S4

Hey everyone! Neal Demazure here, I'm one of the service writers here at Subaru of Milford. One of my customers has been having this very problem with his spec-B and we believe we have found the problem (and hopefully the solution).

 

Basically it goes like this:

Subaru (for whatever reason) decided to route at least part of the HVAC wire harness thru the radio in the LGTs. This is why this problem happens to both the HVAC and the radio simultaniously. After going over TSB# 10-75-04 15-112-04 and consulting some of the local technicians we are more sure than not that replaceing the radio unit will solve the problem.

 

We will be doing this work on my customers car on monday (assuming we can get the nessicary parts in time) at which time I'll report back and let you all know the result!

 

In any case, I thought it might be nice to let you (the community) know what the heck is going on with this lettle electrical demon.

I wasn't suprised that they both went at once, since it is all one unit. Also, my experience has been that it hasn't reoccured since my unit was replaced, so this may be the right option.

Just make sure you order him the one with the MP3 player! (Lucky SpecB SOBs...)

Thanks for the feedback!

I dont get it...

I usually wouldn't say this, but...

STFU n00b!

Since people seemed to miss it, these links are STILL working:

http://www.linucks.net/~slayback/vacationpix/dontlaughatmyass.rar

http://www.linucks.net/~slayback/vacationpix/vacation2005.rar

Now quite your whining and start DLing.

Guys, sorry about the broken link. I moved to a new (better) host and honestly forgot about this file. It should be back up now.

I'm on dial-up right now and can't stand to actually configure my webserver to index right now, so here's some direct links:

http://www.linucks.net/~slayback/vacationpix/dontlaughatmyass.rar

http://www.linucks.net/~slayback/vacationpix/vacation2005.rar

Yeah, SO! I was wondering if anyone would catch that.

^^ Uses Google personalized pages. I saw the same quote there this morning.

"Would those of you in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry."

- John Lennon

My favorite from my college days:

"Don't let school get in the way of your education." -- Mark Twain

So true...

I do service calls for AC and heat. The general public is a very, very, sorry bunch. Half my calls are actual problems, the other half is just plain stupid people.

I agree with this, and I can understand that most service departments have to have a filter that all complaints go through to figure out the valid ones and shield away the ones that will just waste time.

At this point, I don't think I care enough to waste any more of my time to try to get this fixed. Yes, it's annoying, but I've only ever had one passenger notice it, and that was going uphill, where it's most pronounced. Now, if I lived in SF, I'd be a bit more eager to get this fixed right away, but until there's a TSB or recall, I'm just not going to waste my time. I thought it may be a quick easy fix, so it was worth a shot to make my car run a bit bitter.

FWIW, I have 16k miles, the only time my ECU was reset was when my dealer was trying to fix the issue, and I am bone stock. I usually fill up at Amoco, but I'm willing to try a "top tier" fuel to see if it makes any difference at all. I'm not cheap, it's just the closest thing to home. All of those are way out of the way, but I'm up for some troubleshooting.

It's ok to be incompetent, it's fraudulent to make shit up because you don't know what it is... I just need to get rid of my fuel filter and my torque.

I'd go for the torque first. See if that takes care of the problem. You don't want to run without a fuel filter unless you really have to.

There's already a dealer section under reviews, it's just buried. I suggest we start using it. http://legacygt.com/reviews/showcat.php?cat=43

I added Roto, but can't figure out how to actually post a review. Are reviews broken?

Looks like Chicago area needs to have better SUBARU dealerships...

 

You definitely should address this up with SOA!!!!!!!

 

Ridiculous...

 

Flavio Zanetti

Boston, MA:mad:

I plan on it. I'm also looking forward to my post-service survey call that I always get. That poor person that calls me is going to get unloaded on.

Okay, well I didn't hesitate to recommend them for sales, so I now officially UNRECOMMEND Roto Subaru in Arlington Heights. Sales is good, service is sub par. I feel bad for the sales guys that are affected by their service department, but they have to realize that's part of the package and they need to clean up their act.

I'll just throw this little bonus in there. They still haven't returned my CDs after my CD changer broke. I have to keep calling them, and they keep saying that they'll call me back later in the day, but nothing.

Also, they didn't use a crush washer on my oil plug either last time they changed my oil.

If Roto does watch this board (or the distict manager), and they make it right with me, then I'll be happy to come back and tell everyone that they've done good. Until then, I'm not going back. Funny, I'm looking to buy a Mazda for the wife, and they sell Mazdas. That's too bad.

I like how bringing them exactly what they need to look up makes us the freaks. If they knew how to research stuff as well as we did then we wouldn't have to bring this shit in for them. They'd be able to look into their system and figure it out for themselves. I tell ya.... I have loved my last Subarus, but the customer service experiences I have had since owning this one has turned me off from them. Everytime I try to explain an issue I am having they treat me like a 4 year old. I won't be buying any new cars from Subaru ever again after this experience... As soon as I have time I'm going to write up my complaints about their dealerships local to me and send them to SOA. I'm sure they won't care, but they have 30K of my money and I think that bought me the right to let them know what I think about them.

Yup, I basically made it so they didn't have to do any work, all they had to do is call the techline and get the information to send the ECU to NJ, but they'd rather go out of their way to prove that their customer is a freak, and should have not brought his car to them. I wasn't asking anything hard. The only good thing about this is that I didn't have to leave my car there for several days.

You should.

Well, I'm really too nice for that. BUT...if someone were to simply do a search for threads I started and find out what dealership I bought my car from and where I USED to refer people to, I guess there's nothing I could do, now could I?

By the way, this is the same dealer that tried to BS me into getting a 15k mile service from them for $209 that included "checking my throttle linkage". Oh boy, really? You'll check that for me? Thanks, but no thanks.

Okay guys, just got back from the dealer. I'm sure they'll be on here looking too and hate me for even posting this, sorry in advance. I'm not mentioning the dealer's name, just in case you take this negatively.

I brought a printout with all the good information from Opie, and that immediately put them on the defensive. He says "so, you're an internet freak huh? That means your pretty anal, huh?" The guy didn't even read it, but I was showing him which reflash was for the 05 LGT, and he told me there's no reflash for this car. I showed him that it was for "05MY Legacy 2.5L M/T", then he says that he hasn't heard about it and when I told him there isn't a TSB, he basically laughs.

I first took him for a drive trying to reproduce the studder with a bit of success, but he doesn't feel a thing. All the while, he's telling me to stay off the internet because it'll just get crazy ideas in my head. Then he says "Here's what we're going to do. We're going to go back, clear your ECU, then I'm going to drive it, and you're going to go home happy."

Okay...

So, we get back, he clears the ECU, and then when he gets out he notices my tires. He says, "those aren't the stock tires are they?" I just say, "nope." Then he says, there's just one more thing I have to do, and he pops the hood. I think he has to disconnect the battery or something, but no, he just wants to "see if anyone has been messing around under here." "All stock," I tell him. I have no doubt in my mind that if he would have seen as much as a CAI under there, he would have sent me on my way for wasting his time and flagged me in the computer.

So, then we go for a drive. I definately felt the surging while he was driving, and he felt it too. So, finally an answer! "Oh, that's just the torque in your powerband kicking in. That's normal for these cars." I ask him what causes it, the turbo, the drivetrain, what? He tells me "it's the torque". Okay....

So guys, here's what I learned...

1. Stay off the internet. It rots your brain and causes you to think crazy stuff about your car.
   
2. The surging is the torque in your powerband.
   
3. 90% of you can't drive a stick
   
4. Unless there's a TSB, my dealer isn't going to do jack shit for me.
   

He did take my printouts and is giving them to the Subaru rep. Good. I hope he gets on here and realizes there is a problem, Subaru knows about it, and my dealer is unwilling to help me even when presented with (what I believed to be) solid evidence.

At least I'm sure all the guys in the shop got a kick out of yet another kid falling prey to rumors and hacks on the internet. Good for them.

If someone finds a Subaru dealer in the Chicagoland area that is actually willing to help customers, and not just make fun of them and tell them they're wrong, please refer me to one. It's sad because my dealer is so close, but I just have lost all faith in their service. If someone finds such a dealership, I'll make sure to take my future business there.

removing or alterring factory emission control systems is a FEDERAL offense, and almost certainly violates some of your state level laws as well. Don't tamper with this and pretend you're within the law. Some states are tougher with enforcement than others, but that doesn't make it legal.

 

dR

Oh crap! Everyone, get those cats back on, QUICK!

This is not an ECU issue. I had a catless uppie installed, & studdering is gone. Obviously it has to do with the restriction being to close to the turbo charger. Unless, yor're in California where they check for smog emissions, removing this pre-cat isn't illegal.

Why is it that everyone with an ECU mod reports this as being gone, and Subaru has now released an ECU fix for stud-tering? This is the first report of an UP fixing it that I've heard, and with the millions of UPs out there, I would think that we would have had that conclusion a year ago.

anyone concerned that if you send your ECU in for the fix that it may come back re-formated so we have less power or some other issues?

 

and where can you get a copy of the SOA offical statement about the fix?

Yeah, I am slightly. We'll see. I know that I may have to go aftermarket anyways to get a perfect tune.

my service department hadn't heard anything either... tried blaming it on bad gas. Although I was able to duplicate the studdering that it is doing, so at least that is on the service report. I'm going to copy this announcement from SOA and take it to them and nip this problem in the butt

Did you have your service department call the SOA tech line?