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Subaru Legacy/Outback "Check Engine" Light Problems

406 messages,  Last post on Mar 07, 2013 at 11:38 AM

You are in the Subaru Legacy & Outback Forum.

What is this discussion about? Subaru Legacy, Subaru Outback, Wagon

Messages Page 41 of 41

#397 of 406 Re: Gripes with '07 Legacy [lifeson34] by fibber2

Feb 20, 2013 (7:52 pm)

Replying to: lifeson34 (Feb 16, 2013 3:37 pm)
I cannot argue with a number of the man's comments, as unfortunately it doesn't sound like he had the best ownership experience.
 
One area where I'll object:
 
4. Oh, the... tires. Three times I had to replace four tires because of a single sidewall cut to a single tire. Stretch a $125 tire replacement into a $500 4-tire replacement anyone?
  
...despite the amazing ways in which that Legacy zipped through snow while everyone else skidded, especially on slopes.
 
Catch that? The tight control of uniform wheel rotation - both a blessing and a curse....

#398 of 406 Re: Gripes with '07 Legacy [fibber2] by xwesx

Feb 21, 2013 (10:31 am)

Replying to: fibber2 (Feb 20, 2013 7:52 pm)
Aye; I can commiserate on that one. I suspect many of us have been there over the years. My only sidewall loss in four Subaru vehicles cost me $900 last summer to put a new set of tires on it. But, that's the breaks, too. Sidewall cuts are pretty rare in normal road use, so that's just plain bad luck having three over such a short period of time.

#399 of 406 Re: Gripes with '07 Legacy [xwesx] by bob192

Feb 21, 2013 (1:23 pm)

Replying to: xwesx (Feb 21, 2013 10:31 am)
I had a left rear tire damaged and needed to replace it. we put two new tires on the front and moved the front two to the rear. That was nearly a year ago. No change in handling or winter driving.

#400 of 406 Re: Gripes with '07 Legacy [bob192] by xwesx

Feb 21, 2013 (2:18 pm)

Replying to: bob192 (Feb 21, 2013 1:23 pm)
Whether it impacts your car's AWD system adversely all depends on how much wear difference there is between the two pair of tires. By replacing a pair, you eliminated the most noticeable issue, which would be a rotational difference between the tires on the same axle, but the two axles would still rotate at slightly different speeds, which then puts stress on the center differential to compensate. You won't necessarily feel it, but the strain will do its damage over time.
 
As long as the tread depth on the tires is within 2/32's of the same, it shouldn't be an issue at all.
 
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for my car, plus I wasn't going to pay the money the local shops wanted for replacing the stock tire. Those things are junk, anyway. So, I spent $900 on a new and far, far better set. The other option was $350, and that was just a single tire. I don't feel bad about the new set; I just wasn't planning to buy it for another couple of years!

#401 of 406 Won't start, wait 10 minutes, starts??? by maxjackson

Mar 01, 2013 (8:29 am)

I shut the engine off yesterday and sat in my car for no more than 5 minutes listening to the radio. All of the sudden the radio turned off, alerted, I tried to turn the engine on and the battery was dead. I had all accessories available, it cranked weakly a few times and then stopped. I went inside and made a phone call for help. Maybe 10 minutes passed, and I cranked it and it started right away. Bad battery? Alternator? Sensor? I can't find anything conclusive. And "YES" the check engine light has come on intermittently for a week prior.

#402 of 406 Re: Won't start, wait 10 minutes, starts??? [maxjackson] by ateixeira

Mar 01, 2013 (9:09 am)

Replying to: maxjackson (Mar 01, 2013 8:29 am)
A battery can recover slightly, but find out why it was discharged in the first place.
 
If it starts again after a long drive, the alternator is working.
 
How old is it? 5+ years and I would no longer trust the battery. I replaced the one in my van at Costco for less than $80. Piece of mind well worth it.

#403 of 406 Re: Won't start, wait 10 minutes, starts??? [maxjackson] by xwesx

Mar 01, 2013 (10:46 am)

Replying to: maxjackson (Mar 01, 2013 8:29 am)
What car do you have? The issue may be poor grounding rather than a problem with the battery or the alternator. That would make perfect sense if you were experiencing what seemed like a weak battery, then it seemed to work fine shortly after.

#404 of 406 Re: Won't start, wait 10 minutes, starts??? [xwesx] by mcharlie

Mar 01, 2013 (11:14 am)

Replying to: xwesx (Mar 01, 2013 10:46 am)
That's true...earlier Subaru's were notorious for having ground issues.

#405 of 406 Re: Won't start, wait 10 minutes, starts??? [maxjackson] by fibber2

Mar 06, 2013 (6:25 am)

Replying to: maxjackson (Mar 01, 2013 8:29 am)
Chicken & Egg issue.... A false CEL and erroneous fault code could be logged because of an intermittent electrical issue such as a bad ground that glitches the ECU. Or, a real code that could help lead us to the actual source of the non-start condition could be present. Get it read out and lets see if it tells us anything useful.

#406 of 406 Subaru Outback, Legacy, Tribeca recall by winter2

Mar 07, 2013 (11:38 am)

This morning it was announced that Subaru was recalling cars with a starting problem covering several model years through 2013.
 
Upon doing some research, I discovered that the recall was limited to those cars having the factory remote start capability. If the FOB gets damaged, it could start the car without you even knowing it. My Subaru does not have remote start.

Messages Page 41 of 41

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