Outback "check engine lt"

[Dustie]

Any of u had trouble with this?
My mechanic(very experienced and conscientious) says code returned is "EGR",
but all components check out ok. Also, my mileage has dropped off from
550km per tankful to 350 per tank! Plugs changed about 45,000km ago.

As an aside, I have replaced the clutch, transmission case, and viscous
drive unit this year($$$$$$$$). Not to happy with this '98 model with 165K
kms.


Dave

 

[Alan]

Did he check the EGR valve?

 

[Jim Stewart]

Any of u had trouble with this?

No. Feel free to disregard the following if you aren't
interested.

My mechanic(very experienced and conscientious) says code returned is "EGR",
but all components check out ok. Also, my mileage has dropped off from
550km per tankful to 350 per tank! Plugs changed about 45,000km ago.

I took a quick look at the codes section of my manual. It looks like
there is 3 possible fault codes for the EGR:

P0400 seems to indicate a general failure of the EGR system
P0403 and P1421 seem to indicate an electrical failure. If this
is the case, there may be a bad connector or a broken wire that
would not get fixed by changing the EGR solenoid. The Subaru
factory manual has good schematics for locating the fault.

A good mechanic may not be a good electronics tech, and that seems
to be what's needed at times.

As an aside, I have replaced the clutch, transmission case, and viscous
drive unit this year($$$$$$$$). Not to happy with this '98 model with 165K
kms.

Sorry to hear that. Did they give you a reason why they failed?

 

[Chris Garstin]

If you gas mileage has dropped off, this could indicate a bad O2 sensor. My
check engine light has been on for months and when it was checked, it was
diagnosed as a bad O2 sensor. These sensors monitor the outbound emissions
from the catalytic convertor. If the sensor is not working, then the
computer forces the engine into a default mode which does not adjust the
fuel mixture to suit driving needs, this can result in bad gas mileage. The
reason I haven't fixed mine is because of the cost of the part, apparently
the O2 sensor is around $300 CDN (I've found some after market ones for much
cheaper though.)

Hope this helps.

Chris

 

[Dustie]

Thank you all for taking the time to repond. I will pass the info along to
my mechanic.

Incidently, I have spent $4200CDN on my Outback this year to repair the
drive train
(165K kms) and Subaru Canada told me that "all cars can expect to require
minor and
major repairs at some point". I am disappointed that this has occurred so
soon....
In spite of the fact that I love the way my Outback handles the snow, my
next AWD will not
be a Subaru , I can't afford to do this again.

Cheers;
Dave

 

[Aaron M]

Having survived the Subaru O2 sensor fiasco, during which Subaru changed
manufactuerers of their O2 sensors and didn't have any in the states for
about 6 weeks, a few years ago, I took out the extended factory warranty
that SOA offers. And seeing as I had 3 02 sensors replaced before Subaru
realized they had a programing error in their computer software that was
processing the 02 sensor data incorrectly, which lead to a recall of about 4
years of cars, I have plenty of experience with this.

I think I've probably driven my car about a total of 4 months in the
fuel-rich limp home mode.

2 weeks ago I had to have my catylitic converter replaced. Talking to the
service manager at my dealership was interesting this week. I guess there
are several of us with US Model Year 2000 cars, that have been having to
have our catylitic converters replaced. Dumping that fuel rich mixture that
is used in the limp home mode, tends to ruin them. It cost under $400 to
fix that. The 02 sensors were ususally pretty cheap. Usually under $175
USD including labor.