2009 Legacy Running Very Rough

[gtg13]

My 2009 Subaru Legacy 2.5 L started running very rough so I went straight to the nearest shop. They replaced the spark plug wires along with the coil?? Not sure what it's called where all the wires meet. They charged me $790, just feeling taken advantage of... does the price seem right? Thank you for your time, AND MY dash lights are still on with P0400 & P0028 codes which were on before the car started running very rough. Now they want another $800 to replace Map Senor & EGR sensor. Ugh!!!

 

Greg

Edited April 19, 2020 by gtg13

[whitexc]

You need to do some homework and buy a few tools. Save yourself some money and learn how to wrench at the same time. There is a write up here and a YouTube video for anything and everything.

 

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

[apexi]

It's hard to say how much time they put into the car, I don't know what "book time" for the coil and plug wires is, it can't be more than 2 hours of labor for both. That's also not including any time they spent trying to diagnose the problem.

 

Prices vary depending on brand, I have no idea what brands they used.

MSRP on an OEM coil pack is $164

https://parts.subaru.com/p/Subaru_2009_Legacy-25L-4AT-4WD-Sedan/Ignition-Coil/49231711/22433AA580.html

MSRP on OEM wires is $64.

https://parts.subaru.com/p/72020587/SOA430Q124.html

 

EGR valves are stupid expensive. I'd take it off and try to clean it before replacing it. It also comes apart if you remove the 4 philips screws that hold the top and bottom together.

(vid says impreza, looks the exact same on our cars)

I have to admit, I almost had a heart attack when I took mine off to clean it out of boredom, seeing if it caused a mysterious issue I have. The tip of the bolt on the right side is exposed on the very bottom, and that part of the bolt cracked off when I was removing it. I didn't realize it until after, but the bolt was coming out a little rough, kind of like the feeling of removing a bolt with loctite on it. Thankfully the intake manifold threads were okay, but still, be careful if you remove it yourself.

 

OEM EGR valve -$193

https://parts.subaru.com/a/Subaru_2009_Legacy-25L-4AT-4WD-Sedan/_54102_6026364/INTAKE-MANIFOLD-EGR-VALVE--PIPE/B13-050-08.html

 

Map sensors are also surprisingly expensive, msrp $294 from subaru (This looks easy to replace as it is on top of the throttle body, but I tried removing mine to inpect/clean the hole it goes into, but it wouldn't budge, and I didn't want to risk breaking such an expensive part. So I don't know if mine was just stuck after 200k+, or what..)

https://parts.subaru.com/a/Subaru_2009_Legacy-25L-4AT-4WD-Sedan/_54102_6026586/INTAKE-MANIFOLD-THROTTLE-CHAMBER/B13-050-07.html

 

Edit: I'm bored, I didn't want to make my post too long, but I do have some additional thoughts..

P0400 is related to the egr valve, so replacing might fix that code. I also really wonder about cleaning the valve, and making sure the plunger can move up and down.

 

p0028 is a different story.. I don't see how the map sensor or egr valve could fix that. That has to do with the oil control valve, not sure if 28 is the passenger side or driver side one. In the first video below he shows the driver side one (guy in the video is really smart, good vids. just posting video to show part location, testing like he does can be risky like he said.)

Edited April 19, 2020 by apexi

[Pleides]

EGR can be a little tricky. MAF/MAP sensor takes a minute to replace, but the other stuff, counting diag and all that seems normal for a shop in a city. The codes you've got are why they're replacing what they're replacing. Do you have a picture of the quote they gave you for an idea as to why it might be so expensive?

 

Another user mentioned one of the codes pertaining to the oil control valve. Typically, unless the car has a ton of miles, those fail from lots of gunk in the oil getting in the OCVs and clogging them. My 05 Legacy GT has this issue to a degree. I replaced both OCVs and the car ran amazingly, but within a couple days they got clogged up and the car started running rougher again. Pretty much comes down to the fact that there's gonna be some gunk in the oil at 212K miles, which is what my car has. I'm also the third owner of the car, so who knows if the second owner changed the oil frequently enough. But that's typically what causes them to fail.

 

If you're handy, get a socket wrench with an extension and remove the oil control valve(s). Not too difficult. If you can use alligator clips to touch to the battery and to the valve (with it removed from the car) then you'll open up the valve (it'll look like a little cylinder that moves) and you can spray it clean with electronics cleaner. Would also help to change the oil a couple thousand miles early for the next four or five oil changes with synthetic oil.