96 Legacy 6 CEL Codes

Hi all I'm new here. I drive a 96 Legacy OBW with an EJ25D. Has 188k (Kms) on it. I left home this morning and the car ran mint as usual. Drove around town for a few hours doing my errands, blah blah blah.

 

Leaving the grocery store, the car had a hard time starting, to the point where it almost killed the battery. Finally got it going to the point where it would just about stay on. Would idle at around 300rpm fluctuating. I drove it to my nearest Mr Lube (they scan for free) which was about 10kms away. Ran like absolute crap, felt like it was gonna die and smelled like everything was burning the whole way there.

 

Got it scanned and it pulled up 6 codes!

 

• P0302
  
• P0303
  
• P0141 (twice) (I've had this since I got the car 2 years ago)
  
• P0400 (twice)
  

 

 

So from what I see I have a misfire on both 2 and 3, Evap and EGR. Anyone have anything to input here or is my engine done with life?

something is unplugged?

check all the vac hoses, large ans small, under the hood.

 

 

• P0141 (twice) (I've had this since I got the car 2 years ago)

check the wiring going to the rear o2 sensor.

look for breaks, worn spots or a bad connector.

replace the rear o2 sensor if you can't find a wiring issue.

it can be a cheap one from the parts store.

 

 

http://www.obd-codes.com/p0141

 

 

P0400 (twice)

 

check all the vac hoses, large ans small, under the hood.

when the car is idling,

spray starting fluid or carb cleaner around the area of the EGR,

driver side, intake manifold, rear of the engine, near the firewall.

if the idle surges, you have an air leak.

it wouldn't hurt to do this around all of the vac lines under the hood.

 

http://www.obd-codes.com/p0400

I just tried starting after it had about 4 hours to cool off... it would turn about 2 times then I'd hear a loud crunch, and it would stop turning. Did that a few times and the battery died.

Forgot to mention, when I was driving to Mr. Lube (I live next door) and would floor it, it would sound like a 2 stroke like brappopopopopo and not accelerate at all. If I pressed lightly on the gas, it would sound like a normal misfire, but also have stuttered acceleration feeling wise.

 

Johnegg. I checked everything I could see. Nothing cracked or unplugged. I know the sensor was starting to go bad. Would that cause a severe misfire and to the point where the car thinks the CATs are getting damaged? (CEL was flashing)

 

EGR valve wasn't clogged at all, so it rules that out. Cleaned it anyways.

Check the timing. Sounds like you broke or have a loose timing belt or tensioner

Update: (Checked this morning)

Plugs have spark (but are solid black/fouled - they will be changed)

Tons of fuel coming out of the line at the motor, so fuel pump works nice.

 

There's something else stopping it from going. Maybe sensor preventing the injectors from firing? Idk anymore. Ruling these out have me stumped.

 

Haven't checked the timing, but we redid the water pump 2 months ago, and everything was tight and ran perfect every day since.

check the timing.

 

you have spark and fuel,

but you may not have them at the right time.

 

remove the cam sprocket timing covers, 3 bolts each side,

and see if the sprockets are aligned.

 

when you did the water pump,

did you do the timing belt as well?

what else did you replace at that time?

 

96 obw has a 105k mile timing belt interval in the US,

not sure about canada.

in asia, the interval is 100k Km, not miles.

Previous owner did the timing belt just under 2 years ago, so maybe about 50k kms at the most. Just did the water pump at the time. Timing belt still looked brand new. I'll check it soon though. It's -15 outside today so checking the spark and fuel was long enough time outside.

Checked the timing. Everything looks in line. Didn't check the crank position though, but all 4 cams line up nice. I changed the filter to a clear one, and noticed the fuel makes it's way to the engine, but doesn't seem to actually get injected.

Now I want to test this theory by spraying in the intake and see if it starts that way, but I was told that Ether is for Diesels Only (extremely explosive) and Carb Cleaner is not healthy for EFI engines. Should I just put gasoline in a spray bottle and go in that way? And yes I know about intake backfires. It's dangerous but I've done it before on carbed engines.

To me, as a tech, just simply looking at those codes, based on what you're describing. Im going after the p0400 first. An EGR can/will cause a p0400, as well as a rough run and misfire codes. Black spark plugs would also make it a dead ringer, check the EGR passages for blockages, and check your EGR itself as well as the Back Pressure Transducer, and all vacuum lines leading to the BPT...

 

p0141 is o2 heater, check to see if you have 12v on the heater wire, If so, replace o2 sensor.

Would those prevent my car from starting at all? When I turn the key it doesn't even stutter like it's trying to start. It just turn and turns.

An EGR stuck wide open could.. check the vac lines at the BPT... Check the easy stuff first.

 

 

Of course internet diagnostics is next to impossible most times. Im just thinking out loud how I would start.. The p0400 just jumps out at me, explains the other symptoms (except the o2 code)

 

 

And FWIW, I wouldnt recommend spraying fuel at the intake, what I have found that works well is a camping propane tank with a valve and a hose that I can attach to the Brake Vac hose.. I have been using it to diag fuel related issues on vehicles for years

I would be nice if you had a spark KV tester and a set of noid lights...

since youre a mechanic, i have a question for you. when using a scan tool to watch the ecu values, i see "EGR duty", "EGR pos" and "EGR dem". if the pos one never goes over 0% is that saying the egr is bad, or would there be a problem with another part of it? so far as i know, the egr has been replaced, and the whole system was cleaned fairly well. the tubes are all clear as well.

The 0% means it is in its normally closed position (or at leat thats where the PCM is commanding it.) And at idle it damn well better be lol, or you could have a rough run/no start condition.

 

Im not super familiar with Subarus yet.. However typically you wont see any EGR activity til at least 2500rpm. You should, on these cars be able to pop the hood with the engine running and slowly rase the RPM and as it goes up the BPT shoulg mover the EGR (properly functioning) slowly as RPMs rise.