 3 codes.
They could not get them fully cleared and the light to go off,
everytime they did it came back on. I know the actual exhaust system is
fine, I had a smog test run on it and they guy told me so and gave me
the print out. He said the only reason he can't pass me is because of
the censor light. .and yes, I live in good old California! The mechanic
thinks I'm going to have to have the computer replaced by a Subaru
dealer, costing at least $400 for the part. I have to have this done
within 30 days - the car has out of state plates and I need to get it
completely registered. Advice please?

 

[Mal Osborne]

I just purchased a really clean 1991 Subaru legacy from a private
party. I bought it knowing the censor light on the dash was
malfunctioning and wouldn't go out - dumb, I know! I had it at a
reliable mechanic's for 4 hours this morning - it came up with 3 codes.
They could not get them fully cleared and the light to go off,
everytime they did it came back on. I know the actual exhaust system is
fine, I had a smog test run on it and they guy told me so and gave me
the print out. He said the only reason he can't pass me is because of
the censor light. .and yes, I live in good old California! The mechanic
thinks I'm going to have to have the computer replaced by a Subaru
dealer, costing at least $400 for the part. I have to have this done
within 30 days - the car has out of state plates and I need to get it
completely registered. Advice please?

Take the light bulb out?

 

[strchild]

Perhaps you could list the three codes your car came up with?

Don't feel so bad about buying the car with the light on. I did the same
thing with my Impreza, but it was from a car lot, and they had it in writing
that their mechanic would be fixing the problem. I pulled the codes myself
instead of waiting, and fixed the problem myself without having to trouble
them further. (-; Cost me my time, a can of carb. cleaner, a ~$65 O2
sensor and what I believe the guy at the store called a crow's foot wrench.
No, the carb cleaner didn't go anywhere near the sensor. (-;

~Brian

 

[David]

I have to have this done
within 30 days - the car has out of state plates and I need to get it
completely registered. Advice please?

Get it fixed. Of course that means Scanning the codes and then either
going through the diagnostic procedure (refer to the Subaru Factory
Service Manual for the procedure for those codes), or replacing parts &
hoping it works. Might be a good idea to pay a reputable mechanic to
repair it.

In California it's the seller's responsibility to smog the car, but it
sounds like he let you know it didn't pass, and why.

Removing the bulb won't work, since it needs to light when the car is
turned on.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Take the light bulb out?

Hi,

LOL, sounds like "Click & Clack" and their black electrical tape "fix."
But in here in California, they check that the light both goes on and
then turns off...

Better to do as others already suggested: trace the codes, fix the parts
that threw the codes. ECM computers do go bad, but rarely on their own,
and a new computer still won't undo a bad sensor downstream from it.

Rick