DIY happiness: fixed my wife's Subaru
She had the blinking cruise light, check engine light, and traction control lights all light up on an errand with our daughter. She brought it home. I got the scan tool. P0026: Intake Valve Control Solenoid Circuit Range/Performance Bank 1. I added oil, got a new air filter, unplugged and re-plugged all the relevant wiring harness connections, and then disconnected the battery for 30 mins and the problem has stayed gone since Saturday morning (EDIT: this was indicated on a Subaru forum as a procedure for clearing the symptoms to try before anything bigger; her car has less than 50K miles on it).
I shudder to think what the Subaru dealer might have charged her, and what they might have replaced that did not need replacing. Online some guys have paid hundreds of dollars, and still not gotten the fix necessary. Anyway... I learned the familiarity and the tools to do this here at EM. All of it. Thanks again. |
What did you fix?
regards mech |
It's from the aircraft maintenance log:
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A shop would have probably replaced something-anything- instead of saying "We thought maybe something came a bit loose, so we just played with the connectors in the area for a while." |
It's not unusual to see a similar dtc on gm's 3.6. One of the camshaft actuator solenoids is typically at fault. The first couple times the dtc fails is often separated by thousands of miles, making a rock solid diagnosis not possible initially. I'd check on Subaru forums for info to the contrary, but if you had a Gm, the next time the dtc shows its head, I'd replace the related solenoid. For Gm, a solenoid costs less than paying a diagnostic charge, and they're accessible enough for most DIYers.
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Fortunately for the wife she has a lifetime warranty, you're lifetime. ;)
regards mech |
Hahahaha!! Missed this forum.
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Fat Charlie -
Yea, unfortuneately accurate. I think there is info to be found, it's just that you seem to spend more time just trying to separate the wheat from the chaff on so many forums |
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regards mech |
Yeah. To 2000mc, I didn't have much chance to underplay any role I had after she called me a little panicked about it. When I got rid of the warnings about 4 hours later, it was also hard to downplay her texted reaction on a subsequent errand: "You fixed my car!!"
She has so little faith. Now a little "humble brag" on this forum... just in fun and gratitude. Part of the info I used, the best part, that helped separate "wheat from chaff" was this P0026 Subaru Intake Valve Control Solenoid Circuit Range/Performance Bank 1 OBDII Engine Light Trouble Code | Engine-Codes.com ...given what it said and how young the car still is, I figured it was sensible to try the simplest things first, since the oil was on the low line and the air filter was awfully dirty. Horray for not throwing parts at problems! |
Good job!
Just so happens I'm muddling through electrical issues too. Last time I put the flatbed behind the truck all the lights worked at the start but halfway through the job the right taillight went dark and there were no right blinkers on anything. First place to look: bad bulb. So I get the assembly outta the grommet only to find it's a SEALED UNIT. :mad: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31BIJ%2BX86PL.jpg That's right- a 99 cent bulb blows and PETERSON MANUFACTURING in Misery- I mean, Missouri (Yes I'm calling you out PETERSON MFG) thinks I am going to hunt down a store that carries these and pay over $10 for it or order it online and sit around waiting for it to be shipped?!? I think not! Out came the hand saws and I lobotomized the dang thing from the back and replaced the bulb. Take THAT PM. But wait! That wasn't the problem! That was the symptom of connection issues upstream, like a dead short. :rolleyes: So the replacement bulb lets out all it's magic smoke and goes dark too. Hmmm. Unplugged the trailer harness, put bulb #3 in, and tried again with the pickup all alone. Blinkers on the truck! :eek: my suspicions centered around the stub harness from the socket connector to where it splices in with the truck harness. Examination showed several weak points- corroded wires and retention screws in the socket, corroded icky looking splices with wire nuts, and the like. After a major manhunt to try to locate that can of Brasso I KNOW I have (but haven't found) I jumped online and jogged my memory (about the only jogging I do anymore) that vinegar and salt make a nice brass and copper corrosion cleaner. I went all OCD on that whole stub harness, scrubbing and soaking and trimming back wires until all looked shiny and new. This time all the wire tips are getting soldered and it's getting all gooped up with di-electric grease too. And I'm gonna tape everything shut against the elements. The lobotomized light has it's skull section Gorilla Taped back in. Too late to lay out in the cold, dark, windy driveway tonight to see if it works... hopefully tomorrow. |
The "plug and pay" lights have been around since the 1970's by all manufacturers. They were designed for trucking fleets. I have more experience with trailer harnesses than I ever wanted. A volt ohm meter is a very useful item in combination with a good manual. Corrosion, vibration, and excessive heat are the chief causes of failure in electrical systems. The "magic" of high mileage cars is preventive maintenance and being "smarter than the metal" by knowing the nature of materials.
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"A good manual" ha ha- I never got a manual. But I did poke around with a meter after the bulb incident and the readings lead me to where I'm at.
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All my stub harness work works; there is one task left (hopefully) to complete and that is de-corroding the trailer plug (female terminals). I put vinegar and salt into my soaking cup and set it up outside as removing that plug is impossible without cutting wires. It froze of course and the forecast is for it to stay below freezing so I'll apply heat to it tomorrow and see how that works out.
I'm doubly glad I didn't run out and buy a new sealed tail light unit because I would have smoked it right off. |
Yay! Above freezing for vinegar and salt in the sun so it thawed. Rinsed, dried, gooped up with di-electric grease. Routed the stub, hooked it all up. Works! :)
Now to figure out where the check valve ball for the tilt ram is hiding... :mad: |
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Thanks for the link! I've been dealing with a recalcitrant cel, flashing cruise light on my wife's Outback for a while. |
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