Paycheck

Will do. Finally got my lean condition sorted out and will let you know soon how the HCFI rebuilt turbo works. Peace, $$$

Only 12 years old?! Pshaw! As someone who is currently modding his '05 LGT, (and still married) I say go for it, if it's in your budget. Just keep in mind....the big crash is coming. (economically speaking...not on the road, God forbid) But if you want some extra bargaining power, show her some of the prices on "BringATrailer.com" and point out that yours is "very rare". "It's an investment, honey really!" "They hold their value better than any other vehicle." "I'll sell it for way more than I paid." Blah, blah, blah. Yeah...My wife didn't buy any of it either. But hey....they're fun! Good luck, $$$

Kind of figured. Just wanted to be sure. Couldn't find anything on it. Thanks.

I was shopping for a VF52 and my parts supplier in Detroit told me: "I would never pay $1300 for an OEM turbo." And then he recommended Hill Country Forced Induction. It took a while to arrive, but thats mostly due to covid. Ive installed it, but havent been able to really test it out yet as I'm chasing air leak issues, so I have to avoid boost for now. But it feels super solid and looks awesome. I'd recommend those guys any day. $$$

Ok. So I'm chasing down vacuum and/or boost leaks on my '05 LGT because my e-tuner tells me I'm running super lean. So, in an effort to leave no stone unturned I ask you...... What is this yellow thing between my MAP sensor and my intake? And is it directional? That is, does it matter what side of it goes to the IM and what side to the MAP sensor? Thanks, $$$

Well, yes and no. I'll explain where I'm at so far in much more exhaustive detail than anybody is likely interested in. But first, a quick shout out to Max Capacity for sharing the service manuals (I believe it was in the 3rd or 4th post in this thread). Without that manual, I would have been continuing to shoot in the dark out of ignorance. So here goes.... 2 years ago now, I brought the car into the Subaru dealer in Detroit (closest one to me, despite living in Canada). They swapped out the cam position sensor for the 3rd time (against my advice) and it didn't fix the problem. So then they swapped out the wiring harness and it STILL didn't fix it. So I got the car back and said thanks, but I can't afford to have you guys keep guessing. So, for the past 2 years I've been thinking it WASN'T wiring related since the harness was replaced, so that's why I was trying shims, I swapped out the TGV gaskets, I tie wrapped all the vaccum lines. I tried everything I could think of. Then, I reached out to Dave at CryoTune because I was thinking about tweaking the car a bit and wanted to know if this P0340 problem would inhibit that. He said it wouldn't be a show stopper, but in a perfect world having it fixed first would be preferred. Then he said something in one of his emails that stuck with me. He said "that code is usually pretty accurate". Hmmm.....so I started digging again into what the code is actually telling me. It's definitely a wiring issue. It means that the ECU sees something in the cam position sensor CIRCUIT that it doesn't like. So, I went back to the manual that Max Cap posted and started reading (which I really should have done in the first place, and which the dealership in Detroit should have done as well). Anyway, on pages 2048-2049 (yeah, it's a 6000+ page manual) there's a step by step troubleshooting procedure for that specific code. So I got out my volt meter and started testing. I got as far as step 5 and all indications point to a short circuit to ground. But how could this be? They replaced the harness, right? Yes...but which one? So, I kept looking through the manual and found the engine electrical diagram. it seems that the ground wire from the cam circuit shares a connection with the ground wire for the engine temperature sensor! And this ONLY happens in cold weather! Hmm.... It's a bit hard to follow, but if you look pictures 3 and 4 and find the circled #6, that shows the connection between the different pages. Then you'll see the ground common between the two sensors (cam and temp). So I think that's it. So, back to your original question, this is the "yes" part of my answer. I believe I've found the problem. The "no" part is that because I moved last September and no longer have a garage in which to work on this beast, I haven't gotten back into fixing it. I have family nearby where I will be doing the work, but Covid pretty much ruined everything. I have $2000 worth of upgrade parts all paid for, waiting for me in Detroit, but because the border is closed to non-essential travel I haven't been able to get over there to pick them up. So, once I have all my stuff in hand ready to go, I'll dig in, fix this issue (I hope), upgrade a bunch of parts (turbo, exhaust, etc), get Dave to e-tune the heck out of it, and I'll be off to the races. So....there's your (very long winded) and evasive yes/no answer. Hope all the detail serves to help somebody! And of course, once I get to fixing it, I'll post the results. I hope to finally put it to bed within a month or so. I have a work trip to the US coming up soon and it will be my excuse to cross the border and collect my new toys. As always, thanks for reading. I love this community and all the help and support I've received. Peace! $$$

Hi there, Did the new connector solve your issue? I've been chasing the same code for a couple of years now. In my case, it only appears in cold weather. However, I did find this (pic attached) in a manual that another user shared a while back. Might help you too. I haven't gotten to it myself, but now that the cold weather is here, it's time to get out the multi meter. I'd be curious to know how you make out. $$$

@Max and @Lucky... Thanks to you both. I have lots to figure out, but your advice helps tremendously. I love this community. $$$

Thanks Max. I guess I'll have to do some digging in the Subaru parts diagrams to figure out everything that I need. I have some major work planned over the next few months on this car and I think I'll just have to take my time and do lots of homework up front. $$$

Hey Lucky... When you did your turbo swap, did you get an install kit with all the necessary gaskets, fasteners, hoses, etc? I'll likely be looking for a used / rebuilt turbo and so I'll likely need to get all that stuff separately on my own. Just looking for a reliable supply source so I don't find that I'm missing some critical piece when the time comes. Thanks, $$$

Thanks for the reply. I've already started modding it a little, but my turbo dying last week has amped things up a little. It already has an Invidia catless downpipe and I've ordered the accompanying catback and the GS air intake box. Now it looks like I also need a new up-pipe since I think the cat is probably deteriorating. I was going to replace it eventually anyway, but it seems now I don't have much choice. Thanks again for the advice! $$$

Ah, I missed the 20k comment. Thanks. Yeah, I won't be driving it until I get the rest of the parts I need. New up-pipe and I'll swap every hose that connects to the turbo. Thanks for the heads up, though. $$$

Hey folks, I've seen a fair bit of talk about turbo upgrades in the LGT (mine's an '05 for the record) and people often suggest the VF52 as opposed to the stock VF40 (I think). Is it a straight swap in terms of fit and all the coolant/oil connections, etc? My stock turbo just died, so that's why I'm asking. Thanks, $$$

Hey there, Is this still available? I have an '05 LGT and my turbo is pooched. I've been doing some searching and it seems lots of Legacy folks recommend going to a VF52, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. Would you happen to know if it fits my engine? Also, how many miles on that turbo, approx? Thanks, $$$

Not yet. As I mentioned above, the last thing I tried was the shims but that was because I had a couple of cooler days in April where the problem still arose. I'll definitely look at it in the fall when I'm back into my cold weather troubleshooting. Thanks for the interest. It's so nice to be part of such a helpful community. $$$

Just a quick update... I removed the sensor again and made some temporary shims just to see if they had any effect (based on the TSB I mentioned). I used adhesive, aluminum duct tape that I cut into the shape of the sensor and it worked out pretty well. Doing it this way allowed me to start with a thinner "shim" and then add thickness to it to see if it changed. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to help. And now the warmer weather has returned, so the problem is gone until next fall. Not giving up yet, though! Over the summer (once all this Covid nonsense is done with and I can get parts more easily) I'll replace all the plugs and coil packs and see if that helps. I also might do some exhaust work and get an e-tune for it. But that's just for funzies. I'll update again in late September when I expect this to start happening again. Peace. $$$

Well, if anyone is still paying attention to this, I found an interesting WRX TSB that describes my issue almost exactly. Subaru actually provided dealerships with a shim kit for this issue on the newer WRX. So I think when I get a chance I'll pull the sensor out, take some measurements and maybe make a shim that will fit under it. At this point, I'll try just about anything. Thanks for reading. $$$ SB-10052498-5734.pdf

Hi Rhino, To answer your questions specifically.... How did you disconnect the alternator? Power and signal wires? - YES Did you reset the ecu before starting with the alternator unplugged? - YES, I disconnected the negative terminal on the battery before disconnecting both cables from the alternator. So you've gone through the FSM troubleshooting procedure testing resistance, power and grounds of the sensor, wiring harness and ecu without issue and you've removed the alternator from the system to eliminate noise? - Not exactly. The sensor has already been replaced 3 times and the portion of the wiring harness that connects to that sensor has been replaced (sensor bundle to firewall connector). In the summer, there is no code and no problem at all. In winter, once the car warms up completely, I can clear the code and it will also run perfectly with no code. So I don't see how it could be a sensor / harness issue. To me, the next step is to check mechanical. Verify that your timing belt is correct. Your camshaft or cam pulley may be damaged. - Again, if the issue happened under all conditions, I would agree. But the fact that it only occurs under very specific conditions and with very predictable symptoms make me think it's not mechanical. Tonight I will look again at the service records from the previous owner and see what I can see. I saw some other posts about injectors and plugs / wires possibly causing similar issues. If those have never been replaced, maybe it's time to try that next. Thanks for all the replies. $$$

Thanks Dave, but i already tried disconnecting the alternator. No dice. Today I'm looking for vacuum leaks and I'll clean my MAP sensor. $$$

More updates.... So this morning was fairly cold (-5 deg. C) so I wanted to see if I could glean anything further from looking at individual sensor data as the car is warming up. My cheap $10 OBDII reader has a “current data” feature on it which lets me graph some of the more common sensors one at a time. Sadly, the cam position sensor isn't one of the available sensors, even though the P0340 code points to that sensor. In any case, I was looking at throttle position, MAF, engine coolant temp, intake temp, etc. They all appeared normal to my dumb eyes. Then I noticed the “Intake Manifold Absolute Pressure” sensor. During idle, it was at about 0.3 atmosphere. Which makes sense to me, since the engine is generating vacuum. Then every time the engine sputtered as it warmed up, the value would increase (closer to atmosphere). It’s not clear from looking at the graph if it’s a symptom of the problem or the actual cause but if it IS the cause then I’m thinking it’s either a vacuum leak or the MAP sensor is failing or dirty. Either way, I have something else to research, clean and test. More to come. Stay tuned. $$$

Hello again, folks. Just to keep the community updated (if anyone is still interested in this particular saga), last night I replaced the Intake to TGV gaskets (orange rings) and since I had my intake off, I also replaced the turbo inlet with a Perrin tube. Good news : The car started up and ran even though this is the biggest undertaking I had ever attempted on any car. Bad news : This had zero effect on the original issue. I still get exactly the same symptoms - P0340 cam sensor code, misfires on all 4 cylinders, rough idle and stalling until warm, runs fine once warmed up all the way. A friend of mine who is a Subaru enthusiast is helping with research and he said he'll talk to someone he knows. In the mean time, I'll try to figure out the data logging with the Tactrix cable he loaned me. I tried looking at data logging a couple of months back but couldn't figure out what parameters I need to put in the log config file to specify what sensors I want to look at. So any advice on that issue would be helpful. Thanks for reading. $$$ P.S. Just found this on the Nasioc forum. Hmm....thoughts anyone? https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2786898&page=2

Well, if anyone is still keeping an eye on this thread, it's coming into Autumn weather again and my car is starting to act up once more. In the past year I've had the cam position sensor replaced (twice) and I even had the wiring harness swapped. Also no dice. To make a long story short, I'll never go to that dealership again. :mad: So now I've borrowed a friend's OBD cable so I can hopefully data log some of the other sensors and see which one might be the culprit. Based on the symptoms and the discussion above, I'll be starting with the Engine Temp sensor, maybe MAF, throttle position sensor and crank position sensor. I'll post here what I find out. $$$

I still haven't had a chance to get back into it. Sadly, now that the weather up here in the Great White North is a little warmer (take off, hoser) the symptom no longer manifests. I'll most likely wait until autumn and start again once the problem returns. This time I'll start with the coolant temp sensor as indicated in a previous reply. I also have a friend with a kit that will let me do a data trace on each sensor to see if they're working correctly. Hopefully that will give me some insight on what to focus on when the time comes. Thanks again for all the replies. I'll update again once I know anything new. Peace! $$$

Thanks for the reply. At this point, I'll try anything as long as it's not cost prohibitive. Looks like I'll be doing some web searches and video watching at lunch today. In your case, did you ever get a code related to the coolant temp sensor? $$$

I'm in Windsor, Ontario. Dealership in Detroit is 20 minutes away depending on the border. Closest dealership in Canada is over an hour away.