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Secondary air valve fault

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:39 am
by sammy_d1
Hi I was wondering if anyone can help me get rid of a secondary air valve fault. This is indicated by the fault code from the engine warning light. I had a technition retreave the code and I then looked it up and it seems to be a common fault with these vehicles. However It has been hard to retreve any workshop books or further information. Im guessing that the valve itself is ok as the pump seems to pump like it should but an oxygen sensor or map sensor is out of range (emmissions) the car runs fine however if i could get rid of the engine light ill get my cruise control back.
Ps Im not interested in emmissions at start up as the secondary air valve delivers its 15 seconds of air.

Can anyone help me out?

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:36 am
by TOONGA
model?

car?

year?

this information is essential to get help :)

TOONGA

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:50 pm
by sammy_d1
Forester 07 XT, fault code p2432. Secondary air valve pressure sensor circuit low.
I have removed and cleaned the valve (medium build up but not too bad) Visually inspected the wiring and all looks good. The vehicle is 100% standard and done mostly highway km (160 000) I have cleaned the MAS sensor and changed air filter today also and the engine light remains. I also have started it several times and took it for a run wide open throttle. Is this fault a latching fault? what do I need to clear it? can I do it without any equipment?
cheers.

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:21 pm
by littlewhiteute
Diesel or petrol?

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:31 pm
by RSR 555
What's the MAS sensor?? if your meaning the Mass Air Flow sensor then I'm guessing it's now faulty too.. as Subaru MAF sensor don't like to be cleaned. 50/50 chance of them working again after being cleaned.

If you were in WA I'd be able to have this (P2432) removed from your system. Maybe someone nearby you may be able to remove it??

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:17 am
by sammy_d1
Cheers RSR 555
All is still running fine just the light annoying me. I also last night plugged the green plugs together under dash and removed the ac/fan fuses etc so i could isolate the clacking sounds of each valve and both are clacking away fine just to confirm the mechanical side is working fine.
From the code its low voltage issue from the sensor to the ecm. I dont care for start up emmissions (i work in a stinky coal mine burnin 100000l fuel a day!) keepin in perspective.

Once a scanner removes the fault can it stay unchecked If I choose?
Or is it easier to fool the ecm with the apropriate value resistor installed?

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:45 am
by bobbyjimmy
How good a relationship do you have with your Subaru dealer?
If you've got a full service history and they know you, get them to ask Subaru Aust. about "goodwill" - if they will cover all or some of the parts cost and labour.

You need to replace both the valves - the "front" one is easy to change and takes like 30 mins, the other is under the manifold and is obviously alot harder to do (need inlet manifold gaskets too).
If those don't fix it, you'll need to replace the pump itself too, which is fairly easy to change.

You could also go to IWSTi.com and do a search on the secondary air pump delete and get rid of it - the CEL will stay on, but the ECU can be "reflashed" (so get a tune done at the same time) to get rid of it.

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:03 pm
by RSR 555
sammy_d1 wrote:Cheers RSR 555
All is still running fine just the light annoying me. I also last night plugged the green plugs together under dash and removed the ac/fan fuses etc so i could isolate the clacking sounds of each valve and both are clacking away fine just to confirm the mechanical side is working fine.
From the code its low voltage issue from the sensor to the ecm. I dont care for start up emmissions (i work in a stinky coal mine burnin 100000l fuel a day!) keepin in perspective.
Some times I get this and it turns out to be the ignition relay. I've see ECU throw out weird codes when this happens.
sammy_d1 wrote:Once a scanner removes the fault can it stay unchecked If I choose?
Scanner will not uncheck the desired circuit, it will just clear the codes from memory (and show current ones) but if you don't fix the issue, the code will come back. You'll need to have the ROM chip in the ECU reconfig'd (done by specialised dyno tuner or some computer geek with ROM Raiding experiance) then the ECU will not look at that side of the system.
sammy_d1 wrote:Or is it easier to fool the ecm with the apropriate value resistor installed?
Not sure about this as I've never had to go this way. I use a specialised dyno tuner because we can have other parts of the system removed and also LOTS of other extras that are blocked by Australian Emissions.