Help with CEL

Discussion in 'Modifications & DIY how-to' started by AWD_Tiger, Jan 14, 2006.

  1. AWD_Tiger

    AWD_Tiger Member

    last night i was driving to my room mates house when my check engine light came on. i went to autozone and had it pulled - P0171 System too Lean (Bank 1)

    does anyone know what this translates to ?

    I dont think my motor was knocking... the reason i say i "dont think" is because it was really windy and raining off and on so it was really hard to hear.
     
  2. moose

    moose Infina Mooooooose!

    When's the last time you changed your fuel filter?
     
  3. AWD_Tiger

    AWD_Tiger Member

    I dont think its been changed since ive owned it(I bought it this past august). pardon my ignorance but how would that make the car run lean?
     
  4. moose

    moose Infina Mooooooose!

    If your filter's all nasty and full of crap you might not see sufficient fuel delivery, that's how.

    It could be a variety of things causing this CEL, but if you don't know how old the fuel filter is it is a good place to start.
     
  5. AWD_Tiger

    AWD_Tiger Member

    I think i might know what have caused me to get a cel... a couple days before my cel went on i installed a k&n panel filter. after talking to a guy at a subaru dealership he thinks that the oil from the filter might have messed up the maf sensor... my question 1. is there a way to clean your maf?... 2. if i get my cel shut off and i get my maf cleaned (or borrow one from a friend) how long will it take for my cel to come back on if the problems still exists?

    -Thanks
     
  6. GTscoob

    GTscoob Black is Beautiful

    Clayton,

    Thinking back to last year before I blew the tranny, I remember getting a PO171 or a PO176 and that was with a shitty tune and possibly a bad MAF. After I Ecuteked it with the dead MAF I got a CEL for "system too rich" which would make sense since SS richened the car a lot because of the screwy (dead) MAF.

    Fuel filter is cheap and takes 5 mins to swap out. I dont think this would cause it but anything fueling related is a possibility (think Fury :eek:hnoes: ). I dont think your filter would do it since it was pre-oiled; so many people have put them in pre-oiled and never had problems. It seems the problems are when people re-oil them and add too much oil.
     
  7. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    Definately check for a gunked up MAF, then get back to us.
     
  8. AWD_Tiger

    AWD_Tiger Member

    Well I got my car back from Subaru... it ended up being my thermostat wasent functioning properly, there for my car was running too cold thus running lean. it was running at about 180 degrees instead of around 200.


    As far as the K&N filter goes it did get oil all over my maf sensor. so i cleaned that off with some CRC QD electical cleaner (From Napa) which did a great job. The problem with the filter was that it had too much oil on it when i bought it(new). Ive talked to some people and they said to get the recharge kit and use some of the cleaner spray and the excess oil will go away.... so im gonna try this... ill be sure to post after i try this.
     
  9. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    Glad its solved!
     

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