check engine light on 1997 outback

[swagondanny]

Im doing to preventive maintenance to my wagon.. my buddy was able to pull a few codes up for me with his scanner.

P0136 rear O2
P0130 front O2
P0500 vehicle speed sensor
P1100 starter switch circuit male
P1101 Neutral position switch circuit male
P1120 starter switch high input
P1121 neutral position advanced switch high input
P1540 Vehicle speed sensor mal 2

The front and rear O2 sensor are both shot. The rear of the codes I need help trying to figure those out. Any help would be great. I wanna get this wagon driving perfect before I start nodding it. Ill downloading the fsm later today.

[Okin DaVanh]

Did you reset the light? If so, did it come back? As some of those codes could be a trigger for another.

[swagondanny]

We did but they came back

[vermont22gt]

If that happened to me I'd reset the ECU. Disconnect the battery, hit the brakes a couple times and let it sit for an hour or so. Do it while the car is cold. re-connect the battery and take it for a good ride. Then see what codes come back.

[krot84]

You can also ask your friend to erase the codes for you with his scanner, it's much faster then driving around.

[Huffer]

You can also ask your friend to erase the codes for you with his scanner, it's much faster then driving around.

You have to read the posts above - they did that already. A cold/hard reset of the ECU takes it back to a factory map, and default parameters. Sometimes a code reader will delete a code, but because of the way the ECU has "learned" it'll still trigger a code that isn't actually real.

swagondanny: in reference to your original post, here's the order that I would tackle things:

1. P0136 rear O2
TEST CAR - check for codes
2. P0130 front O2
TEST CAR - check for codes

3. P0500 vehicle speed sensor
P1540 Vehicle speed sensor mal 2
- replaced VSS sensor on transmission
TEST CAR - check for codes

4. P1101 Neutral position switch circuit male
P1121 neutral position advanced switch high input
- replace your neutral position switch
TEST CAR - check for codes

5. P1100 starter switch circuit male
P1120 starter switch high input
- these codes might not appear if the other ones are eliminated. If it does come back, check your starter motor contacts.

Make sure all your battery and electrical connections are solid, including your engine bay grounds. If you find loose plugs, connections, clean them up and reset the car, see if they come back.

It will probably help to have the car degreased and cleaned before starting - a clean engine bay is SO much nicer to work on.