3jarrells
Forum Member
I don't honestly have questions, I just feel like I nead a chat over a beer. A little back ground first. Our old Forester has 165k miles. It has only seen a dealer twice. Once when it was delivered and once for the first service. Regular maintenance items have been done by myself. I am no trained mechanic, though the Army used to let me put a wrench on helicopters.
The days of "just change the oil every 3k and she will run forever" are gone. Now, everyone likes clean air to breath, but it is starting to hurt my wallet. We recently moved to a state that has emissions testing. Now bear in mind, they don't care if your brakes don't work as long as your pipe don't stink. Where we used to live it was the opposite. The night before the inspection I just erased the codes. As long as the CEL was not on you were ok. Of course everything mechanical had to be tip top safety first.
I'm ok with my old tags for a while but soon I will have to subjected to the pipe test. Sure, she don't run like she used to and maybe she drinking a little heavy. But she is still part of the family and we have grown attached to her. Now about the car... just kidding. I have been checking the codes. You know how it teases you with one or two at a time. Well I did the knock sensor. Easy enough and not too expensive. Little did I know this was a gateway drug. Then I got the dreaded 0420. Yep, $1200 bucks from the dealer I don't think so. They must have gone past the gateway drug and full on with the crack. So I did the first O2 sensor. Easy job and I didn't need to take out a loan.
Seemed to drive better for a while. Then a week or so later the light came back on. No big deal, been ignoring it for at least a year. Carry on I say. Then here the family is, all packed up on a camping trip headed back home. Managing the curviest road I may have ever experienced. It even confused the GPS, she kept recalculating on the same road. Went from 14000 feet down to about 4000. Almost to the bottom and she cuts off in a curve. Panic ensues, cause breaks and steering don't work as well and there are no guardrails on this road. Remember, they are not so concerned about safety in this state as long as you don't foul the air.
She stalled one more time later, we cut the trip short and headed straight home. Made it in one piece, unloaded the gear and grabbed my trusty code scanner. Of course 0420, again so I bit the bullet and ordered the replacement cats. I know 165k miles on the originals. Found them on Amazon of all places pretty good deal $260 w/ shipping. Oh, and then there is another code, a new digit of doom. What havoc will this reek on my finances?!! P1507. After some googling its the Idle Air Control Valve only $380! There is hope though apparently you can try cleaning and reinstalling, but you have to get the replacement gasket at the stealership. Here is a link https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=781242
So, the saga continues. I feel better after my monolouge...
The days of "just change the oil every 3k and she will run forever" are gone. Now, everyone likes clean air to breath, but it is starting to hurt my wallet. We recently moved to a state that has emissions testing. Now bear in mind, they don't care if your brakes don't work as long as your pipe don't stink. Where we used to live it was the opposite. The night before the inspection I just erased the codes. As long as the CEL was not on you were ok. Of course everything mechanical had to be tip top safety first.
I'm ok with my old tags for a while but soon I will have to subjected to the pipe test. Sure, she don't run like she used to and maybe she drinking a little heavy. But she is still part of the family and we have grown attached to her. Now about the car... just kidding. I have been checking the codes. You know how it teases you with one or two at a time. Well I did the knock sensor. Easy enough and not too expensive. Little did I know this was a gateway drug. Then I got the dreaded 0420. Yep, $1200 bucks from the dealer I don't think so. They must have gone past the gateway drug and full on with the crack. So I did the first O2 sensor. Easy job and I didn't need to take out a loan.
Seemed to drive better for a while. Then a week or so later the light came back on. No big deal, been ignoring it for at least a year. Carry on I say. Then here the family is, all packed up on a camping trip headed back home. Managing the curviest road I may have ever experienced. It even confused the GPS, she kept recalculating on the same road. Went from 14000 feet down to about 4000. Almost to the bottom and she cuts off in a curve. Panic ensues, cause breaks and steering don't work as well and there are no guardrails on this road. Remember, they are not so concerned about safety in this state as long as you don't foul the air.
She stalled one more time later, we cut the trip short and headed straight home. Made it in one piece, unloaded the gear and grabbed my trusty code scanner. Of course 0420, again so I bit the bullet and ordered the replacement cats. I know 165k miles on the originals. Found them on Amazon of all places pretty good deal $260 w/ shipping. Oh, and then there is another code, a new digit of doom. What havoc will this reek on my finances?!! P1507. After some googling its the Idle Air Control Valve only $380! There is hope though apparently you can try cleaning and reinstalling, but you have to get the replacement gasket at the stealership. Here is a link https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=781242
So, the saga continues. I feel better after my monolouge...
