CEL PO325 , looking for some advice.

I'm sure this has been discussed before, unfortunately I am having trouble finding a situation similar to mine. First off I have a 98 Legacy L 5 sp wagon. Getting a stuttering or hesitation while making sharp turns or directly after a rolling stop turn, followed by the CEL PO325 knock sensor bank 1 or sensor blah blah. Instinct tells me fuel, but there are so many instances that cause this code that I am hoping to get a heads up from somebody who has seen this situation before I go spending $$$, I can reset my ecm on the fly which I do and the problem won't happen for a few days, then it starts again. Any Ideas where to start with this. Or maybe a link to a previous post? Thanks

Start by swapping the knock sensor?

knock sensors are cheap. the cheapest come from china and shipping takes a week or more. for a couple of dollars more, you can have one from the US in a couple-three days. look on ebay. they are simple sensors and cheap is ok.

 

the stuttering in tight turns is a completely different issue.

or at least it sounds like it is.

it sounds like torque bind.

try tight turns when the trans is cold, as soon as you start the car.

then try tight turns after you have driven it a bit.

 

you should also check the tires.

make sure all 4 are the same brand, size, tread, wear, and air pressure.

subaru has a 1/4 inch tolerance in tire circumference.

any more than that and it could cause binding and damaging wear on the center viscous coupling in the rear of the trans.

 

replace the knock sensor, check the tires and test drive the car.

then report back.

Yes I would think it's the Subaru toqure bind situation. You can try flushing the trans fluid and replace it with the Subaru trans fluid. I've had customers cars that came in with toqure bind and after flushing the trans fluid and doing some figure 8's it went away. Learned this from a Subaru Tech friend of mine. While your at it check the front and rear diff fluids.

I don't think I would flush it especially if its got over 150k, try a drain and refill...put some lubeguard in the red bottle in there you can get that fluid in most auto parts stores and it works good.

 

My trans was binding for a good while before I even knew what it was (first awd car I owned), anyway...it works pretty good, got rid of most of the binding, I think my tranny was too far gone for a complete fluid fix. The car doesn't shake at a stoplight or creep forward anymore when I stop the car. Good thing is that my temp light never flashed or acted buggy.

the stuttering in tight turns is a completely different issue.

or at least it sounds like it is.

it sounds like torque bind.

try tight turns when the trans is cold, as soon as you start the car.

then try tight turns after you have driven it a bit.

 

what results should you be looking for when doing these figure 8s? im pretty sure mine has a bit of binding, but not sure what is tolerable or not. i dont get hesitation when making right turns, but if i am creeping along at idle and turn the wheel all the way to one side or the other the car ceases to move until i press the gas a bit. is that the same thing?

same thing?

 

same thing.

 

if you have an auto trans, put in the fuse in the FWD holder on the passenger side under the hood in the corner at the fire wall. any size fuse will do.

 

does the problem go a way?

does the car drive better?

ill do that this weekend, car is at home im working out of town. the car doesnt actually stop when i turn hard while idling, it just slows a bit.

I had that code come up a couple of months ago...turned out the transmission speed sensor was bad. I swapped it out with a junkyard piece because of the price of that sensor, it worked but I don't know for how long. Eventually ill have to shell out the $165. Bit for now I'm don't have any issues.

According to the Subaru Tech he said with the Subaru trans fluid and figure 8's it gets the fluid to the rear clutches faster and more of it.

 

Plead, why can't you flush the trans fluid on a 150k car? If the fluid was regularly changed its ok to do flushes. Now if the trans fluid was never or hardly changed then yes I wouldn't flush the trans either. Just a D&F.

I didn't say you can't, I said I wouldn't....that's just me not knowing the cars history. You are correct and that's what I mean, if a car has binding issues its probable the tranny wasn't serviced on a regular interval.

Sorry Plead I see why you said that. Oops. LOL

So swapped out knock sensor, nothing for a couple days, but there had been nothing for a few days before. Then after i filled my gas tank, I received the code again directly after a jerking stuttering, that only lasts a few seconds. I have noticed also that this has been happening more when above half tank then below and always on a day when I fill my tank. Will change fuel filter (which ) is about a year old. Report back. Any other ideas please let me know

The jerking stuttering also is not isolated to turning, it may have just been coincidence before.

OK so I'll start by saying, I'm not gonna count my chickens yet but 2 days ago My subie developed a pretty substantial coolant leak where the supply hose meets the thermostat housing. It was only leeking when at temp and under pressure. Luckily I noticed my temp gauge before anything catastrophic occurred. Could have developed from a smaller leak, meaning I've had low coolant for a while, with no rise in temp, explaining the knock detection when or after turning. Long story short, I cut off the bad end of the hose and pulled it forward, reclamped, refilled coolant, No knock code for two days. Meaning I'm an idiot, because I had just checked my oil the morning the major coolant dump happened, and I should have checked all the basics from the beggining.

Hello;

The lower hose is the return line, and the upper being the feed. The reason for keeping a beady eye on the overflow tank, Steven.