Helping the Subaru Breathe.

Nothing like breathing bugs!

Idle Control Valve

 Subie has been a handful as of late.   First it was the brakes; then the Oxygen sensor,  now it is the Idle Control valve.  ( Or so we think.)   And that is really the real problem.   We "think" it is this or that because of his behavior.   Basically,  is stalls at fuel up and early morning stop signs.   Then, around mid afternoon,  he runs fine....except when he "hesitates" randomly.  These problems are similar to going to a doctor and saying your tummy aches.  ( It could be so many things!)

Removed and Cleaned it. 

Add some Throttle Cleaner to the intake

So Cheryl and I have been slowly narrowing the list of "possible problems" down.   From Idle valve to the  Air Filter, we have been combing the Subaru Forums and asking Andy all kinds of questions.  We even took it to the Mechanics in Iowa City!   All they did was clean out the idle valve and send us on our way.  It did not seem to help much.

Hmm,  Slightly dirtier than expected.

And wipe off the soot. 

We are aware that the possible and most likely probable cause for this "fussiness" could be that it is simply an "Older" car. ( moving up to 14 years old now)  But we have an understanding and dependence on Subie now.    So we shall do our best to patch things up as best we can.   Kinda like Grandpa!   A soft bed, TV, and a bowl of Jello is all he needs to make him comfortable. ( and happy!)

Time to bring out the toothbrush.

probably should have removed it.

So today's task was to clean out the Air intake. and Idle valve.  I had already taken the idle valve off and found it to be completely gummed up with a thick black paste.  We bought some carburetor   cleaner and I commenced to scrubbing.

The old one still looks good though. 

New Air filter

I also cleaned up the air intake ducts and replaced the air filter.  I believe I could have done a better job on the Air Intake throttle body.  I probably should have removed it totally to get all of that crud off of the other side.   However,  there is a possibility that the hoses are old and I did not want to break any.   If the job shows promise, I may do a better job later.  It beats buying a new one. (somewhere between $200-400!) I figure a little carb cleaner and a toothbrush can save me a little cash.

Perfectly dropped socket.

Just out of reach!  Lovely....

So I put everything together and took it out for a run.  I should note here that there is nothing quite like dropping your only 12 mm socket smack dab in the middle under the car!   Just out of reach from all sides!

An "after" picture.   I still see lots of room for improvement. 

After a bit of a slow start ( the carb cleaner flooded the engine.) I managed to get the idle to remain consistent and it seems to have a little more pick up.   Cheryl suggested we take it to fuel up....which still caused it to stall.   However, after getting it started  again, it remained functioning properly.   Tomorrow morning will be the true test.

Cheryl sports her New Shorts!

Boston Marathon on Everything! 

A Rose Breasted Grosbeak.

I don't know if they are common,  But I they are rare to me. 

Too bad we did not capture  better pics of him.  Maybe next time. 

Other than that,  we have been running, scoring, and I have seen two Grosbeaks!  One came to my bird feeder!



 I was so excited that I could not yell out the words to Cheryl.   Her quick thinking allowed us to get these pictures of him.   Not the best, granted, but normally we see them ( if we are lucky) on one of the trails and they are zipping by at light speed.  He ended up coming to the bird feeder twice yesterday, so maybe it will be possible that he will set up shop and become a resident.  I'll keep an eye out.

Thought I might have seen the hummingbird, but the jury is still out.  I'm expecting them to come around any day now.