I recently purchased my second subaru, an 05 FXT which was an upgrade from my 00 outback. The new one has about 160,000 on the clock but i got it for a great price and the thing is spotless. Unfortunately it popped a CEL while driving on the highway in the rain about two weeks ago. I live at college about 45 mins from home so i only get a chance to work on her during the weekends. The code registered as either faulty MAF censor, cyl. 1 misfire, or a major vacuum leak according to the autozone reader it was all under one code. First i cleaned the MAF, reset the car and it lasted about 50 miles until i took another highway trip and the CEL popped back on going about 80. My following sunday into monday morning was spent replacing the plugs, oil, and pulling the TMIC off just because I like to learn :rock:. It was about 7 degrees outside and the shop was only about 35 when i started so i had this set up keeping me warm.
I also planned to do a compression test but the one i borrowed from autozone was no good. The old plugs were gapped at between 0.048 and 0.051 and looked like this.
I put a fresh set of NGKs gapped at about 0.030. Noticed that the coil pack on the front pass. side had a broken clip that held on the sprk plug harness. I used a piece of aluminum safety wire to hold it secure and ensure it did not separate making sure it could not come in contact with the wires themselves and create a short. The oil drained to about 0.2 qts low however it was about 3000 miles since done the last time. Had Mobile 1 full Syn, i replaced with Castrol full syn 5w-30 and new bosch filter.
I was a bit concerned when i got the TMIC pulled off however and saw this in the Y-pipe.
From my understanding it is just blow by from the turbo, and the amount increases in colder driving conditions. However it seems like a bit more than i would really be comfortable with, it did not seem as though it makes it through the intercooler and into the intake as the intake itself was dry.
I got it all back together, y-pipe cleaned, and cleaned much of the engine bay while is was at it. Drove about 40 miles around town the next day without a hitch and then hop on the highway, go about 5 miles at 80 with the cruise set and then bam, cruise light blinks along with the CEL. Same code as before.
I need some help guys, the car seems to run flawlessly and has plenty of power and torque. Other things that might help is it had a high flow K&N drop in for about 1000 miles before i bought it, and it has a Turbo XS cat back 3" exhaust. Ive looked on here, nasioc, and scooby mods for someone with a similar problem but cant seem to find anything. My next step is to buy a new MAF sensor unless someone has some advice for me. Also planning to pull the plugs in about 1500, take a look at those and get a good compression tester to make sure im not low in any of the 4 cyl. as i hope to upgrade the turbo and intercooler come summertime. Let me know what you guys think and im sorry for posting yet another CEL thread, theres already too many!
I also planned to do a compression test but the one i borrowed from autozone was no good. The old plugs were gapped at between 0.048 and 0.051 and looked like this.
I put a fresh set of NGKs gapped at about 0.030. Noticed that the coil pack on the front pass. side had a broken clip that held on the sprk plug harness. I used a piece of aluminum safety wire to hold it secure and ensure it did not separate making sure it could not come in contact with the wires themselves and create a short. The oil drained to about 0.2 qts low however it was about 3000 miles since done the last time. Had Mobile 1 full Syn, i replaced with Castrol full syn 5w-30 and new bosch filter.
I was a bit concerned when i got the TMIC pulled off however and saw this in the Y-pipe.
From my understanding it is just blow by from the turbo, and the amount increases in colder driving conditions. However it seems like a bit more than i would really be comfortable with, it did not seem as though it makes it through the intercooler and into the intake as the intake itself was dry.
I got it all back together, y-pipe cleaned, and cleaned much of the engine bay while is was at it. Drove about 40 miles around town the next day without a hitch and then hop on the highway, go about 5 miles at 80 with the cruise set and then bam, cruise light blinks along with the CEL. Same code as before.
I need some help guys, the car seems to run flawlessly and has plenty of power and torque. Other things that might help is it had a high flow K&N drop in for about 1000 miles before i bought it, and it has a Turbo XS cat back 3" exhaust. Ive looked on here, nasioc, and scooby mods for someone with a similar problem but cant seem to find anything. My next step is to buy a new MAF sensor unless someone has some advice for me. Also planning to pull the plugs in about 1500, take a look at those and get a good compression tester to make sure im not low in any of the 4 cyl. as i hope to upgrade the turbo and intercooler come summertime. Let me know what you guys think and im sorry for posting yet another CEL thread, theres already too many!
