The Car Next Door: Subaru Legacy GT Wagon, No More CEL!

It has been quite a ride since I purchased my first Subaru.  With over 140,000 miles on the clock and a few issues, there was reason to be hesitant on the purchase. The deal was too good to pass up.

Last time on, “The Car Next Door,” I talked about the check engine light that reappeared on my dash and the driving issues associated with it.

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This time around, I took it back to the shop.  I spoke to the shop owner about some odd numbers that were showing up on the OBDII scanner.  It helps to do your research on YouTube and Google. It’s even better to have an educational background related to the issue at hand.

My car was throwing up all sorts of odd numbers.  Did the scanner really say the engine is operating 16* in advance?  Was the engine knocking despite running 91 octane?  Why is the mass air flow sensor reading over 5 grams per second?  It should be over two!

Needless to say, I had calmed down once the shop owner plugged in his OBDII scanner with more advanced results.  He showed me what the ECU was doing to compensate for the lean code in bank one.  He spoke about what adjustments were necessary.

He suggested a tune.

The past several times I experienced the check engine light, it popped up after a 90 mile drive, a 30 mile drive, and a 40 mile drive.  Last night, I took it for a beach drive, treating the car like it was under break-in period.  Towards the end of the drive, I could tell that the engine was running fine.  After a few higher rpm bursts, I was sure the car was cured.  The check engine light is gone.

Now, I’m looking for the subtle projects that will tailor the car more suitable to my tastes.  We’re not talking about brakes and suspension modifications just yet.  But, that may happen soon enough.