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My 2009 Subaru finally threw a code after 4 years of silence
Last Tuesday I was driving home from a job in Portland when the check engine light popped on, no stutter or noise or anything. I pulled into an AutoZone on Foster Rd and the reader said P0420, cat efficiency below threshold. I had 214k miles on the original catalytic converter so I wasn't shocked, but the quote from my usual shop was $1,150 with labor. I ended up cleaning the O2 sensors first for $28 and resetting the code, and it's been 6 days with no return light. Anyone else dodged a P0420 that way or did I just get lucky before the real fix?
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holly_flores795d ago
That P0420 code on a 2009 Subaru at 214k is almost never the sensors, it's the cat itself wearing out. Cleaned sensors might buy you a few weeks but the code will come back once the ECU runs its full readiness test cycle, usually around 50 to 100 miles of mixed driving. I went through this exact thing on my 2007 Forester and the light stayed off for nine days before popping back on during a highway run. You're not really fixing anything by wiping the code, you're just resetting the timer on a part that's already past its life. The $1,150 quote sounds about right for OEM but you can get an aftermarket cat for way less if money is tight. I'd keep that $28 receipt handy because you'll probably be back at that same AutoZone soon.
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