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You might double check with Subaru, but I think you have bought the wrong sensor.
Yes, completley agree. Thankyou so much for spotting that David Good job I uploaded the photo of the box otherwise you wouldn't have picked up on that and this problem solving could have got quite expensive! Thanks for confirming aswell Don.
It's typical isn't it - the one I ordered was the cheaper of the two and SO easy to change, and the one I actually need is more expensive and looks like a complete pain in the **** to change!
Erm, the sensor is by the pulleys at the front. Nothing to remove to access it. Easy as it gets.
Don't feel too bad. I had a "strange warn bearing type noise" in my v4 STi Type R. Could fathom what it was. Took it to Subaru4you. Len put microphones all over the place and it was concluded the bearings in the centre-diff were to blame. A replacement diff was sourced for 1500 quid, fitting was another few hundred quid. Drove home, noise was still there.
After loads of investigation I discovered that the noise I was hearing was nothing more than disturbed airflow passing through the roof scoop above my head. All that money spent.........
Erm, the sensor is by the pulleys at the front. Nothing to remove to access it. Easy as it gets.
Don't feel too bad. I had a "strange warn bearing type noise" in my v4 STi Type R. Could fathom what it was. Took it to Subaru4you. Len put microphones all over the place and it was concluded the bearings in the centre-diff were to blame. A replacement diff was sourced for 1500 quid, fitting was another few hundred quid. Drove home, noise was still there.
After loads of investigation I discovered that the noise I was hearing was nothing more than disturbed airflow passing through the roof scoop above my head. All that money spent.........
Haha oh dear! Goodness me! Okay, you win on that one
Okay, quick question for people, and I think I know the answer - OEM or aftermarket? I am a big believer in sticking with OEM but I am struggling to justify the £92 for the OEM part instead of £20 or less for a Delphi or similar?
Haha oh dear! Goodness me! Okay, you win on that one
Okay, quick question for people, and I think I know the answer - OEM or aftermarket? I am a big believer in sticking with OEM but I am struggling to justify the £92 for the OEM part instead of £20 or less for a Delphi or similar?
Dunno how good the aftermarket ones are with these sensors. I know with MAFs you have to use the OEM ones which are double the price of aftermarket. On the other hand, with Lambda sensors I've found Bosch to be fine.
Delphi ought to be fine. In the absence of any other advice, I'd be getting a Delphi item at that price and hoping for the best since you've already shelled out money for the other sensor. Up to you though.
Hi guys, got a bit of an update for you. Well, it isn't really much of an update, more of a request for help! Basically, I've finally got the right sensor.....
....but I can't get the old one out! It is stuck in there SO tight, I honestly don't know how I'm ever going to get it out. Infact, it seems so tight that even if I had a completely clear path to it and the alternator etc was off.....I still don't actually know how I'd get it out I managed to make it turn slightly by placing a block of wood against the plug part and hitting it with a hammer, but now I have no way of turning it back towards me, can't do it by hand....
I've tried prizing it out with a screwdriver but the screwdriver was starting to bend! I really am completely stuck here, has anybody got any ideas? I'm also worried as to why it's so tightly stuck. Do you think something inside the engine could have colided with it which would explain a) why it was broken in the first place, and b) why it's so stuck in there now? Engine turns over fine and sounds like it always did though, so I don't think there is any sort of contact inside that there shouldn't be?
Spray all over and round it with wd 40 or any penetrating fluid and leave it soak in. Looking at the state of the engine all the aluminium has oxidised so that's why it's probably stuck so tight. The sensor doesn't extend into the engine, so there is no worry about internal damage. It just sits above the trigger pulley that the cambelt runs on. The sensor screws into the oil pump housing, so if the worst case happened and the housing broke, a new oil pump would sort it. Which on an Impreza with a few miles on it is no bad thing anyway.
I recently did mine on blob sti, i highly recommend using Plus gas release fluid,
penetrates better than wd40 in my experience, leave to soak a 1hr or 2, spraying a little every so often.
Id also remove the alternator.
if you get it to twist slightly, apply fluid and repeat..
Think you can buy plus gas from Euro car parts if you have one near
Thanks for your replies guys. Sprayed the hell out of it lastnight with Plus Gas and again thismorning with no joy. Then I decided to take the alternator off so I could get better access to it. Gave it another good soaking while I had my breakfast etc. Still no joy. I was going to post up on here then because it was getting to the point where I was just butchering the hell out of it and there'd be no plastic left around the top....
So when the above photo was taken, it would finally rotate around sort-of-easily-but-not-really, but definitely easier than before. But absolutely no movement upwards no matter how hard I pulled. I even felt like I pulled my shoulder out at one point. No way it was coming out of there. Gave it another soak now while I had my dinner and went out for one last go.....
Oh. Dear. So the rest of it is still stuck incredibly firmly where it was.....
So what on earth do I do now? Starting to wonder why the hell I'm bothering to try and get it back on the road. Simple change a sensor turns into this performance like. Nothing is ever simple!
Get the thinnest screwdriver you can find and tap it down between the outside of what's left of the sensor and the housing, and work it a little to try and bend it inwards. Try this at various points around the sensor to try and loosen it, but be careful not to break the oil pump housing it sits in. It could always be drilled out as a last resort, but this would cause swarf to go on the cambelt, so that would have to be cleaned out before start up.
Get the thinnest screwdriver you can find and tap it down between the outside of what's left of the sensor and the housing, and work it a little to try and bend it inwards. Try this at various points around the sensor to try and loosen it, but be careful not to break the oil pump housing it sits in. It could always be drilled out as a last resort, but this would cause swarf to go on the cambelt, so that would have to be cleaned out before start up.
Thanks Ian. This is possibly a silly question, but does anybody what's underneath the sensor? Is it actually free to fall anywhere or does it sit on a tiny ledge or something? I'm afraid that if I do manage to losen it now, I'll end up dropping it! From the luck I've had so far, that's exactly what's going to happen!
Originally Posted by David__H
I feel for ya fella. Old cars can be a major PITA.
The crank trigger pulley that drives the cambelt sits underneath it. It'll only drop a tiny amount before it touches the crank trigger pulley. If you notice it has dropped down don't go bashing it or you might bend the prongs on the trigger pulley. Might be better to pull the front pulley off and the centre cambelt cover, you'll be able to see what I mean then, and be able to access what's left of the sensor from underneath.
Hey guys, I come with good news and bad news. The good news is I finally got the old sensor out! I went with the bend-all-the-edges-in method....
....and eventually got enough to grab onto and with a lot of Plus Gas and a lot of persuation it eventually came out....
What a flippin' state. Dear me. So, cleaned the housing out as best I could ready for the new sensor....
....annnnddd the bad news is it doesn't fit It will go in about 3 or 4mm until the white flecks of what look like corrosion, and then it won't budge. I can't think of a decent way of cleaning the hole anymore without dropping anything down into the engine? I also didn't want to start hammering my £95 sensor into a hole that it might not actually fit in. I mean that old one was SO tight, will probably have to hammer the new one so hard to get it in there that I'd actually break it anyway. Hmmmmm, any ideas?
Try using a round file to clean up the white corrosion. You could even enlarge the hole a bit, but once it's cleaned up the sensor should just slide in nicely. The White stuff wil just turn to dust when you file it so it won't do the cambelt any harm where it falls in.
Try using a round file to clean up the white corrosion. You could even enlarge the hole a bit, but once it's cleaned up the sensor should just slide in nicely. The White stuff wil just turn to dust when you file it so it won't do the cambelt any harm where it falls in.
Try using a round file to clean up the white corrosion. You could even enlarge the hole a bit, but once it's cleaned up the sensor should just slide in nicely. The White stuff wil just turn to dust when you file it so it won't do the cambelt any harm where it falls in.
Thanks Ian. Silly question - with a file trying to get the white corrosion off, am I not at risk of filing the actual ally housing a touch aswell, which would then create metal debris that would fall in? I would obviously try and avoid that, but if you're saying I could make the hole bigger aswell, do you actually mean I could intentiinally try to file away at the ally housing?
if Is it possible can you cool down/freeze the sensor. ie "make it smaller" put it in the fridge/freezer, ( I do not know if the reduction in temp will effect the sensor) so it fits ????
if Is it possible can you cool down/freeze the sensor. ie "make it smaller" put it in the fridge/freezer, ( I do not know if the reduction in temp will effect the sensor) so it fits ????
That's a really interesting idea! I've done that before with a socket - put it in the freezer to try and shrink it to fit more snugly around a bolt. I never got to know if it actually worked or not though because my housemate got bored in the meantime and hacksawed the bolt off But yeah I'd say that was a pretty good idea as long as it wouldn't damage the sensor?
Originally Posted by JGlanzaV
No need. Wire wool is all you need to clear the corrosion.
Thanks Ian. Silly question - with a file trying to get the white corrosion off, am I not at risk of filing the actual ally housing a touch aswell, which would then create metal debris that would fall in? I would obviously try and avoid that, but if you're saying I could make the hole bigger aswell, do you actually mean I could intentiinally try to file away at the ally housing?
If you go steady on the white stuff you shouldn't really touch the housing much to cause filings. Once you get the corrosion off the sensor should slide in snugly, but yeah you could enlarge the hole a bit if it's still tight, shouldn't be though. This would obviously cause metal debris that would need to be cleaned off the cambelt.
Hi guys, just another quick update for you. The sensor is now in!
I ended up 'filing' the corrosion off with a pair of tweezers! Had about 3 or 4 attempts at getting the sensor in and there was a slight bit of progress each time until it eventually slotted in lovely. I did put a very very slight bit of copper grease on the metal body of the sensor that goes in the hole, I hope that was acceptable? The tweezer filing did create quite a bit of dust, which I cleaned up using my new invention....
Fair play, it did the job a treat!....
Unfortunately I didn't get as far as trying to start the car. Still need to put the alternator back on etc and I ran out of daylight. Will hopefully have time to try it tomorrow and will post another update then
Hi guys. Right. Well I'm a bit confused right now and I'm really hoping someone might have an idea what is going on! Basically, it started! ......for about 5 seconds....then spluttered a bit....then recovered....then ran for about 10 seconds maybe.....then just cut out stone dead. I can almost understand that behaviour on a car that hasn't ran for 8 months, but then when I went to re-start it the weird stuff started happening. So I turned the ignition off and then I heard my cooling fans come on. Hmmm, bit weird. It hasn't exactly got hot in 20 seconds or so of running? So as I was about to get out of the car and have a look, the speed of the fan increased quite a lot. I say fan not fans because for some reason only one of the two came on (passenger side one). It was on then until I disconnected the battery. Re-connected the battery a few minutes later and the fan was off. Tidy. So I thought I'd have another go at starting it, but there was a significant lack of fuel pump priming sound when I turned the ignition on why on earth would that be?! Has my fuel pump suddenly died do we think? Anyway, didn't try to turn the key all the way because I knew the fuel pump hadn't primed, so I turned the ignition back off and the fan came back on again Luckily I got the whole thing on video so please have a look and see exactly how the car behaved rather than just going from my explanation....
17 August 2016, 10:36 PM
Good job I uploaded the photo of the box otherwise you wouldn't have picked up on that and this problem solving could have got quite expensive! Thanks for confirming aswell Don.
It will go in about 3 or 4mm until the white flecks of what look like corrosion, and then it won't budge. I can't think of a decent way of cleaning the hole anymore without dropping anything down into the engine? I also didn't want to start hammering my £95 sensor into a hole that it might not actually fit in. I mean that old one was SO tight, will probably have to hammer the new one so hard to get it in there that I'd actually break it anyway. Hmmmmm, any ideas? 
But yeah I'd say that was a pretty good idea as long as it wouldn't damage the sensor?
