Orange Engine Management light + Hot Brakes
Discussion
Hello guys,
First post so please be gentle..
I have had my 53 WRX Wagon for 6 months now and hope someone can offer me some peace of mind advice. The car came with FSSH all stamps 50k and 60K + Cambelt change all done before taking over... Phew. The car sat in a carpark for a couple of months before I got my hands on it. I turned it over (started first time and settled to normal Scooby burble, but the Orange Check engine light stayed on, and cut a long story short always has.
I have been to Scoob dealership and asked them to diagnose, all they have done is reset the ECU and give back, I had them do a quick check over at the same dealership and had them put in the HKS iridium plugs as I had read somewhere that this solved the issue for someone, and to be honest I thought we had it licked for 2 weeks the light stayed off untill yesterday when it appeared again.
I cant tell what sets it off, i thought it was sitting in traffic stationary, but 2 weeks it has been ok, full power feels fine, no noticable blips, and after 10 or so start stops the light goes out untill the next time.
So can any one offer any advice on this?
Also since the last checkup at scoob I seem to have binding front brakes, after coming home from a filthy run I went to wash the car and sprayed the hose on the wheels and there was steam and sizzling from the front brake discs, I had driven the car normally (honestly officer) there was no reason for the discs to be warm, but they were smoking hot, the weird thing is i dont notice a pull, but i do notice poor mph, but thought it was just scoobys
Basically I dont want to keep handing money over to Scooby dealers when I can get an honest opinion from someone that may have had this issue and got it resolved at half the cost, I am in the Berkshire/Reading area so would appreciate any helpful advice.
Essay over
First post so please be gentle..
I have had my 53 WRX Wagon for 6 months now and hope someone can offer me some peace of mind advice. The car came with FSSH all stamps 50k and 60K + Cambelt change all done before taking over... Phew. The car sat in a carpark for a couple of months before I got my hands on it. I turned it over (started first time and settled to normal Scooby burble, but the Orange Check engine light stayed on, and cut a long story short always has.
I have been to Scoob dealership and asked them to diagnose, all they have done is reset the ECU and give back, I had them do a quick check over at the same dealership and had them put in the HKS iridium plugs as I had read somewhere that this solved the issue for someone, and to be honest I thought we had it licked for 2 weeks the light stayed off untill yesterday when it appeared again.
I cant tell what sets it off, i thought it was sitting in traffic stationary, but 2 weeks it has been ok, full power feels fine, no noticable blips, and after 10 or so start stops the light goes out untill the next time.
So can any one offer any advice on this?
Also since the last checkup at scoob I seem to have binding front brakes, after coming home from a filthy run I went to wash the car and sprayed the hose on the wheels and there was steam and sizzling from the front brake discs, I had driven the car normally (honestly officer) there was no reason for the discs to be warm, but they were smoking hot, the weird thing is i dont notice a pull, but i do notice poor mph, but thought it was just scoobys
Basically I dont want to keep handing money over to Scooby dealers when I can get an honest opinion from someone that may have had this issue and got it resolved at half the cost, I am in the Berkshire/Reading area so would appreciate any helpful advice.
Essay over
Welcome Lanky 
it could be a number of things....
Without doing diagnostics it may be difficult but some of the common things it might be is...
Faulty MAF sensor, Faulty Cam Sensor, Misfire....etc... etc....
It needs to go on either select monitor or laptop with correct software & cable to do diagnostics.
As for your brakes either you're using them too much
or you may have a sicky piston in your calipers. More likely using them too hard and driving too fast!! Even with normal driving you put water on the calipers and they steam a treat, or maybe you have a leak of brake fluid on of the caliper pistons and it's dripping on a disc. If you have new pads hey will smell a bit at first and again if they get well used they will smell.
Hope this helps
If your local stealership is happy then maybe it's nothing.
it could be a number of things....
Without doing diagnostics it may be difficult but some of the common things it might be is...
Faulty MAF sensor, Faulty Cam Sensor, Misfire....etc... etc....
It needs to go on either select monitor or laptop with correct software & cable to do diagnostics.
As for your brakes either you're using them too much
or you may have a sicky piston in your calipers. More likely using them too hard and driving too fast!! Even with normal driving you put water on the calipers and they steam a treat, or maybe you have a leak of brake fluid on of the caliper pistons and it's dripping on a disc. If you have new pads hey will smell a bit at first and again if they get well used they will smell.Hope this helps
If your local stealership is happy then maybe it's nothing.
Hey Scoobie,
I forgot to add some vital info, the faults from the ecu are 301, engine misfire but truely I have never felt it miss a beat, nor the stealership. They have mentioned the Neutral Position Switch being faulty and needing replacing but at £75 for the part and obvious labour i want them to be sure, i have looked into doing it myself but not being that mechanically minded and tooled up will need to enlist the help of a freind, so before wasting his time I wanted to get a second, third fourth.... opinion
As for the breaks I swear I would know if I was using them, they feel like they have come off a track day not a normal 11 mile run home.
Can you recommend a good Indie around the Berkshire area??
Cheers, J
I forgot to add some vital info, the faults from the ecu are 301, engine misfire but truely I have never felt it miss a beat, nor the stealership. They have mentioned the Neutral Position Switch being faulty and needing replacing but at £75 for the part and obvious labour i want them to be sure, i have looked into doing it myself but not being that mechanically minded and tooled up will need to enlist the help of a freind, so before wasting his time I wanted to get a second, third fourth.... opinion
As for the breaks I swear I would know if I was using them, they feel like they have come off a track day not a normal 11 mile run home.
Can you recommend a good Indie around the Berkshire area??
Cheers, J
You wouldn't even need to feel a misfire for it to happen and the ECU registers it. Sometimes it will pull timing too and it will dissappear by itself if the ECU doesn't sense a misfire for a few days.
Is your car standard or has it been modified/mapped as sometimes if you mess with the AFR/Timing and Turbo Boost you can get a misfire come up if it isn't done properly and sometimes only under certain circumstances and for no bloody reason!!
As for the neutral position switch it's on the side of the gearbox (if this is what they are on about) and you should be able to get to it without dropping the gearbox. If you are not confident about having a go you should let a specialist do it. The way to check the switch is to have the ignition off, put a multimeter across terminals 1 and 3, have the car in neutral and check the resistance which should be less than 1 Ohm, and more than 1 Ohm when you put it into other gears.
Subaru have diagnostics equipment that will tell them what is wrong without all the faffing about, unfortunately you have to do things manually if you want to check it yourtself.
Good luck
Is your car standard or has it been modified/mapped as sometimes if you mess with the AFR/Timing and Turbo Boost you can get a misfire come up if it isn't done properly and sometimes only under certain circumstances and for no bloody reason!!
As for the neutral position switch it's on the side of the gearbox (if this is what they are on about) and you should be able to get to it without dropping the gearbox. If you are not confident about having a go you should let a specialist do it. The way to check the switch is to have the ignition off, put a multimeter across terminals 1 and 3, have the car in neutral and check the resistance which should be less than 1 Ohm, and more than 1 Ohm when you put it into other gears.
Subaru have diagnostics equipment that will tell them what is wrong without all the faffing about, unfortunately you have to do things manually if you want to check it yourtself.
Good luck
Yes thats a bit closer and I have heard these guys names pop up before.
In answer to your previous question, the wagon is bog standard except for PFF7 18's, funnily enough I drove to work today and the light was out, normally it stays on for a good week or so but this time it was only a couple of days.
Thanks again for your thoughts and I will post up when I get a chance to see the specialists.
In answer to your previous question, the wagon is bog standard except for PFF7 18's, funnily enough I drove to work today and the light was out, normally it stays on for a good week or so but this time it was only a couple of days.
Thanks again for your thoughts and I will post up when I get a chance to see the specialists.
I am guessing that the code was actually P0301 which specifically points to a particular cylinder with the fault. P0300 states a random misfire with the following 0301, 2 etc directing you to the source of the problem.
Possible causes are:
Cylinder compression low
Worn camshaft / broken valve spring(s)
Fuel delivery pressure (low / high)
Fuel injector(s) blocked / leaking
Fuel injector(s) continuously open
Fuel contamination
Fuel injector circuit fault(s)
(Injector DTCs also flagged)
Spark plug failure / fouled / incorrect gap
ECM to ignition module primary circuit fault
(Cylinder misfire detected DTC also flagged)
Ignition module ground circuit:
open circuit, high resistance
Ignition module / coil failure
There should be an accompanying DTC to pinpoint the component.
So, what have we leanrned? The problem could be one of many and without the correct DTC we can only guess.
Possible causes are:
Cylinder compression low
Worn camshaft / broken valve spring(s)
Fuel delivery pressure (low / high)
Fuel injector(s) blocked / leaking
Fuel injector(s) continuously open
Fuel contamination
Fuel injector circuit fault(s)
(Injector DTCs also flagged)
Spark plug failure / fouled / incorrect gap
ECM to ignition module primary circuit fault
(Cylinder misfire detected DTC also flagged)
Ignition module ground circuit:
open circuit, high resistance
Ignition module / coil failure
There should be an accompanying DTC to pinpoint the component.
So, what have we leanrned? The problem could be one of many and without the correct DTC we can only guess.
Edited by sjwb on Tuesday 29th January 11:02
Gassing Station | Japanese Chat | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff