help CEL problems!!!!!

i've been having cel problems ever since around 40k on my 05 legacy gt wagon. the most recent about a week ago and my mechanic shut said that i had a bad ignition coil & replaced it along with a bad sparkplug. he then said that the cel was also showing a code for the cruise control(a common problem when the stereo with a subwoofer is turned on too loud) vibrating! he turned it off on two days ago and said that it might turn back on! this is the 8th. time i had a cel on! has anyone ever experienced what he's talking about re: cruise control vibration problem? the light came on today about 7 minutes after i filled up my tank. i tried looking for the diagnostic cables, but can't seem to find anything resembling the diagram shown in the diagnostic discription! i have about 89k now so it wouldn't be covered under warranty! any help would be greatly appreciated! i'm so tired of dealing with these electrical problems with my subie, never had any other problems with it!

The cruise control light flashes and the system is disabled when the car has a CEL. My guess is that you have another problem causing the CEL and the mechanic tried replacing the spark plug and coil because he didn't know how to fix it.

 

If you can find out what the trouble code causing the CEL is, we can help you. Go to an Autozone or PepBoys or even a dealer and have them pull the code for you. Your mechanic may have pulled the code too... it's going to be in the format "P####".

 

Are there any driveability issues? rough idle? hesitation during acceleration?

no driveablility issues whatsoever! runs fine! going to autozone now, need some fuses anyways. after the coil replacement my radio does not light up at night too. will post the code(s) when i get them. thanks!

went to auto zone and was told in california they can't pull codes anymore(sued by ca. b.a.r.)! ended up at pep boys and the code they pulled is p0301, they told me that cylinder #1 is misfiring. is there any easy fix for this or do i need to finally go back to the subaru dealer and once again pay $125.00 per hr for their labor?

That is what i expected... a generic misfire code. Unfortunately your mechanic just replaced the ignition coil and plug without verifying that they were indeed the problem. Hopefully it didnt set you back too much $.

 

A common diagnostic procedure is to swap the coil with another cylinder and see if the trouble code follows the part (P0302 - cyl#2, P0303 - cyl#3, etc...). If not the coil, then the plug, then the injector, then check compression/leakdown. If none of those, you need to dig deeper, but lets not cross that bridge yet.

 

If you are fairly handy you can do these checks yourself and save some cash. However, since you already replaced the coil and plug, I would skip straight to the injectors. Compression/leakdown tests will tell you if there is an internal issue, which is possible with these motors.

went to auto zone and was told in california they can't pull codes anymore(sued by ca. b.a.r.)!

 

 

They said the same crap to me too! when the hell did this happen and why would you sue someone for helping people. Lame ass sue happy United states people. out to make a cheap buck somehow. Anyway i bought a code reader at costco for 25 bucks. Works. only reads codes and tells you the basic info about them. then you can erase with it too. i just leave it in my glove box

If it's only a single cylinder and the coil/plug is replaced then do a compression test and if that checks out too replace the injector.

 

Also check the fuel pressure since if it's a bit too low you can also experience problems.

so i brought my legacy gt wagon to another mechanic & they swapped out the coil & fuel injector with some of the other cylinders & reset the code. they told me to drive it for a couple of days to see if another cel pops up. the mechanic said that he noticed that the clutch was bogging at heavy loads, my old mechanic did the clutch & i thought that it just needed to settle in. he recommended that i bring it to their attention! i'm thinking that i no longer want to deal with them because of the possibility that they changed my coil & plug when it may have not been necessary! i spent $200 on that job & had to shell out another $100 today for the swap service! hopefully these guys can get to the bottom of it! i love my legacy, but i did not have this many problems with my 95 impreza l coupe with a 1.8 engine! thanks all for the help, i really appreciate it!

what gives? i've had the car back & running for about 4 days & no CEL finally! did i just waste money replacing the coil & plug? guess i have a new mechanic now! thanx again to everyone for the help!!!!

Well don't count your blessings yet, sometimes these codes can take a while to pop up. Not trying to alarm you, but usually problems don't just fix themselves.

 

I'm trying to understand the sequence of events...

 

1. You had the check engine light come on. (ignore the cruise light, that always happens with the check engine light)

2. Your first mechanic replaced the coil and plug and reset the ECU. How long did it take for the CEL to come back what cylinder did they replace the coil in?

3. Your CEL came back a few days later so you asked for our advice.

4. You brought it to PepBoys and they told you the P0301 cyl#1 misfire code.

5. You brought it to the second mechanic and they swapped cyl#1 coil and plug with which cylinder?

6. No code as of today...

 

It is quite possible that you paid the $200 for nothing. It could have been a deposit shorting out the plug that got cleaned when they pulled it, or needed to be re-gapped. Either way it was poor diagnostics on the first mechanics part unless they did the swap check first and didn't tell you.

 

Don't be so quick to be upset at the Subaru, driveability diagnostics can be a pain on any make/model.

Thanks for looking after this guy, Underdog. Your patience is admirable.

last time the CEL returned 2 days after installation of the coil & plug. the #1 injector swapped with #3 & the #1 coil swapped with #2. the mechanic told me if code returns on #2 it's da coil, if #3 it's a bad injector. still crossing my fingers & hoping this is the end to my CEL problems! thnx Underdog for all your help!!!!!