donthaveascoobie

On my way to work this morning, the 'engine' warning light came on.. The one that looks like a yellow outline of an engine.

I hadn't noticed anything unusual and was driving fairly gently as i was on autopilot at 5:30am this morning!

I pulled over and the car sat on tickover without a problem. I then switched the car off and, after a few seconds, there was what sounded like air or water moving somewhere that made a sort of creaking noise, similar to when the car is hot and things go 'ping ting ping' but more of a groaning noise. This only lasted for a few seconds and the car fired up and drove as normal for the remaining mile or two.

I've been out to the car since and all the levels are fine.

The only thing i was doing differently this morning was driving with the heater in the '25' position, without the fan as it was a bit nippy. The heater has hardly been used since getting the car in Feb... Just a coincidence?

Anyway, I'm stuck in work until 6pm and was thinking of calling out my recovery company to check things over and make sure it's not going to go bang but wondered if anyone had any ideas what it might be or if anyone can recommend a Subaru specialist or garage to take the car to??? We have Car Planet in Warrington but just thought i'd check on here before taking it in...

luvMyScooby

Im over in Manchester (near Trafford Centre) & have a diagnostic fault code reader that plug's into the port just below your steering wheel, it gives you the fault code & tells you what the problem is. I bought the machine as "ProSport" in Stockport wanted £50 + V.A.T. to tell me what my car's problem was, then they wanted to charge me again to turn the engine management light off, So £90 for the machine so I can do it myself worked out cheaper in the long run. Your welcome to come over and plug in to find out what your car fault is if you want.

donthaveascoobie

Thanks very much for the offer... i think i might invest in one if the fault comes back again. I priced up having the code read at a place near here and it was £50.

Anyway, thank you for your reply... The weird noise wasn't what i though it was, but more of that in a minute doh!

I got my recovery company to come and have a look at the car before i left work and it turned out to be a Lambda sensor fault. This has been reset by the recovery bloke and hasn't come back on since. At least i know it's not suddenly going to go bang anyway! He said to see how it goes and to replace the sensor if the fault comes back or beforehand if it starts supping more fuel than normal.

The weird noise was actually the brakes! it made exactly the same noise when i was creeping forward in traffic earlier.. When i stopped this morning, i was on a slight hill and didn't put the handbrake on.. The noise was just the car creeping very slightly with the brakes not quite full on! It sounded like a mooooooo noise which made me thing it was something similar to the mini! At least it was nothing major

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

get a code reader from ebay, lot cheaper and you can charge people £10 to read and reset their codes as well

luvMyScooby

Glad to hear it's nothing major Donthaveascoobie, & Jaytc2003 I didn't think of charging but hey I suppose your right as it could be profitable lol

kath an pete

i got my car from carplanet an they r very helpfull

luvMyScooby

This is similar to the machine I paid £90 for a few week's back...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CAR-CODE-READE...item45f22ec824

donthaveascoobie

Not a bad idea that! saying that though, the recovery bloke said to make sure the reader is a good one as some of the cheap n nasty ones have been known to fry ECU's!

donthaveascoobie

cheers for the ebay link... sounds good. Will give car planet a go then if i get stuck... We took a Forester out for a test drive a while back and they seemed nice then

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

prosport in stockport are recommended as well, genuine scoob garage

biggi

iTrader: (3)

There is always adgespeed, been dealing with him for a good few years and had no probs

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

that looks very decent, mine was less than £20 but you need to connect the laptop to it, does give you more things to look at and fancy graphical interfaces but means you have to take the laptop with you whereas with the one on the link it is literally plug and go

luvMyScooby

I've used the one I bought a couple of times now & am pleased with it, just gutted I paid £90 when its going for nearly half price on Ebay lol....
Has anyone tried or know of any ECU Flashing software thats available to download, so I can connect my laptop up?

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

there is software called ecuflash which I use on my evo (depends on your car though whether it will work) It is free and fully featured

Download link
http://www.tactrix.com/index.php?opt...d=36&Itemid=58


You will also need a cable to connect your ecu to the laptop, not sure what type it is for scoobs but from that site above they will have them. Also dont forget wideband to monitor fuelling and afrs etc

useful sites for info

http://forums.openecu.org/

www.geekmapped.com (the members here are primarily evo owners however they dont look down on people who dont have evos)

luvMyScooby

Thank's for the info Jaytc2003, I will have a good look through it later on tonight once the kid's are out of the way in bed (I HATE THESE SCHOOL HOLIDAY'S) lol.
The ebay link I posted supplies the lead from laptop to car I just noticed, I didnt get one with mine but have just ordered one

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

the lead for the code reader wont allow you to flash your ecu, you need an openport or tactrix which you can get from the site I linked to

luvMyScooby

O.K Jaytc2003 cheer's for the info

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Fault code reader = piece of junk/waste of money.

Yes a dealer will charge you xx ammount, you spend 90 quid on a reader that just gives you a random code (because thats what it is, it isnt necessarily the correct fault its pointing to), what the dealer has is a 10k+ DIAGNOSTICS (note the word in big letters ) machine, which actually reads and tests, something a crappy reader doesnt do.
This diagnostics machine will in most cases, point out what the fault it, if it doesnt then the qualified subaru mechanic will probably find out what the fault is, your reader will do neither of the above.
You pay for the experience of the guy on the machine as well as a diagnosis of the fault, skimp and you could end up going back into that garage for a diagnosis that could end up costing you 3k+

OP, Prosport is probably THE best subaru garage out there, and if your car isnt worth 90 quid to diagnose an issue, well.....

Tony

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

Tony thats a load of rubbish, a fault code reader is exactly what it says. If your capable with the spanners then it enables you to do the fix instead of paying a garage. A lot of garages have these code readers (maybe not main dealers)

classicandy

iTrader: (1)

Sorry but have to agree with Tony, code readers in general only give code reading which in some instances is flagged up as a symptom, not the cause. Using a decent diagnostic set up enables an experienced user to trace faults where none 'item specific' codes are generated and product knowledge goes a long long way.

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

again rubbish, recently changed a lambada sensor on my evo that my £20 code reader brought up. Changed the sensor and car is fine no more errors. So I go to a garage (using my time), pay whatever they charge to rea d the code, ither get them to do the work so involving a labour cost and then a probable inflated charge for the part and a few hundred quid later my car is fine, whereas I save myself £100 by using my cheap reader and getting the part myself and wasting 10 mins to swap it

not saying they should be 100% relied on if they give more than one code, but if they do then the codes are usually all related anyway so a bit of an internet search does the business

classicandy

iTrader: (1)

Not going to enter into an arguement over it, but one day, rest assured, your £20 - £90 scanners will end up costing more

Seen it all too many times, but each to their own

Siouxsie

Good Afternoon Everyone

The cost of a diagnostic check is £50.00 + vat, this includes up to a 1/2 hours labour if required to carry out a repair, the cost includes re-setting the ECU. This has always been and will remain the procedure.

Regards

Prosport