Sluggish Outback 2000

[Shelley G via CarKB.com]

My local mechanic, who has a very good reputation, and the Subaru dealer that
we occasionally go to for service are in total disagreement about why my
Subaru Outback wagon (2000) is acting sluggishly.

The local guy says that at least one of the catalytic converters is clogged.
He believes this is true because none of his other diagnostic tests yielded
other causes, AND, because the car ran fine when he pulled the O2 sensor
(which he of course put back on). He said he could replace it for about $800-
$900, but that because the converter is covered under the 8 yr/80,000 mile
rule, I should get it replace by a dealer. He even called the dealer to talk
to them and offered to send documentation, but the dealer didn't want to hear
anything about it -- said they'd have to diagnose it.

So I took it to the Subaru dealer, who said that none of the computer codes
that would indicate a catalytic converter problem are coming up. He also said
that "someone" (read: local mechanic) did not close the airbox correctly,
which would be the cause of the sluggishness. The dealer also said that they
involved a supervisor and compared my car to another one, and could find
nothing else wrong (well, the one wheel bearing could be replaced, they said,
but that's another matter).

By the way, exactly one year ago the "check engine" light was coming on. Took
car to the dealer, who replaced the O2 sensor.

So my questions are as follows:
1) Could the sluggishness be explained totally by the airbox not being
totally closed?
2) Does my local mechanic know what he's talking about or not?
3) Is the dealer trying to get out of replacing the catalytic converter for
free?
4) Do I return to either for future service?

For now, I'm on my way to pick up the car at the Dealer's, drive it to see if
it is still sluggish, then I'm taking it to my local guy to look at the wheel
bearing. Yes, I distrust dealers (past experience), plus the dealer is not
conveniently located. Wish me luck as we set out on our 1600-mile road trip
next week!

 

[Sparky Polastri]

Wait, O2 sensor out, works. O2 sensor in, doesn't work. ?

That doesn't imply something to you?

Those sensors are buggy crap (just read the archives here to find out how
often they are replaced) and cheap.

Your mech wants to do an expensive job when someone (the dealer) says
otherwise. You could just make this easy and get the new HDTV for him
yourself.

The O2 sensors are used by the ECU to control engine and other functions.
If the sensor is giving bad data to the ECU it won't work right.

If the cat-converter was clogged, it wouldnt run right EVER.

 

[Shelley G via CarKB.com]

I appreciate the advice, yet I feel the need to clarify some previous points:

- The local mechanic isn't actually trying to get me to pay him to do the
work. He knows it's under warranty and said that Subaru should repair it. He
also isn't pulling any scare tactics like saying I should get it fixed or
else. He's just frustrated that no one believes his diagnosis, and I'm
frustrated with trying to decide which "expert" to believe.

- He says that he pulled the O2 sensor out to relieve the pressure back-up.
Clearly I know next to nothing about how this all works, but if the 02 sensor
were bad, wouldn't the Subaru dealer have discovered that? (They did, in fact,
replace it last year)

At this point, we're just driving it and hoping it doesn't leave us stranded
in the middle of nowhere when we take our trip next week! I haven't been able
to determine whether Subaru's shutting of the airbox did fix the sluggishness,
as they said it did. My husband drives this car every day, so he will have to
let me know.

Wait, O2 sensor out, works. O2 sensor in, doesn't work. ?

That doesn't imply something to you?

Those sensors are buggy crap (just read the archives here to find out how
often they are replaced) and cheap.

Your mech wants to do an expensive job when someone (the dealer) says
otherwise. You could just make this easy and get the new HDTV for him
yourself.

The O2 sensors are used by the ECU to control engine and other functions.
If the sensor is giving bad data to the ECU it won't work right.

If the cat-converter was clogged, it wouldnt run right EVER.

My local mechanic, who has a very good reputation, and the Subaru dealer
that

[quoted text clipped - 48 lines]

trip
next week!

 

[l.lichtman]

I would have waited until AFTER I picked up the car from the dealer,
with the airbox correctly closed, before posting these questions.

 

[Shelley G via CarKB.com]

And your response is helpful....how?

I was trying to make a decision that day about whether to leave my car with
the dealer to fix the newly identified problem with the wheel bearing.

 

[l.lichtman]

Helpful? Maybe in the fact that I was trying to clarify the logic of
your post. You raised a number of valid questions, which would be
resolved if the reassembly of the airbox made the care run well. You
were going to pick up the car, so you were about to find out. My
comment was, essentially, "why struggle with these questions BEFORE the
last piece of the puzzle is in?

BTW, did the airbox repair fix it?