Infosecdad

Dropped the teenagers off at Spanish class and grabbed a couple groceries. Not a long test, but plenty of lights to idle at. Have an LV like this right now: Need more drive time, but it's very promising. First time ever for slightly positive in AF Learning A

I've been at this stage for over a year now... She knows I like working on it, most of the time it's because I want to. It's my therapy from a really stressful job. I don't bring it up, she'll ask from time to time. When I'm troubleshooting, I can't get it out of my mind. So I'm out there a lot tinkering when something is wrong. Like right now, I should be working, but I want to go reflash my tune. I'm now on the theory that my tune was done with a small leak. And my MAF scaling is actually off, not that I'm leaking any more So I'm going to adjust that and see what happens. Interesting... my tune had the MAF values scaled up 14% for the idle voltage range. And my ECU is adjusting down ~14%... I'm going to return the MAF idle range voltage mapping values back to stock. I have an HKS panel filter which is supposed to flow more, and the MAF scaling accounts for that. But at idle, I don't think it should be 15% more... We will see...

Yes, there is a gasket (or at least supposed to be). I was testing different ones, so I swapped mine out a number of times. And after one of them I guess it stopped sealing. I guess I could see a leak that could happen at idle when the air is moving slower, but is a smaller percentage of the air when it moves more quickly (above idle). I hate tracking these things down. My wife is starting to ask if my car is going to ever be running right... I need to get this resolved

Interesting improvements to report. Outside of finding that leak at the BOV, I found that the o-ring for my MAF sensor was sliced. That may or may not have been leaking, but I have a new o-ring ordered, and in the mean time I replaced with one from a spare MAF. Testing after fixing the BOV leak, AF learn B-D are in excellent shape at -3.2 - 0.0 However, AF learn A is still at -13.2... But.... Only at idle. When moving or in gear, it's great. Not really sure what that means at this point, need to do some research.

Or go OS with one of the e-tuners on the forum. That's what I did. I like the option to know all the details and take it on if needed. Cobb is good if you just want plug & play. If you like to tinker more, OS might be for you.

After messing around for a bit looking at exhaust connections (manifold to up-pipe has been a pain in the past) and vacuum, I decided to pull the TMIC to double check the throttle body hose. Once I pulled the TMIC, I checked it out; almost no oil residue inside I had a thought about the gasket for the BOV, I've fought it before. So I pulled out the flashlight to check and see if I could see any light... Light Off Light On Honestly, didn't expect to see it that clearly (click on them if you need too)... Trying to figure out why that only showed up recently, it's been like that for a while. I think all the misfires where covering it up. Redid it with ultra black, now waiting the 24hrs to see if that was it or if I have any others.

I used to know the parts department guys quite well when I was rebuilding the engine on my '99 Outback, and again when I was working on my '01 RS. They were good people, started giving me a 30% discount as I was accounting for a sizable percentage of their monthly parts sales. I can't say much else, I didn't try to take anything in for service; they are a fairly small place. Or were at least 6-7 yrs ago.

For five years...

You can do it! Maybe I'll try to visit my in-laws up in Louisville sometime and swing by

Basically, yes. I had a 5 sec event where it bogged and considered reverting back to it's old ways, but that cleared quickly. I've sent an email to Deatschwerks asking about o-rings, but haven't heard back yet. Now I'm fighting a vacuum or exhaust leak (I think). I've never had values this far off. I'm leaning toward exhaust leak since I've had issues in the past from the manifold to the up-pipe and I had to disconnect all that for the valve cover replacement. Work has just been crazy busy and I haven't driven a lot, so I haven't tried to seriously troubleshoot yet. Hoping to be able to this weekend after all the yard work and house ToDos.

Couple of things. First, and easier answer about the pink shaded square is in the manual: https://www.btssm.com/manual.html On to your power issues. I struggled with this a bit as well. I went through a couple different OTG cables and a couple different power convertors until I found a stable setup. There is a lot of junk electronics on the market that look good, but just aren't. In the end, I also installed a kill switch on the side of the console because I think my power was still a high enough trickle to keep the tablet from deep sleep. Before I did that I could have it drain in <2 days. Now it's usually only around 6-8% a day. Also, if it helps, here are the gauges I run with most typically. I'll rotate some out depending on what I'm troubleshooting. Little tip, on the field chooser screen there is a little green bar at the top, that's your gauge/logging capacity. Too many parameters and it struggles, just keep that bar from filling up. I'm at about 85% I think.

It’s mostly -10 to -14 now. If the AC kicks on, it moves to -3 or so for a few seconds. Engine braking downhill is almost zero. I checked all the connections, haven’t found anything yet. Might reset the ECU and relearn, just to see I had put the intake snorkel (piece between the box and radiator) on in the middle of the learning cycle last time and I wonder if that confused it.

300 miles and she is purring like a happy kitten. 0 misfires, not even a stray one. LV is high in A, I suspect I have a slight vacuum leak after tearing it down and putting it back together so many times. Not really worried about it at the moment, will check it out when I get home. Got 26mpg at 78mph, probably some of the best gas mileage I've gotten at that speed. Idle is buttery smooth. I'm not even noticing the previous stubble/hesitation that I had fought for a couple years. We'll see how long it lasts, but dang, I'm going to enjoy it right now :-D

I've been told they do, but I'm pretty sure it won't be a full set for $15 :-D As I was sitting down for the night, I had a thought. The misfire on #1 now shouldn't be the injector o-ring at this point, I had addressed that. Checking yet again, I realized that I had swapped the coils between #3 and #1 when I did the valve cover. On a hail mary (so I wouldn't have to go to the dealer so early) I replaced the new coil with one of my spare coils. Fired it up, no misfires. WTH? that was a new coil... Decided that was pretty much par for the course at this point. I went for a drive, she drove so smoothly. 20 mins of driving back roads 20-60mph, not a single misfire. Brought her back to the garage, let her idle for 10 min, no misfire. So to bring this all to summation... I had multiple issues. 1. I had tired and leaking o-rings between my intake manifold and TGVs (intermittent misfires on multiple cylinders) 2. I had tired and leaking o-rings on two of my injectors (continuous misfires on two cylinders) 3. I had a "new" coil that was misbehaving (continuous misfires on one cylinder) I also learned that at 196k miles that the exhaust valve clearance on #3 was still perfect. Happy to learn that. Also learned that the tiniest of details can muck with your mind multiple times (valve cover gasket)... Going to drive her for 4.5hrs tomorrow. Hoping and praying she runs just as smoothly as she did tonight.

Ok, so I finally have a sealed valve cover gasket! Got her up to operating temps and coolant burped, no leaks (other than other things that are old). Burned off all the spilled oil of the exhaust after about 10 min. I think I would have sat down and cried if it had leaked on the 5th try. So I got that done. Check Btssm and find #3 quiet as a lamb and #1 continuously misfiring... I'm pretty sure it's the o-rings at this point. So I'm going to be waiting at the dealer at 7:30 in the morn when the parts department opens. I know I'll pay more for them, but I really, really want to drive my car tomorrow afternoon when I have to take a 4.5hr drive to the in-laws. And I want to be doubly sure I get the right sizes.

I think I figured out why I had failed the previous 4 times. On the fifth attempt I just barely noticed that when sliding the cover back down, the cam bracket likes to just bump the gasket out of the track on the bottom side. It's hidden from me unless I feel up there and I simply missed it the previous times. I tried several times and just didn't have the clearance to get it past without dislodging the gasket. I pulled the exhaust manifold to gain better access to that side. Finally figured out I could get it past the exhaust cam, then from the underside, reseat the gasket. After a bit of fighting, double checking, checking again, I tightened everything down just til the ultra black started to show. In the middle of waiting an hour before torquing to spec. While waiting, I decided to redo all the exhaust connections on the manifold. Took it all apart, cleaned it up, added some ultra copper to it. Now waiting for that hour to elapse as well. I should be working on the class I have to teach Wed, but I can't think clearly while this was hanging over my head. Gonna go torque down the valve cover, put the rest back together, torque the exhaust, grab some dinner and work late on my class. Hoping and praying I finally got it this time... Will find out tomorrow evening after the 24hrs is up..

I have two half-moons, but they aren't the source of the leak (waterfall). The two areas marked in red is/was where it was leaking. The smaller area on the right/near the front is good now. It only leaked when I tried spreading the RTV too thin. The larger area, I can't seal for the life of me. It's not coming from the half moons in the back, but just pouring out of the bottom edge there. I have a suspicion that the "quick dry" RTV is actually drying too quickly. I have some Ultra Black now (and a rental car). At some point, I'll tear it down for a 5th time and clean it up. I will try to see if I am going to try the same "new" valve cover gasket again or if I'm going back to the dealer for another one.

I'm at a loss... I can't figure how what's happening. Was extra careful to double check everything clean, good bead of RTV all the way around. Follow the FSM to the letter for bolt tightening sequence. Let it sit overnight (even thought it's supposed to cure in 5 min). ... Start it this morning, oil just start pouring out of the bottom side of the cover... ... Sigh. Well, gonna have to go get a rental car for the week. Going to get another new gasket from the dealer in the chance that the first was is defective. Get some Ultra Black Try again at the end of the week. I've never even come close to having an issue like this with valve covers before.

Trying for the fourth time. Praying that this does it, letting it sit overnight because it doesn't do any good to test any earlier than that. If it doesn't work in the morning, then I have to call it for a week and get a rental. I have too much going on next week to fight this.

Third try, half succeeded. I’m using the fast ultra grey, sets in 5 min. First time I spaced using any, hadn’t needed to on previous Subarus. Second time, I went all the way around, but too thin. Third time, did it to FSM spec, and am leaking out of an area that isn’t marked for RTV. Guess I’m going to go all the way around on the fourth try.... It takes me about 60-90 min to get it all cleaned up for each try.

:spin: 0/2 on attempts to seal the passenger side valve cover... I'm doing something wrong on the bottom edge, it's like there is not even a seal there. I'm being very careful to slide it in and fit it. Tighten in the FSM sequence... still no joy. Gonna take a break, drink a cup of coffee, and try again...

I may have screwed up more than just the RTV judging by how fast that oil poured out. Guess I'm doing an oil change now as well :-D I picked up some quick ultra grey, so hopefully that does it. Gonna smoke/stink for a bit with all the oil on the exhaust. I'm going to go to DW740s one day, I worry about pushing these stockers to 100% DC from time to time. Really, really want to get this valve cover on and sealed because I'm dying to know if I finally figured it out.

I've used either synthetic grease or motor oil to lube the o-rings on the injectors. I've swapped so many injectors that I ran out of grease. I'm fairly certain it was a lower o-ring on injectors that were causing the flooding. I think because most of my injectors are older, so the lower o-rings have shrunk. And on many of my injectors, it's enough to not seal well. I tried burping the coolant this morning, and had no misfires for the 3 min running. But I found that I didn't get the valve cover sealed correctly and dumped a quart of oil on the garage floor. So... When I get a break, I'll figure out what I need to do for the valve cover. I also have new lower o-rings coming tomorrow if needed.

I'm running on the theory that the lower o-ring isn't sealing on the injector and is flooding the cylinder. That would explain the horrid gas mileage, unburned fuel, backfiring, etc. I picked the injector that had the best looking lower o-ring and installed it. I also swapped the coil and plug between #1 & #3 just for fun. If that doesn't do it, I'll get a new lower o-ring just to be sure, since all my injectors are older. Once this is fixed, it's time for an oil change as well. On a side note, I like the cooling of the Mishimoto radiator; but the extra width is a PAIN. To pull the timing cover off to rotate the cams to the right place, I had to remove the fan. To remove the fan, I had to pull the upper radiator hose. A bunch of coolant drained later, I finally was able to pull the valve cover. Kids had to go to bed, so I couldn't test it tonight (the blessing and curse of Stromung) Will have to try it in the morning. As frustrating as it was to find that the exhaust valve clearance was perfect, I'm really glad I don't have to replace buckets right now.

Yup. Got to put it back together. Then going back after the injector