David in Hampshire

When did you last check the ATF?

I use Machine Mart whenever I can. Good kit.

Got news for you lot. Been into my Subaru main dealer and the parts guy assures me that there is no optical sensor. We drew a map of where the gas goes and the mechanic told me that P0409 comes up when the motor in the EGR housing fails. As far as Subaru is concerned, there is only one possible solution. What does P0409 mean? The valve is a disc that rotates on its axis, like a coin. This is enabled by a motor and I believe that the max open position is 70 degrees. 5 wires go into the EGR valve, one of which is 5v so don't fry it! A pipe comes up off the exhaust, and the gasses flow through the EGR back into the engine in an effort to burn uncombusted fuel. Yeah, I know, but this is how it's designed. When the valve opens, the exhaust gasses flow. The wider the opening, the more gasses. The valve is closed when the engine is idling and when your giving it full throttle. It is not dependent only on the vehicle speed or the revs of the engine. The lower mark is engine revolutions and the upper mark is throttle position. It opens by degrees of rotation depending on where the revs are and what the car is doing. So if you've got your toes in the carpet then the valve is closed. Capish? Which means that if the failed EGR valve is stuck 'open' then the car is harder to start because the mix is too lean (too much air) but performs better under power because the mix is richer (close on the right amount of air for that amount of diesel). If the valve is stuck 'closed' then it is easier to start because the mix is right but you lose power and have lower MPG whilst moving. You can short the EGR out whilst the engine is idling and if it's operating then it will stall for this reason. And if your valve is stuck in the wrong place then the Nox (Nitrous Oxide) reading may fail your MOT. So if the valve is stuck, the electronics will still prompt the motor to operate the valve but as it's not going to move, the motor will eventually fail (burn out) and the EMU will throw a P0409 error code. Your EGR valve is stuck and the motor is dead. Resetting the fault code will not fix a burnt out motor. What's the solution? The fastest is to buy a new one. Or you could buy a pattern part for a Nissan or Mitsubishi, dismantle the two and make one good one out of the bits. What isn't going to help you one bit is any form of spray, seafoam or any other type of EGR cleaner because the part has already burnt out - you're trying to fix the wrong problem And if it's seized in a 'closed' position then it's straight out the exhaust anyway, and if it's seized in an 'open' position then the motor is knackered anyway. It is a spray, not a magic want. The part number is 14710-AA740 but the last 5 digits change depending on if your looking at a Nissan Pathfinder/Navara (14710-EC00D). Nissan can be found for just over £60 on Ebay. New Subaru are over £300. The main difference seems to be the coolant pipes. I'll buy a new part and do a 'how to'. The PDF attachment is a Subaru parts map. Laterz dsc_0709.pdf

Drop links, sway bar links, anti-roll bars - different names, same job. But if you want to change them, it's actually quite easy to do. And they are pretty much the same from model to model. An easy job to do if you're competent with a spanner, have some decent kit and a bit of muscle. You don't need to take the wheels off, nor do you need heat or an air spanner. You might do... The symptoms are side to side rolling at high speed corners, and more noticeable, feeling every stone you drive over. A jolting, jarring ride. And you'll never get the tracking right as there is too much play. Their purpose is to connect the axle/wishbone to a torsion bar so that the 'bump' is transferred to a piece of spring steel and not to you. It's pretty much the same parts and procedure from model to model. If it's this way on an Outback, then it's the same on a Legacy etc. Step by step, read on. Photo 1. I made my own ramps out of old scaffolding boards. Drive on, handbrake on and in gear. Photo 2. The tools you need: 1/2 inch ratchet with a 17mm socket. 5mm allen drive on a 3/8 ratchet 17mm ratchet spanner 17mm ring spanner Crow bar - to move things around if needed Torch A hammer for fine adjusting Penetrating oil. Photo 3. How it starts. Spray the threads, the nut and any joining surfaces with penetrating oil and then go away. Have breakfast, drink coffee, watch a film. You may need to spray again. Notice the alignment of the threaded bars - they're nearly parallel. This will change as you put in the new ones. Photo 4. Not going to photograph every step of the way so this is a picture of the new one but the procedure is the same. Use the 1/2" 17mm socket to loosen the nut because you get a better fit, more leverage and you're not going to round off the nut. Put the allen drive into the end of the bar to stop it from rotating and a 17mm spanner to undo the nut. A ratchet spanner is really handy. Photo 5. They come off the same way that they go on. Notice the alignment of the threaded bars - not parallel any more because the torsion bar has moved - it's under a different strain from the other side of the car. Photo 7. When the nuts are off, it looks like this. No air spanners needed, just British muscle. Photo 8. If you are forcing the new links in, they you're doing it wrong. You do not need a hammer. Use a trolley jack to alter the position of the torsion bar. Either it needs to go up of the wishbone needs to. Line up the holes and pop the new drop links straight in. Nuts on and tighten with your ratchet spanner, allen drive to hold it steady and tighten them up with a ring spanner. The nuts are nylon lock nuts so they'll lock on. I have no idea as to what torque setting it is, but you won't get a torque drive in their anyway. Just pinch them up with a ring spanner. Photo 9. The finished article. It shouldn't need tracking as this doesn't effect that alignment. Photo 10. The old. These are ball and socket joints, covered by a rubber gaiter. The bottom two were seized solid. The gaiter on the top left has a hole in it so was full of water. The top right was the only one that was working reasonably well. Quite possibly the originals with 92000 miles on them. Photo 11. The new. These are made by 'Blue Print' a brand available in England. Just reboxed OEM kit. £18 each, cheaper online. Photo 12. Side by side. No photo 6

This is the thread that won't go away. Gambit. sounds great but imagine I don't know what or where this sensor is. What do I do?

Outback, 2008 diesel, complete with P0409 I've had the EGR valve out and couldn't find the carb cleaner. M'sahib recommended oven cleaner and you know what, there's a lovely smell that follows you around! Got tons of carbon out of the assembly but not all of it. I have no clue if it's working correctly but I do know what has to happen next. Take it out again and get the back off - tamper torq bolts and I didn't have the kit at the time. Dismantle and soak until it's like new. Squirt loads of carb cleaner down the J pipe and some into the inlet on the other side of the valve too. Q is, how do you test it to be working? As it's electric and not pneumatic, I imagine i'd have to put 12 volts across two terminals and the valve should open. But here's where I get lost. Any pointers? ta, David

Do you still have these? Don't know if mine is self levelling - wouldn't know either way! But interested in the front ones. David

Disaster on the gearbox! Wrong fecking filter! apparently it's a HiFlo 138 I should be using. Apparently.

I can't be doing with Prestone. don't rate it. Most anti freeze seems to be green or red but blue is Organic Acid Technology, or OAT as it is known. Which is apparently the dogs. some you can mix and some you can't. It's an odd thing because we'll spend a fortune on engine oil but sod all on anti freeze. Chances are, i'd go to Subaru mainstealers or Opie. I wouldn't go with Asda own brand or similar. Opie have got 20 odd to choose from - http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-458-coolant-antifreeze.aspx. hope it help David

Mine's a 1.5 auto and I struggle to find the right kit. Which spec, how much kinda stuff.

As for the service manual, i'm just making it up as I go along!

Oil A good filter needs good oil and vikky verky. Anything else is wasting money. Gearbox first. According to Subaru, Castrol Transmax Dexron 3 should do the job but mine failed after a couple of thousand miles. Subaru don’t want to talk to me about my Impreza as it’s an import. Subarus own brand ATF is good but a tad expensive. And loyalty is a 2 way street in my book so fook ‘em. ATF should be bright red and shiny in a metallic, ‘pour it on your ice-cream’ kinda way. As soon as it starts to go brown and smell a little like burnt toast, it’s useless. So i’ve spoken to those fine people at Opie and they reckon that as my foot is buried in the shagpile most of the time (it is a 1.5, after all), something more robust should be used. On their recommendation, i’ve gone for Millermatic ATF SP3 WS. The story goes that there is a more demanding Japanese spec and this meets it. Cheap too! Looking at the data sheet it exceeds Subarus own ‘special’ rating and it’s synthetic. As the old oil is finished, i’m going to do an oil and filter change now and then again in about 500 miles. Why? Because on an auto box, you’ll only ever get 50% of the old oil out. That’s just the way they work. So one change gives me 50/50 and the second will give me 75/25 new to old, or thereabouts. I’ll never get it all out. Engine oil. For a lot of the time I use Chevron Supreme 10/40 and change it regularly. You can get it cheap in Costco, that’s why. This oil is weird in that it leads you to believe that it is synthetic but it’s probably conventional in either a synthetic base or just, I dunno. It’s oil. American packaging and as a product, it has been replaced by their DELO range. The specs change from year to year and market to market but I’m reasoning that new average is better than old and worn good. I change the oil a lot. My bruv had a Vauxhall Cavalier with over a quarter of a million miles on the clock. Oil and filter every 3k. There was only rust and cobwebs holding it together in the end. Halfrauds own brand is made by Comma. I wouldn’t start a fire with Comma oil. All oil comes out of the ground the same way and it’s the refining that makes the difference. There’s no point in quoting your extortionate bhp levels if you use rubbish oil. And I own many cars so one oil fits all. But Subaru engines are great as long as you look after them and it sorta demands a better oil. So for the Impreza it has to be fully synthetic, as low as 5w because it’s winter and as the engine gets hot, 40w at the other end. Opie recommends Gulf formula G 10/40w which ticks all the boxes. I’ve never rated or used Gulf for oil before. They say it should work but I don’t know if they’re selling me old stock that some loon overbought. Someone’s got the sack and the boss is asking “WTF are we going to do with this lot?” And then I call, saving the day. Cheaper than Halfrauds though... And you can’t get much info from Gulf here in England, you get more in New Zealand but then again, it could be a completely different product by the time you get there. The engine sump plug is 17mm, tightens to 44nm and I don’t know the washer size. Don’t know about the gearbox either. I’ll fill in the blanks as I go. Other oils are available. Wotcha!

Oil filters? There are 2. One for the engine and one for the gearbox - mine is an auto box. After much sodding about, I found this site - www.oilfilter-crossreference.com What cool site! Whoever sorted it deserves a medal. Either that or !Removed!. Anyway, you choose. And when you when you’ve said 'thank you' to the owner of said site, you'll find that you should be using either Bosch, Mobil 1, K&N or Fleetguard if you can find them. There's not a lot else out there. I’m looking for good performance at a good price. Eurocarparts supply Bosch filters if they're in stock but we're talking about £1 worth of difference and I can’t find the right part number. K&N, with postage, work out a bit more expensive. Most filters are just rebranded anyway - same factory, different badge. Even K&N buy them in (it's panto season so ‘oh yes they do!’) Their HP filter is just a Champ Labs rebadged with a 1” nut welded onto the case. You can lockwire them if you’re going to the track but really, you’re going to the shops, aren’t you? So forget the pretty paintwork of the HP and the Stainless Steel range is very pretty to look at but unless you’ve got money to burn, it’s way more than you need. The SS range is reuseable. You can dismantle, clean and rebuild it. If that’s what your life is about. I’d use the cheaper alternative – the PS range. Fram don’t have a good reputation in the world of filters but some rebadged are made by Champ Labs. Maybe they’re OK. As far as I can tell, Champ and ‘Champion’ are not the same thing. Champion are owned by Federal-Mogul. They own Ferodo too. Champion motorbike filters look pretty basic and you get them at halfrauds. Anyone know the part number? There is a side business of Champion Aerospace and when you see their filters, they look exactly the same as K&N HP. Which is made by Champ Labs. Starting to look like the choice is this one or that one, isn’t it? Fleetguard are rumoured to be astonishing. Never seen one but their part numbers are below. All engines have filters so maybe you can find them for marine, aviation or even motorbikes. Like sparkplugs, one spec fits many engines. An oil filter is a metal can, the element inside filters out the crap. The more crap it catches, the cleaner the oil where it matters. Some don’t have a bypass valve. The bypass valve stops the crap from going backwards into the engine or gearbox when the pressure drops. Better filters have a faster flow rate and catch more crap. Some leak inside the filter casing and some leak outside the filter casing. Not all filters are the same. Gorrit? The engine on most Scoobys is a Tokyo Roki 15208AA100 filter as standard. Apparently they don’t meet the Subaru standard and were replaced. But because they were fitted as OE, and they don’t fail, it’s not a big deal. And because they are as rare as rocking horse doo doo, your alternative fitments are either: Mobil1 M-108. This is made by Champ Labs, who sell their own filters but not in England. Reputed as being very good but hard to find. Bosch D3300. Bosch is good kit. K&N PS-1008. Nothing wrong with it. You could use the HP if you want to spend an extra fiver. Fleetguard LF3692 The gearbox filters are either: Mobil1 M-103 Again, made by Champ. Their part number is PH2876 and it would appear that one filter fits all Scooby’s. Use the Mobil one, if you can find it. Bosch 72167 K&N PS-1003 Of course the choice is up to you. There are loads of Scooby parts shops so it’s your money, you spend it as you like. Keep at it

Engine Oil It's always a discussion point. I have tracked down a bloke who works for Opie and as it's oil change time, I've gone for Gulf Formula G. It's a 5/40 fully synthetic and it's on offer. http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-60125-gulf-formula-g-5w-40-fully-synthetic-engine-oil.aspx This is dirt cheap, although i've never rated Gulf for oil, it comes recommended. Previously, i've tried all sorts but as it's a 1.5, your toe is always buried in the shagpile so it looks like it will do the job,. Lets face it, most of the time you're doing a constant speed which is not so fast so race spec is overkill. We shall see how we go.

Hi folks Under the bonnet today to find grease over the back end on the passenger side - the gaiter has split. I'm told to get a genuine part but that it's a bugger to fit. Has anybody done it? Got any advice? 1.5 GG series, 2006 wagon. With an automatic box. Thanks DiH