been a rough day sir, hell who am i kidding, been a rough year, i need your HELP!!!

i have a 2001 Subaru Outback Limited, with the 2.5 Liter(2458cc) engine in it, it has under 75k on it... i had some crap i had to do today, and was low on gas, put the 4 bucks i had in my pocket at 76, and drove to get some more money, put in 10 (Arco gas which i hate with a passion) for the drive to University Place from South Hill and started on our way, the traffic was insane around the mall trying to get to the freeway, so we meandered downtown and jumped on I5 in Fife i think it was, drove to UP, did my thing and headed home... on the way to the store, i saw that the Check Engine light was on, and freaked the fvck out...

ran to the Schucks, and it is throwing only 1 code, the p0420 Catalyst Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1) code, WHAT IS GOING ON??? from what i have gathered, if it was an O2 sensor or Knock Sensor (that i have replaced already), it would be throwing its own code as well as the 0420 code, but its just the lonely 0420 code... car does not run any different, starts right up, no sputters, knocks, pings, spurts, nothing...

if i remember right, it threw the same code when the KS went out, but when i replaced it, it went away, when the KS was failing really, the car would lag, sputter, ect... nothing of the sorts this time, and its only that one code as well...

what is going on Steve?

this is from a forum just for Subaru Outbacks, is this correct? appearently, its from a Tech engineer:


The alleged problem with low converter efficiency that triggers a Check Engine light isn't real. The OBD II system uses exhaust gas oxygen content to gauge converter efficiency. That's like using fuel pressure to monitor fuel flow. The assumption is that a given pressure in a line of a given diameter will flow a specific volume. However, if there's a restriction in the line, volume will be severely limited, in spite of system pressure.
With the OBD II system, the assumption is that oxygen content behind the converter will be substantially more consistent than content in front of the converter. And that's true when you have a restrictive converter that causes exhaust gases to back up in front of it. But when you increase flow capacity, the residual oxygen content behind the converter is not as consistent, so the PCM erroneously thinks converter efficiency has deteriorated. In spite of the fact that the system "thinks" converter efficiency is below the acceptable threshold, the converter is doing its job and the vehicle will pass an emissions test.

website here :

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/66-problems-maintenance/3762-obd-ii-code-p0420.html

do i have a huge disaster thats going to royally fvck me? i really could use your insight sir.... and anyone else out there that works on newer cars, your advice is welcomed as well, older cars im ok with, newer cars im not so ok with, i can fix minor things, but couldnt pull and install a motor thats for sure, plus i dont have any money for it, so this is all gonna be done by me, or so i think...

first thing im going to do is burn this sh!t Arco gas out of it, and put in some Chevron or Shell which the car has run on all its life... rather odd, that the FIRST time i put Arco in it, the light comes on... from what ive found, Subies have a notorious CEL throwing due to bad/low quality gas... just wanted to know if it was a major problem, or could be a major problem... the motors for these cars aint cheap, it would be wiser to go rip the drivetrain out of an STI and throw that in it instead.. plus it would be 300+ HP of Turbo charged madness...

Don't know about the 2001 model, but my 2000 with 179,000 miles on it has been doing that for a while. The first couple times I took it to the Subaru dealer, and they charged $90 to turn the damn check engine light off. It started coming on and off again this summer and fall and has been on steady for the last couple months or so. I fixed it using the advice given by Click and Clack on Car Talk. I put a piece of black electrical tape over it, and it's been just fine. Much cheaper and works just as well as the shop solution.

I can't believe you'd do something so irresponsible.

When it happened on my Dodge I just took the light bulb out of the warning light socket.

It also worked like a charm, and never was a problem again.

Fish on...

Todd

Sharpies work equally well.

but where do you live SG, and or where is your car registered? where live, and its registered, im required to take and pass Emissions testing every other year.. which on these years, and your years too shold be, are all plugged into the computer, 1 code thrown, you dont pass... the only way to truely get around it, is to reset the car, and drive it enough to get into "ready" or read mode on the PCU, then take it in and run emissions before the light turns back on... from what ive been gathering, and your guys stuff too, this wont blow the car up, but is more of an annoyance than anything...

Hank, ive already had talks about turbo'n it... but stock would blow the bottom end of the motor out probably with any relative HP adding boost... so im not going to mess with it... but would most deffinately do it if i could get the drive train out of an STI, its alot of work, and i could probably get it done for free, but those motors aint cheap either, add probably 5K ontop of 5 more K, then a couple thousand more, and you have your price... i miss the 65 Dart

active code Chuck, CEL light is on didnt delete it till i found out more about it, the Schucks papers kinda suck... this is after i put Arco gas in it too... i knew 3.19 a gallon something had to be wrong with it...

Is the emission check a county thing? I have lived in Washington my entire life, I have owned a car registered in the state for 24 years and have never had to take my car to have its emissions checked.

jfc!

yer a dick Twitch ;), if i turbo this thing, your gonna be the dude in the passenger seat..

gv,

its not nessecarilly a county thing, but more where you live in the county... atleast on the West side it is, people near populated citys ALWAYS have to take emissions every other year, except on 1 condition, the vehicle is over 25 years old, then you dont have to...

but you can live in little dink towns with 500 people in them, away from big citys, in the same county, yet wont have to take emissions, perfect example, is me, i have to, my friend that lives in Roy, with a 95 Stealth TT, doesnt have to, because hes in Roy, in BFE, and they dont even have an emissions shop there... and are way away from populated cites... kinda dumb if you ask me...

you can also get collector plates for vehicles and never have to tab them again either, they must meet a certian age requirment tho, cant remember what year it is, but you will see clean 67 Chevelles with no tabs, thats because they are using collectors plates...

I waited long enough for the bulb for the check engine light to burn out in the Vulva, then I sold it.

Good call!

I don't think Arco gas is that horrible. I threw some premium in my Cayenne when we had it and it was fine. MY wife put regular and it ran like stir fried doo doo.

Something to consider, I have seen the same gas trucks outside of Chevron as Safeway in the past.


PS. Find a address in Kitsap county that you can register to have mail sent to. Cheaper fees and no emissions.

The code 420 means to smoke a bowl and forget about it. Or you could just put a decent tank of fuel in and put your foot in it. Some OBD systems will turn the light off when the problem is no longer there for X number of times. Others you have to turn it off with a scanner. If it returns see the above posts relating to tape, sharpie, and bulb removal.

Buy a code checker at an auto parts store, I bought mine 4 years ago for $79.00. It will allow you to checck the code and also to reset the code. Codes are set in the vehicle when the problem is there for 3 driving cycles. My truck(rest in peace buddy) was showing a code and I reset it and went to get emmissions the next day and passed. You can also reset the code by disconnecting the battery.

Might be something as simple as the gas cap is not tight. I had this happen on the wife's car. Just take the cap off and but it back on until it clicks. Unhook the + side of the battery for a few seconds and the light should re-set and go out.

gas cap was the first thing i checked, didnt do anything, so i know thats not it... process of elimination

RB, theres a problem with doing that, if i register my car, at say my cabin, and my lisence shows that i live in Puyallup, they police will make sense of the difference and ticket me for trying to get around the emissions checks, thats the reason why my truck doesnt have a 500 hp big block in it, because it wouldnt pass emissions, as they plug the thing in to the PCU and scan for any codes during inspection... no PCU to plug into and read, you dont pass... the only way that i could get away with that, would be if my registered addy was at my cabin as well, and all the mail would go there, which would screw me... or if i lived there, then i could do it legally... from what i have been told, they may nix it all together and make everyone take emissions, i have also heard, that they may nix emissions period... not sure what to believe...

thanks guys, Katie is driving to Tacoma right now, which is going to require more gas, so we will see if that fixes it...

more than likely u need a new catalytic converter as it is not working effiecently enough, thus setting the code.

After the knock sensor quits and the cats have puked their guts out then you get the oil leaks.