[Neme]

I have a Stock '05 STI. Yesterday after messing around with some friends on the interstate for about 5 miles, my check engine light came on. Had my friend check the code and it threw the P0011 code. It was over due by about 200 miles for an oil change (I change at 3K). Reset the code since I had plans to change the oil first thing this morning. When I was driving home, while the car was in gear the rpm's were sitting just enough above O to keep it cranked...but that was it. In neutral is was sitting just below 1 which is normally what it does. Drove home and every time I stopped at a stop light the rpm's did the same thing. This morning I left to have the oil changed and the check engine light came back on and this time threw P0021. Got the oil changed and after doing some reading last night went looking for the banjo bolts to check the filters. They were pretty dirty and got them cleaned...checked for oil leaks around the turbo and the avcs lines, didn't notice anything that looked wrong. While pulling the banjo filters we pretty much took some things apart to have a look...there was about a thimble full of wet oil sitting inside the intercooler and a little sliding down from where the turbo was mounted to the intercooler. Cleaned the intercooler out and it had some dry oil in there as well so obviously not a recent thing. Got everything put back in and took it for a 'hard' drive around the block to see if it would throw a code again. So far it hasn't, but my question is, is there anything else I should be looking for or looking into about this or just wait it out and continue driving as normal? There are no Subaru dealers in my area and no certified Subaru mechanics either and I live in small town nowhere with not many options on what to do from here.

 

[xxxxxxxAnub1s]

You'll probably want to inspect the timing belt to make sure it's still on time. I wouldn't drive it until you do.

 

[Neme]

If it did jump time wouldn't there be an indication of that...such as rough idle, stalling, stuttering, etc?

 

[xxxxxxxAnub1s]

Not always, but yes those are indicators. If it's just one or two teeth on one or two cams, it may not be as noticable, but the car may still detect it when the AVCS is utilized.

How many miles are on the car? Is it actually stock, or have you done anything to it?

 

[Neme]

92,500. The only thing I have done to it is I changed exhaust about 2 weeks ago...that's it motor wise.

 

[xxxxxxxAnub1s]

You're getting close to the timing belt change interval anyways, so checking it out would be a good idea. Timing belts tend to stretch just like any other belt as they get older, that's the reason behind the tensioner design Subaru uses. If it stretches too much and jumps, that's where problems start.

If the timing is still good, we can revisit other possible issues.

 

[Neme]

Talked to the cloest dealer and they said the timing belt won't need to be replaced until 105k miles. I still have about 12k to go..they don't think the timing belt is an issue. Codes have stayed off and everything seems to be okay at the moment. Spark plug change and fuel filter change coming up on Monday as just part of regular maintanence. After a lot of reading I'm understanding that there needs to be an ECU reset since the battery will be removed to change the plugs. Is that true and normal? And what exactly do I need to do to do that.

 

[SD_GR]

The ECU reset is disconnecting the battery. Nothing else need be done. Reconnect the battery and go.

 

[Neme]

Then why do I keep reading all this stuff about holding it in boost in 3rd gear and a million different variations on resetting it. Sorry for being a 'dumb girl' when it comes to all this stuff. Although I've owned the car since it was brand new, the technical motor stuff has never been my thing until recently.

 

[xxxxxxxAnub1s]

Resetting the ECU is nothing more than cutting power to it so that it clears the learned timing and fuel values. What they are talking about is the actual learning period, and cheating their way through it. To be technical, they're talking about getting the advance multiplier back up to where it needs to be to run full timing advance in a shorter amount of time than the cars natural learning period. Which funny enough doesn't take long to begin with.

 

[Neme]

So once all the power has drained from the cars electrical components, just reconnect the battery and have at it at my normal driving? No need to 'cheat' my way around anything? And all will be fine? Scheduled to go in on Monday for the plugs and I just wanna make sure I have as much info as possible to bar any unnecessary problems after the plug change, especially considering the problems I experienced over the last week. Also thanks for the patience and help y'all have been giving me the past week.

 

[xxxxxxxAnub1s]

Just drive normal. You'll notice some diminished power at first, at take off especially. But after a while it will relearn what it needs to and the timing will be at full advance again.

I still think there's something wrong that caused those two codes to come up. But we will see after you get your work done. If it comes back, you'll need to start diagnosing things.

 

[SD_GR]

Yes. Disconnect the battery. Then keep the brake pedal pressed down to potentially discharge any capacitance for a few seconds. Do whatever work you need to do, then reconnect the battery and drive away happy. The car will re-learn any/everything it needs soon enough.

 

[Neme]

A friend of mine who is a master tech at Nissan (I know not a subaru tech but still knows the ins and outs of vehicles and building then withstand major HP and racing) basically said I was starving my turbo and motor by using 'house' oil filters at our local oil shop and recommended getting rid of that first and foremost. He said he wanted me to order filters through subaru but for the time being he'd settle with at least getting a mobile 1 because it was in stock at our local parts store. So I took his advice and no codes since and I've drove it to work this week. Nothing out of the ordinary has went on so far so couple that with numerous talks with the actual service tech at subaru and their recommendations I feel okay that whatever the problem was that the oil filter and being late on the change was most likely the major culprit. Specifically since they pulled everything out BUT the motor to have a look around.

 

[mirich]

My 05 Legacy GT had the P0021 a week ago, rough idle. I changed the oil and driver side AVCS sensor and I have been good for 200 miles now, idle is good, no codes. The sensor is like $80 and it took me 10 min to change it. Some people get away with just cleaning it, but mine didn't. I had to replace it.