Well,
I've been getting CEL's since the end of fall. The car has now 47k miles and came with the Subaru Extended Warranty for 5yr/60k miles. The first time I got the CEL it was said to be due to old software on the ECU. So the dealership did the reflash and it went away. Now the 2nd time around about a month ago I get it again and they now say it is due to the fact the car needs a valve adjustment. He wasn't sure if it would be covered under warranty so I said get back to me. 3 weeks later now he calls and says that the Subaru Rep says it is not covered under the warranty. I'm in a pickle now because 1) the Subaru Warranty is USELESS 2) the car drives ok but if I don't get it done and go for an emissions testing I fail 3) they want f'ing $900 for this "adjustment"

I would like to ask: a) can this actually cause a misfire code? b) anyone have ideas as to what might be the problem and what are the problems if I don't get this done c) those that have the 60k warranty, what is it good for?

This sucks, and this will most likely be the LAST Subaru I own. I have been loyal and owned 4, but this is ridiculous

What a bunch of bull****...

Sorry just venting...

Oh and the car has NO engine performance mods and I drive like a grandma

Nirmit

a: yes
b: rough startup, followed by rough idle when it gets worse
c: things other than items in the maintence schedule

I scratched my head on one of these at 50 k mi for a while at work, until I finally removed the valve cover and measured clearance, wow, there was the problem. Tight clearances. Not sure why it happened so soon, but prob. has to do with things ranging from break-in to warm-ups to driving habits, impossible to say. Just get it done and it won't need it for a long time again. $900 is rediculous though, I actually did one of these today on a my00, charged 3 hours labor, parts cost about $150, in alaska! Job only took about an hour to do once the car was on the lift, mainly because only a few valves will be off. Sorry to ramble, good luck Jerry

c: things other than items in the maintence scheduleValve lash adjustment/inspection isn't on Subaru's schedule of inspection and maintenance services, at least for the 2002 WRX.

I don't know where it's printed, but I know that on the 2.5 sohc's it's supposed to be at 105K, with the timing belt. Not sure about the wrx's, but they are a lot harder, with the adjustment shims and all. Some people like to pull the motor for valve adj. on subies with adjustment shims.

shukes, you need to get both the diagnosis of what's wrong *and* the refusal to cover it under warranty *in writing*. You may find you get a different answer when they have to put it in writing...

I bought the valve adjustment tool for my '98 2.5RS dohc. I paid $250 for the tool and about $1.50 to $3 each for the shims. The Stealership wanted 3 times the price of the tool and parts to do the job. I dont know if the WRX has the same design, valve shims I mean. SPX/Kent-Moore makes all Subaru specialty tools. I had to call 4 dealerships before anyone would even tell me the tool manufacturers name! I did this adjustment, takes about 2-3 hours twice. Once to take out shims, measure thickness and reinstall. Then a second time after you get the new shims in. Endwrench.com has some good information on this. This adjustment is for the mechanically inclined ONLY!