Sonder

I dont think this is an O2 sensor issue! What does everyone think? I hope it starts in the morning "fingers crossed"! lol Brian is the mechanic and I am sending him these videos lol. I forgot I said that ....ol... I just went out to see how it would start and it turned right over lol I wonder if the heat of the day effects it, because the lower evening temps it turned right over with out any hesitation. So, yeaterday after sitting in the employee parking lot all day and it was above 55 degrees she had a hard time starting. Today it was cold in the high thirties. She slightly paused and it took me only one time turning the car to start. She still paused, but I did not have to keep trying to start it!

I will do just that and thank you all I want is my Soob to be happy x1 lol.

Let me go over this situation again so anyone who has any other ideas can chime in. About 8 months ago I had my Christmas tree lights come on in my Soob. You know the solid check engine light, the blinking brake light, and cruise control light was blinking. I tried going to 4 auto parts stores and could not get the same answer twice from anyone else. I have a post around here somewhere for that. So, I took it to the dealership and they told me that I had a code the same one I believe P0171. Then they told me that was the O2 sensor before the cat. I then with all the lights on when to Summit Racing and ordered a new O2 sensor. I installed it leaving off the negative battery cable and reconnected it and the lights where poof gone. Now, lets fast forward to two months ago. Christmas once again comes to my dashboard. Now, I did not take it to the same Soob dealership this time and maybe it was the stupid thing to do but hey here we are. They found the stored code of P0171 and told me I had leaky intake manifold gaskets, and they did say further diagnosing maybe necessary to find any other outlying issues. So, they gave me their 1200 dollar estimate and I said thank you, but I will pass this time. I was driving to work the next day lol and shazam the lights went off. I thought o great lol. I was going to save some coin to have this done. I took the word of the dealership to heart and had the work done by a local shop that has a good reputation. Now, mind you my car was purring like a kitten as this point. Even with Christmas lights on the dash it never missed a beat. I had the work done last Thursday and pick up the car. Its running rough like she’s not happy. The gas mileage is below where it normally it. I did a idle relearn and its happier, but not happiest. Lol I took it back to the shop I had the work done at. He was skeptical of my claims, and I totally understand. After all he did not get to diagnose it. I only told him to fix what the dealership found. So, he hooks it up to his computer in the shop and shows me the code is stored the P0171. Says he would start with changing both O2 sensors. He says this in order to start diagnosing the problem we need to take logical steps in eliminating things. The other thing I need to add to this is I only feel the rougher than normal idle when shes below 1000 rpms I feel dumb cause I should of taken it straight to him to begin with and maybe I would not have had to do the gaskets. I don’t know I know it’s a roll of the dice and at times this is not an exact science. So, bear with me in the journey. Thank you for everyone’s input! Sonder

I will clean my MAF here in a minute to exclude that. Well like I said he ran brake cleaner all around the seals and the car did not react to it. I will have to assume that all the work he did is good. Thank you for the spark plug info.

So, my next step is to save a bit of coin and replace both o2 censors myself. Stay tuned and we will see if this infact fixes my rough idle at low RPMs.

Ok, not perfect but the relearn took it from staring at 1200-1300 rpm down to here normal 800 rpm. I still have an underlying issue and I believe its an o2 sensor(s). Its not running as rough as it was, but you can tell shes not running like a purring kitten. lol I have no dash board lights on but the dealership and the shop saw a stored code of P0171 when I originally took her in to get looked at.

Fair enough I'm gonna give it a go tommorow and report what happens The instructions I found https://onlinecarrepairmanuals.com/subaru-idle-relearn-procedure

Ok ducks under the table " does the relearn have to happen right after the cleaning of the throttle body or could it be done at any time?" My throttle body was cleaned yesterday so I am to late? (stays under the table ...lol)

That is a good question I will have to research that. Good point

Ok, he threw it on the live scanner and sprayed brake cleaner all around the hoses and seals. Nothing showed any reaction to the cleaner, but now the vehicle shows a bank 1 lean stored code. Before that was my front o2 sensor that I replaced 13 months ago. I am gonna replace both o2 sensors and see if this issue goes away. Until then at idle she's gonna be a little rough. I will never know if it was a bad diagnosis from the dealership or not. In the big scheme of things it does not matter. Any diagnosis takes time and effort.

I'm at the shop n test drove it. He agrees it could be a vacuum line or a fuel injector seal that's not seated properly. On a side note it's nice to see a local small business garage that's willing to listen and make the consumer the priority. Stay tuned

The fuel line made me nervous but it appears to be on all the way. I would have thought if it was not fuel would be coming out.

Ok, folks this is what I have going on. I had my upper intake manifold gaskets replaced today. I trust the shop who did it, but I need to take it back. Its running rough " I think a vacuum hose is not on all the way or something”. When I initially when to start it when I picked her up it took 4 times to get her to start. Almost like she was not getting any gas. The RPM’s run higher than normal when I coast to a stop. My Soob idles at 800 RPM and it normally does not take that much time to go down to 800 as I coast to a stop. Now she’s hanging 1200 rpm and she’s still anxious to keep moving. The same can be said for the pressing the gas she almost lurches forward. So, I am thinking vacuum line. What do you guys think? Also are these hoses (see photo) connected correctly? The replaced the following: Throttle Body Gasket Fuel injector o rings Intake Manifold Gasket EGR Gasket and they cleaned the throttle body. She purred like a kitten when I took her in there and now she’s as rough as a cob! I know the shop will stand behind their work, but wanted to hear from the more experienced ppl around here!! Thank you, folks! Sonder Yes, I attached that Q clamp already

I agree if I was not used to working with blind connections I could see this being a large pain in the asteroid for most part. I took a photo of the retaining clip before I removed it to understand how it worked. This really helped because of how it releases the tension. I do wish I had done it at night the first time so I could catch the lamp misalignment faster.

Someone needs a hug lol but yes my friend I feel your pain.

I was like at first when I was researching it ok this should not be as hateful as I think. 60 minutes later to include the realigning of the headlamp twice what a pain. I mean who in their right mind would put not two but three key ways to aling a bulb. The raceway the bulb sits in is super shallow and misaligned is super easy. I see why ppl want to take off the front bumper. Some things in life should not be this hard lol.

Someone who never has to change his or her own light bulbs thats a fact "well my edumucated guess".

Hey thats not funny well it actually really is...

Just an idea I have have done this in the past. Whipe clean all you can find. Then after every trip re check those same areas. Also, find a piece of cardboard that will go from left to right and cover from tire to tire. Check this every day after you drive it to see how much fluid is actually leaking. The tough part about oil its thick and will blow every where. I know you know this, but small steps could possibly get you the answers.

Thank you I will look into it friend. Yes, the last time it looked like a scene from a night in Vegas on my dash I learned that.

lol and now the lights are all gone! lol I did nothing well still gonna get it fixed eventually

Dude ! Thank you so much!

Hello fellow Soob owners! Well, several months ago my dash lit up like a Christmas tree. I went to several (5) different places to pull the code(s). I could personally not get a defined answer why the flashing brake light, the flashing cruise control light, and the constant engine light was on. I bit the bullet and took in into a Soob dealer. This time was the O2 sensor, but that would not be the same thing this time. Well this morning needless to say it was Christmas on my dash again. I thought o joy! I did not bother with all the auto part stores and took it once again to a Soob dealer. The code that was stored was a P0171 and they did a full diagnostic on her. They found small leaks along the Intake Manifold Gaskets “mainly on the right side as your looking at the Soob”. I did not take it to the same dealer I bought her from. So, I can understand not having done any of the maintenance them selves they wanted me to do other maintenance. I had at 100k replaced the wires, plugs, belt, trans fluid drain and fill, front, and rear differential, and other general maintenance. She continues to preform well and now my questions! Lol I am not a rocket scientist, but I have a good not great mechanical aptitude. I have used my Google Foo in trying to find videos of pulling the intake manifold of a Soob 2014 Legacy and unless I totally overlooked it I can’t find one. I have looked on here a little and will look some more after I post this. If anyone knows of a tutorial or video plz let me know. They are saying I need to replace the EGR ABD seals, throttle body gasket, upper intake manifold gasket, and grommets for fuel injectors. Does replacing all of these gaskets and seals sound, correct? I will reach out to my other local shop. I can’t go to my old shop because he retired lol. The car will just get bad gas mileage until I get her fixed! Thank you, folks, once again, Sonder

25 Minutes per lens with a drill and a med and fine coarse grit sponge and Turle Wax light polishing compound its not perfect, but shes looking much better!