CEL Code PO546 No results In Search Box Here
 

So I got a (Solid Not Flashing) CEL last night while driving on the freeway at roughly 65mph driving normally.

I woke up and got in the car this morning to go to Autozone, started the car, and no CEL?! I still drove to Autozone hoping that the code was stored, and luckily it was. I was getting a PO546 Code which is Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor High Input Bank 1 Sensor 1.

I searched our site for some help but came up empty in the search box. So I then went to NASOIC for some help with the search and came up with a few threads on it. Weeding out all of the BSer's and trying to suck up the genuine knowledge, I gathered that my EGT Probe sensor in the up-pipe is probably dying. What I also read is that it is much more common for this to fail in a catless up-pipe due to more exhuast flow and temp. I have a stock up-pipe in my 05 WRX so this worries me a little.

I have taken off all parts on my car besides the short ram intake and CBE due to my car being temperamental the last week and a half while driving to and from work. The intake is coming off also when I get a chance today for sure. The parts will definitely stay off until I get an AP or other engine management in the near future.

Most said that the CEL stayed on until they did something about it or reset the ECU. Even then when most people reset the ECU, the same CEL came back on without wasting much time at all. Knowing that the CEL turned of on its own without being reset on my car within 24 hours, and hasn't returned, am I over-reacting by thinking I need to replace the EGT Probe/Sensor or should I just leave it alone and wait until the CEL comes back?!

I think I am just nervous because all of this is going down right before the turbo and I'm scared of maybe killing something else or maybe sucking some stock cat or something in from the up-pipe?! I have been driving all morning with my car running as good as it ever has so I'm not sure what to do. It seems back to normal. If anyone has had this code before or can shed some light or advice on the situation it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance guys

I'd wait and see if it comes back. Engine management would be a good idea.

I hear ya, engine management is the next thing. I just don't want to sacrifice killing my turbo or something else more expensive than this part because I can pick it up for less than $100 and install in a few minutes. I've shopped EGT probes from $80-$120 today.

What's wrong: Either your UP cat is failing, your EGT probe is failing, or you are generating higher than typical EGT's due to another problem. None of these possiblities are particularly safe situations.

You said you removed all the parts. Does that include the UP? How's the cat look when you shine a flashlight at it? I'd imagine the sensor could be tested with an ohmmeter and a blow torch, but I'd bet it's the cat failing which might also explain why the car has been running poorly lately.

What I'd do: When upgrading the turbo, install a ceramic coated UP that doesn't have any bungs. Tuning will eliminate the CEL associated with removing the EGT sensor and it won't be necessary anyway, now that you have a catless UP. Consider installing an EGT probe in the headers for an aftermarket gauge.

Profit?

I did not take the UP off and look at it with the flashlight unfortunately. I never upgraded it from the factory one. Not to mention I have my roommates dirtbike and various other things that he just put in the garage so that I do not have any room to work on the car or even pull one in to check. I plan on doing an aftermarket UP in the future but want an AP first. I tried to take off the intake and put the stock one back in, but can't seem to find one of the plastic parts of the snorkel shit, so I aborted until I can go through the messy garage to find it. So as of now I have a AEM intake, Apexi Turbo Timer, Megan Racing CBE, and Megan Racing Springs. And I don't plan on upgrading the turbo for quite some time but appreciate the insight about the ceramic UP.

The AEM intake could be making you run lean, causing elevated EGT's, which might explain the CEL.

Noted, I have been told that before about the AEM intake. It is still on the car though. The car is very inconsistent lately. Sometimes the boost is all the way there even with the rough idle and what not, and then the next time it feels like I'm only getting roughly half my boost with a lot of stuttering to boot. And that is the thing, the CEL is and has been gone since that day. Hasn't came back. But the car is running the same inconsistency as the few hours it was on that night, terrible. Does anyone know if that is maybe a soft code or have any reason why it would have went away on it's own overnight?! So now I have no CEL and a bad running, and bad idling car with nowhere to look besides an EGT Probe as far as I know. Would a bad EGT Probe make my car run like this?! I was told that the EGT probe does nothing but measure the temp in the UP/voltage in sensor and if it is not within a certain window, you get the orange light of death in your gauge cluster. So if that is the case and I am getting credible info, that would make my car run like that would it?! I have more probs?

For the love of god! Ditch all the aftermarket parts until you've got EM and a proper tune for them!

We're not likely to figure out a solution for the problem over the internet. Do yourself a favor and take off the non-factory stuff. If it's still running poorly, then we might be able to start tracking it down. But if you've still got an intake on the car, we're all gonna guess that's the culprit, 'cause it's by far the most likely thing to cause the issue.

CEL's can come and go if the condition that caused them subsides. As you saw, they do often remain in memory though, but not always. It depends on the code. The UP EGT is pretty much like you described. It's only purpose is to ensure the UP cat doesn't get overheated. I've heard stories of cat material and even the EGT probe itself getting sucked right into the turbo. :eek:

Remove the intake, reset the ECU, and see how it runs and if any CEL's return.

If I could find the plastic piece to the stock intake that I'm missing (that is in the garage somewhere), I would love to remove the last aftermarket part! And unfortunately I can't just go bust out $1000 plus in the course of a week and a half on my car for an AP and a custom tune or I would love to do that too!

Thanks Cody, I wasn't sure about the CEL going away on its own. I don't want anything to get sucked in the turbo for sure, If that happens, I'll never get an AP! So I will get a new UP probably along with the EGT Probe just to be safe. I will also go to the garage today and find that missing piece and do the ECU reset and see how that goes. Thanks again for the help

I wouldn't bother. Just wait until you get the AP and can flash to stage 2 and replace the stock UP with an aftermarket one. It's like a 5 hour job, but not too hard. In the mean time, stay out of boost. You don't need an EGT probe in an aftermarket UP but installing one in the headers for a gauge is a smart move.

I know you can run an aftermarket UP with stage 2 (and you must have a DP too). Check the map notes (on Cobb's site) for stage 1 too though. An UP may be allowable with stage 1 as well (no other mods).

I plan on putting the one in the headers for sure for the gauge, that is why I will buy a new probe. I checked the notes on the stage 1 for my car and it says nothing about being able to run an UP or anything that is not factory. I finally found that last piece to the intake puzzle and put back on the stock intake and did an ECU reset like you said at lunch today. I took a really long lunch and put 20+ miles on it after the reset, and the car is still very inconsistent. It got a little better if at all. I had my friend take a couple of videos on his phone while I was accelerating to catch the inconsistency. The first video was in 2nd gear starting at about 3000 RPM on the tach. I was literally standing on the gas pedal and the tach was moving slower than just about any car I've seen. I would have gotten smoked by a 2.5 RS if he had started at the same point as me. It was real bad. The second video was from 1st gear through 3rd gear, and it was running like it did when it was new, great. Not to mention these videos were about 1-2 minutes apart from each other on the same road. I will definately stay out of the boost, I just had to see if taking off the intake helped at all. Not much if at all. It still stutters and surges really bad and I'm not sure what to do. I even had my friend that knows Subaru's really well and owns a WRX also to see if he could figure anything out and to show him that I wasn't crazy that my boost comes and goes as it pleases, and stutters when it does want to come out and play. He didn't know what to do at this point either. I don't know what to do at this point! I've been modding N/A cars since I started driving so I know what I'm doing for the most part, but this is my first turbo car. CEL did not come back on either!

Unfortunately it sounds like you should probably take it to someone. However, I'd probably start looking for a vacuum leak at this point. The easy way is to spray carb cleaner all over the intake tract from the MAF housing to the turbo inlet and check the throttle body, IC, and hoses to make sure everything is air tight. Careful with the bypass valve (AKA BOV) bolts. They'll strip real easy.

I'll check for vacuum leaks and do the carb cleaner when I get a chance today. I just have a prob because I don't know any good mechanics in town very well and most of the time they just throw parts at it and see what happens. I can do that myself and maybe save some labor costs in the process. Does anyone know a good mechanic in town?! I'm open to suggestions. I've already had experience with the BOV bolts taking parts off so I do know that for sure. Thanks again!

The only recommendation I've seen on this site is for Greg's Garage, I think.

It looks like that sensor can cause ALL of the symptoms you described. One wouldn't normally think so, being just a temp. sensor, but I suppose it's input is used for more than just a simple "how hot is it?"

Info: The last part under "Caution" means that it won't reset without using an actual OBD scanner, and clearing the self learning of the ECU. Sometimes, with hard codes, you can turn the light off by disconnecting the battery, but the ECU needs an actual reset to start thinking right again.

Awesome info Cory. If you don't know somebody who has one, Kavid, you may try seeing if AutoZone can clear the code with their free OBDII scanner service. Hopefully the only issue causing the code was the intake.

Great info sir, I really appreciate it! That is the funny thing is that the CEL turned off before I got in the car the next morning! It did reset on its own without the scanner! It did store the code in my ECU when I did go to Autozone though, but the CEL was not there. I did disconnect the battery when I took my intake off though yesterday to reset the ECU per codys guidance, and it seems to get a little better as I drive it. Do you know about how long on average the ECU takes to re-learn or what-not? I have put roughly 80 miles on it since yesterday on purpose to see if it would do that. Like I said it seems to get better as I keep driving it and definately no CEL has came back. And on the info you gave, I have had bad idling and poor driving performance but never problems with starting. Thanks Cory!

Good to know, I was on my way home and the CEL came back on. I'm actually kind of excited the CEL came back (that sounds weird). It will give a clue. The only problem with this is now I had no boost in second gear. I only gave it gas one more time with the same result in a different gear. I drove home and babied it very much. I will get it scanned tomorrow since autozone doesn't scan after dark for some reason when I called and have my boy follow me to Greg's Garage and have them take a look. Thanks for the mechanic reference sir

The intake has been off since yesterday morning, and it coded again this evening. see above

But you haven't reset using an OBII scanner yet.

Kavid, if you're coming to the meet tomorrow night, I can bring my scanner, and we can take a closer look. If it's the same code for the EGT, it's most likely that you'll end up needing to replace it, and then reset the ECU again.

I'll be sure to bring the scanner with me!

Resetting the ECU with a scanner, and clearing the "self learn" that I spoke of, means that the ECU is cleared of all of the monitor setting items, and the adjustments it makes to fuel/ignition timing, etc., according to the way you drive. Even when the light turns itself off, any adjustments or fail safes it's set to keep from damaging the engine due to the part failing don't reset themselves. It's gotta be done specifically with a scanner, which I'll be sure to throw in the car tomorrow, in case you can make it out! :D

Thank you very much Cory. I am going to go to autozone on my lunch today and have the code checked, but I will make sure that they do not clear the code or reset anything. Depending on what the code is, whether it is the same one or not, I will either buy the probe, or take it to Greg's Garage or someone who knows what they are doing if it a worse code. Because I have no boost I am trying to drive the car as least as possible. If I can talk the girlfriend into letting me come or maybe drag her along for a few minutes I will definately be there at the meet to at least see you. It is Valentine's Day and all, but she understands how important cars are to me. Autozone's scanner isn't the greatest but it is free though. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. I hope to see you guys tonight. Thanks again

I did though. I took off the intake, reset it with disconnecting the battery, and also had the Autozone guy do a reset with his scanner also from guidance from another friend of mine. He said the battery trick wasn't enough so Autozone did it afterwards.

Oh okay, sorry. :)

no worries, I did get the code scanned this morning and came back with the same EGT Po546 and also two more. I got a PO301 Misfire cyl. 1 and a Po303 Misfire cyl. 3. It is a subaru getting looked at. i will keep you posted. Nobody answered the phone at Greg's, so I took it to Lithia:mad:

My personal feelings about Lithia aside, that may be the best bet. Keep us updated.

I think you jinxed me sir. Well here it is. I got to Subaru and found a lot of things out about my car after they looked at it. Apparently I had a Cat failure which broke up the honeycomb in the cat and sheared off the tip of the EGT probe which caused the first CEL that went away and shoved that into the turbo along with broken Cat parts. Once getting through the turbo and destroying the compressor wheel, etc., it all backed up in the cat in the DP which was adding to my already fucked idle and boost/driving problems also. It also killed the Cat in the DP and some o2 sensors along the way in its travels I guess. I also have some bad gaskets in the exhaust which they claim was by this I guess. I have only had the car for 5000 miles and roughly 6 months. I was told by the local Porsche/Volvo dealer where I bought it that there was one other owner and he was 58 years old. They also told me that the guy lived here and traveled to California often so most of the miles were freeway miles. Turns out that the car I bought is on Subaru of America as an Abused car according to the service manager at Lithia Subaru. It was in and out of the service department A LOT in it's life, and the UP and turbo have been replaced already at roughly 19,000 miles. The car now has 46,000 miles. Apparently it was driven by a younger kid who beat the shit out of it and mostly drove it on the street from what he said. So the service manager was hoping that since that was replaced by the dealership and it maintains a warranty and since the work and parts came from Subaru and same cat in the UP caused the problem that it renewed the warranty on the Cat for 7 years/70,000 miles when it was installed. Since it is the stem of the problem of this $3000 bill just for parts (No Labor) I got at Subaru today, They are going to tear down my car and try to prove the cat was the culprit for sure but for a price of $450 in labor. Even though there is no for sure thing that Subaru will help me out and take care of this and it seemed like a gamble, it seemed like a decent chance they might cover it still and help buy and install all of the broken parts. So I will give that a try and see what happens. Worst case I took it like a big boy to try and save some money and I'll have to install everything from the header back with new/used parts after this trial without a shop with friends. I already have a stock UP and DP and various things accounted for from my friend that has an 07 WRX that he said I could have for free sitting in his garage collecting dust. So basically I need a back up plan if Subaru falls through for your used parts because it is my daily driver and in order to fix it I have to make it to work to make the money to pay for it. They should have an answer for me hopefully by tomorrow or by Monday at the latest. So for the back up plan, here is a list of things I need to possibly PURCHASE from every one's garage if it is possible and you guys have it for my 05 WRX.

Stock turbo
EGT Probe
(2) o2 sensors
All exhaust gaskets (I will probably buy these brand new though)

I have cash in my safe for this stuff and if anyone is interested PLEASE let me know if these parts are even out there if I do need to buy them. I'll do anything but be gay for these parts. You guys have been a great help to me. Thank you very much!

Paging Scott!!! :)

Man, that sucks so bad. If nothing else, at least Lithia said they'd be willing to take a look into it, and see if they can cover it under warranty for you... :crosses fingers for ya:

+1 for crossing fingers. That really sucks man. Maybe try to get the parts they take off cuz you can de-cat the stock UP if you're industrious and thourough with it, etc. Your buddies 07 DP won't fit your car unless he includes the midpipe (rear cat) too, but even then I'm not sure all the mounting points are the same. I know this because the aftermarket shorty DP I run won't fit on a MY06/07 without a PreMY06 midpipe. They made the DP shorter or longer basically and vice versa with the midpipe. His UP will be catless though, so if it fits, that would be an upgrade. It's got some sort of smog pump thingy on it though so do the research. Buy new OEM gaskets at the dealer or online, but remember, aftermarket parts will always be way cheaper. Might as well upgrade the UP, DP, even the turbo if you end up having to pay for them. I have the EGT probe and stock UP and DP but really wasn't planning on selling them, but let me know if it comes down to it and you need something fast. We could work something out.

He does have the mid pipe also, He has replaced headers, UP, DP, Mid and CBE on his so I think I will be ok. That is one of the main reasons that I wanted his UP because it is catless and hopefully it would make this problem not ever return. The only thing about upgrading the turbo is HAVING to buy engine management to run it along with most likely other fuel related parts to make it run right and I'm trying to be kind of frugal. I have to send my $500 (due to some asshole stealing my identity and me having to pay for it) car payment off today so after sending that I have roughly $1000 sitting in the safe for a rainy day like this to buy parts if Subaru decides to not help me. Although I have spent $450 at Lithia of it to try with this warranty thing. At least they are giving it a try. And thank god for getting paid weekly! I really appreciate the support from all you guys. I'm crossing my fingers also, I'll keep you posted.

Right on. If you do go with a catless UP and no EM, all you need is a "the resistor mod" to make the UP EGT CEL go away. The resistor simply fools the ECU into thinking the EGT is there and registering an acceptable value (temperature). It's easy to install and super cheap too. :) But, if you don't already have one, I'd install a boost gauge (even if you can only afford a mechanical autometer or something) to ensure you don't have any boost spiking, or atleast research to make sure running a catless UP with no EM is cool. I'd guess it'd be fine and you'll see faster spool. :)

Damn man! That's some shitty luck! :mad:

I've got a stock WRX turbo for you if you want it. Probably has about 35,000 miles on it. I'll sell it to ya for $50 if you can't get all this covered by Lithia and decide to stick w/ a stock turbo.

I also have my stock EGT sensor somewhere, but the connector for it is cut off. Nothing the connector from your broken sensor and two good crimp connectors can't fix. That's yours for free if you want it.

My O2 sensors are in a box over at Benson Bros. Racing down in Moundhouse. Once my car's running I need to get it down to them for some fabrication work. I wasn't planning on going down there before then though to get the O2 sensors, but that may be a possibility if you really need 'em.

And the club comes through! Good lookin' out Scott!

YEAH!!!! Probably before Kavid even heard, I just got a call from Marvin down at Lithia, and they're gonna be able to warranty EVERYTHING!!! Good shit!

That's a +1 for the guys down at Lithia Subaru!

Wow, that's surprising! Good news.

I went down there and talked to Jeremy and he told me the great news. All new parts and everything covered! Honestly I wasn't expecting it but they came through for me. Definitely +1 for Lithia! I have never prayed in my life, but I did last night and sure as shit everything worked out. I am so happy right now! The only negative is that they will have my daily driver until next Friday, but at this point, I am SO OK with that! I just want to express my thanks to ALL of you guys as a whole, I couldn't ask for a better group of guys to be associated with. I would never expect a group of awesome guys like yourselves to come through for a guy you barely know. It is so greatly appreciated! I am an Electronics Tech (Audio/Video/Server/Computer/Equipment Rack Tech), so if you guys ever need anything in that world do not hesitate to let me know! Zip-ties, Heat shrink, Crimps or Connectors, Soldering Jobs, Cables or Cords, Computer stuff, or any help with anything for that matter! I mostly do Commercial stuff but have been doing it for 10 years, so I have a pretty good knowledge of the field. The wait is on, and I will for sure see you guys at the next meet when I have my car back. Thanks again!

Great news! Borrowing rides or hitting the bus for a week is a small price to pay for getting all that work taken care of on the cheap. It's refreshing to hear a dealer say "well, even though we could have screwed you over on this, because it really was a warranty issue we're covering it anyway".

Speaking of computer cabling... I'm probably going to need to pick up a 1000' spool of CAT5 and some connectors and face plates to wire my new house in March or April. Can you place orders for that sorta stuff? Since I got outta the IT game in 1996 I don't have a clue what that stuff costs or where to get it at a good price.

I'm glad they came through more than I can explain. As for the Cat5e cable, what is approx. your longest cable run? We have 1000' boxes of the stuff with a couple hundred feet of cable still in them (roughly 100-400 feet still in the box) just sitting around because in the commercial world most of our runs our 200+ feet that more than likely I can have. Being in a residence I know your runs will be significantly shorter so a few of those boxes will probably do ya. If you're talking about the regular RJ45 connectors that are used to make like a Cat5e patch cable, I have hundreds of those and my own set of crimpers, but if you're talking about the connectors that just snap into the face plates, honestly your best bet for the money is Home Depot surprisingly. The plates will run you roughly $4-$7 depending on what you want in there besides Cat5e, most people put a cable outlet in those also more times than not. The snap in connectors for those will run you a few bucks too. I can help run cable if you need also. I have fish rods from work and all the tools needed of my own to what you speak of I'm sure. Do you have an attic above or a crawl space underneath? So as for the wire, labor, and certain connectors, I can help you out for little to nothing out of your pocket. The plates and connectors snag from Home Depot, but if you are a huge penny pincher you can mostly find the best prices online not locally. I can help you shop for them if you don't know what you are looking for. Just give me a PM and let me know what I can do!

Fucking Rad!!! :D

Awesome info. I'll likely not need any significantly long runs, but since I've yet to move into the place, I don't know yet what I'll need. Off hand, my guess is a few 100' runs from the bedrooms and living room to the office where the router will be via the attic. I was planning on just running parallel to the CATV to share a box with the RG6. But again, I have no idea what's in the house already... it could already be wired, it could also need full blown rewiring of network *and TV... I'll find out next month.

So, huge thanks for the offer for help, I'll let you know what I need when I know better!

Friday is coming Senior Kavid... Keeping my fingers crossed for ya ham slice. You need to see Dogma again though, you have not been following proper procedure when it comes to rides:lol:

Got my car back! It runs and idles perfectly, and after a week and a half, it feels really good to drive. :D Thank you Lithia Subaru! I asked what I could do for them and Marvin said Lunch. So I will be bringing lunch to the Service Dept. on Monday for sure. Not a bad price to pay. Thank you guys again for your help. See you Thursday.

Nice! Congrats!