2001 LGT 5MT acting up.

[beastman]

Driving home from Boston today on Rt2:

Waiting at a light, in neutral, engine vibration is much more than normal, my hand is shaking on the stick. Green light, first gear, check engine light flashes 3 (or 4) times. Car feels normal pulling through gears. CEL goes away and doesn't return until...

The same exact thing happened at the next two lights. Shakes in neutral, 3 or 4 flashes right when I shift to 1st gear, then the CEL stays off.

Rt2 basically turns into a highway at a certain point, and I'm getting no CEL anymore. However, my car starts sputtering with the cruise control on at 65mph. It almost felt like my fuel was cutting out for a split second at a time. It wasn't consistent, it seemed to be totally random, but it would always just cut for only a fraction of a second, then return to normal. In 5th gear, my car is pretty sluggish anyways, but it felt more so than normal. I had less than 1/4 tank of fuel, but was nowhere near empty.

First stop back in town was Advance Auto to have my codes read. I had a stored code for catalyst inefficiency bank 1. This code/CEL comes and goes, but the CEL is always solid, not flashing. The guy said nothing else was coming up on his reader.

Second stop was the gas station, where I filled my tank. On the short ride to my apt, I still had a couple of sputters in 4th.

Any ideas?

[Airgne]

as soon as you get those flashing check engine light. you should stop the car. i get it when my o2 gets to hot(not cats). as for the sputtering, it could have been your fuel pump picking up some nasty stuff from the tank. when did you last do a full tune up?

[jey]

It could be one of your oxygen sensors - the ECU uses the readings to determine cat converter efficiency. Or it could actually be the cat converter needs replacing...

[beastman]

The CEL for the "catalyst efficiency below threshold bank 1" is a o2 sensor code if I'm not mistaken. But that code has been coming on/off for months, never had any loss of power like this, even if it is just really quick sputtering.

[jey]

Any of those pieces, the catalytic converter itself, or the o2 sensors, deteriorate over time and the symptoms at first are not enough to notice while driving but can be detected by the ECU.

[DCM-LEGACY]

the same thing happend to me a few months back it was my ignition series, i was sure it was o2 sensor but i replaced my coil (with stock) and my wires( with rallitek wires) and got some new plugs nothing wrong since then

[ouch1011]

Don't trust the cat code if the engine isn't running correctly. If the engine isn't running right, its going to be pretty difficult for the cat to be operating efficiently, so it may set a code.

That's weird that the CEL was flashing intermittantly. Usually on OBDII cars the only time the CEL will flash is if you have a severe misfire that will damage the cat(s), and it will flash for several seconds when that happens, not 3-4 times. Plus it would set a P030x (0-4) code. I'd check your battery connections and the various chassis/engine grounds to start.

[JunkerXL]

could also be the crank pulley. if it's loose at all, it will shake at idle. that's how i caught my last one, b4 it totally came off. it goes away at RPM because its spins out the vibration, so to speak. hope that helps :)




:smt020

[blackstar]

pull all of the spark plug wires, and see if your getting oil soaked down into the spark plug tubes, coming from the valve cover tube seals, if there is oil, then this would set a missfire fault / rough running issue, but this problem usually would be apparent when idling or accelerating @ all times. typically if a catalytic converter code came on, for low efficiency, it is either due to the typical Subaru exhaust leak (manifold - cat gasket leaks), or you could have a deteriorated cat. usually O2 sensors would set other faults (lean or rich on bank 1 or 2 - something like this). *** generic scan tools may not be able to retrieve manufactures codes, sometimes they can only retrieve the generic information, so maybe a better scan tool would help you pin-point

[beastman]

could also be the crank pulley. if it's loose at all, it will shake at idle. that's how i caught my last one, b4 it totally came off. it goes away at RPM because its spins out the vibration, so to speak. hope that helps :)

Any how to's here on tightening the crank pulley? Where is it, and is it tough to fix?

I'm gonna change plugs/wires/coil too.

[JunkerXL]

crank pulley is easy, its the big pulley in the center front of the motor. watch it as the engine idles. it it wobbles, grab a 22mm socket (i think) and crank that sucker down, or back off the bolt and use loctite. when u do that though u gotta take the belts off. you'll see what i mean :lol:

good luck

:smt020

[beastman]

New ignition coil. No CEL so far. Car sounds a little better when running than it did before. The RPMs still move around at idle though. Hover at 1k, slowly drops to just over 500 and then back up to 1k again.

[DCM-LEGACY]

New ignition coil. No CEL so far. Car sounds a little better when running than it did before. The RPMs still move around at idle though. Hover at 1k, slowly drops to just over 500 and then back up to 1k again.
every subaru i know does that, i believe its the alternator or some shit

[Huffer]

Fluctuating idle is a dirty idle air control valve. Its mounted on the throttle body.

[beastman]

CEL is back, not surprised.

I have NO power in 5th gear. If I'm going 60mph on an uphill highway, I can not accelerate. Period.

I know it burns oil, but I still have yet to diagnose why. The car is a slug in all gears. I feel like it's about to die.

I'm going to do plugs/wires this weekend. Not sure if it will even make a difference. Any other suggestions would be sweet.

[JunkerXL]

it's the 2.5 yes? you check for water in the oil? sometimes head gaskets present similar issues. my main thought is that it has something to do with spark or fuel, prolly spark, since a flashing CEL means the cat is in danger, usually from too much fuel. shaking would indicate a misfire, typically. along with no power. still could be a head gasket, or timing perhaps, but unlikely. change the plugs, to if you have not already, go with the NGK-R or standard NGK, shouldnt need more than that, nothing fancy, unless the manual calls for something different. check for water in the plug wire boot, or oil. gimmie a sec work. anywho check that stuff, see what happens




:smt020

[02_Legacy]

^^ I thought a flashing CEL ment misfire...
and you would be supprised how much of a difference new plugs can make. I have have had a situation with car that misfired and that wouldn't even start, and both times it was the plugs. so that is where I would start, it is cheap and easy, and i probably needs to be done anyway

[beastman]

Changed the plugs. Wish I could post a pic of the old ones, but I'm at work. HOLY SHIT were they toast. One was so covered in oxidation/crusty buildup, I would bet my car that it was misfiring.

My car still burns a shitload of oil.

Haven't had the CEL so far.

Car still lacks power, but it is running better than it was.

Dealership assured me that the headgasket was changed. I don't see the white smoke from the tail pipe, and dont have oil in my coolant. I think the HG is ok.

[ouch1011]

Did the one bad plug look like the one that says "Ash Deposits"?

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/10/reading_spark_plugs-1.jpg

If so, that is from excessive oil consumption. Oil doesn't burn cleanly in a gas engine, so it leaves behind deposits.

[beastman]

Ash Deposits seems to be the closest. There looked to be more white and less brown, but yeah, it looked quite similar.

CEL is back by the way. Same code.

[jey]

Sounds like it's time to do a compression test.

[beastman]

How hard is it to replace valve guide seals? Am I going to have to pull my motor? I've done alot of work on my cars. But as far as internal motor work, I've never gone further than doing a valve cover gasket.

[Grafton]

How hard is it to replace valve guide seals? Am I going to have to pull my motor? I've done alot of work on my cars. But as far as internal motor work, I've never gone further than doing a valve cover gasket.

I *think* you have to pull the heads to do that

[beastman]

Is this something I could do myself? I've done alot of work on several cars, but never pulled a motor.

[02_Legacy]

Is this something I could do myself? I've done alot of work on several cars, but never pulled a motor.
if you are mechanical at all and have access to all the tools you need I think you can do it. Just get the FSM and follow the steps listed there. It would help if you had some one with some experience that you can at least give a call, but idealy have them there to help you.

[ProjectLGT97]

I am about 99% sure your timing belt has jumped a tooth due to either a bad tensioner or the belt stretching too much. You have the exact same symptoms I had and it is a common problem with Subarus and the old style tensioner. Pull the timing covers and check it out!!

[beastman]

I am about 99% sure your timing belt has jumped a tooth due to either a bad tensioner or the belt stretching too much. You have the exact same symptoms I had and it is a common problem with Subarus and the old style tensioner. Pull the timing covers and check it out!!

How will I know if it has jumped a tooth? Your car burned oil?