DIY happiness: fixed my wife's Subaru

[California98Civic]

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.

[user removed]

What did you fix?

regards
mech

[Fat Charlie]

It's from the aircraft maintenance log:

Problem: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
Solution: Evidence removed.

Problem: Number 3 engine missing.
Solution: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

Problem: Something loose in cockpit.
Solution: Something tightened in cockpit.

He fixed #3.

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."

[2000mc]

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.

[user removed]

Fortunately for the wife she has a lifetime warranty, you're lifetime.

regards
mech

[California98Civic]

Hahahaha!! Missed this forum.

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by 2000mc

I'd check on Subaru forums for info to the contrary...

From the Subaru forums I've been to:

Problem: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
Solution: Performance chip.

Problem: Number 3 engine missing.
Solution: Bigger rims.

Problem: Something loose in cockpit.
Solution: Upgrade the turbo.

[2000mc]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Fortunately for the wife she has a lifetime warranty, you're lifetime.

regards
mech

My wife and I were talking with a group of her friends a while back, the conversation turned to car problems / complaints. I initially was just listening, people took turns venting about their issues, finally my wife chimes in that she's had great luck with cars dispite each of our cars having high miles (over 200k mi. each). I explained that I had made many repairs, comparable to others in the group. Apparently until that conversation I had consistantly underplayed my efforts well enough that my wife thought we had magic cars that never broke.

[2000mc]

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

[user removed]

Originally Posted by 2000mc

My wife and I were talking with a group of her friends a while back, the conversation turned to car problems / complaints. I initially was just listening, people took turns venting about their issues, finally my wife chimes in that she's had great luck with cars dispite each of our cars having high miles (over 200k mi. each). I explained that I had made many repairs, comparable to others in the group. Apparently until that conversation I had consistantly underplayed my efforts well enough that my wife thought we had magic cars that never broke.

I'll see your magic cars and raise you two magic houses that just popped out of the ground already nailed together with working utilities.

regards
mech