Alternatives to replacing A/F Sensor in Forester

According to the Factory manual for 1996 (and I dont think the code numbers have changed but I could be wrong) the P0130 code is for a malfunctionning front O2 sensor. When you write A/F do you mean Mass Air Flow sensor or MAF ?

I write A/F sensor because that's what the service report says: "Customer says chk eng light came on last night..Scanned and found fault code P0130, a/f sensor circuit error, inspected and found power in circuit good, sensor output erratic and out of range, needs a/f sensor..cust declines."

They charged me $88 for the diagnostic, and claim the sensor replacement would be an additional $267.95. It just seems expensive, moreso at 86K miles.

I thought it would be covered under emissions too, haven't asked...but my inspection needs to be done by the end of Feburary.

Thanks.

Not in California unfortunately. OTOH, you have a choice of scanners (standalone & PC-based) for around US $120 and up. It may be a nice thing to own. Note that not all trouble codes trip the check engine light. For some cars, at least, the light only goes on for things that could harm the emissions system (AFAIK).

BTW, on my other cars (one ODB-II, one not) you can make the check-engine light flash out the codes. Does Subaru do that too?

Yup. And while there is more to diagnosis than simply reading and looking up the code, simply reading the code costs over $100 at my local garage, and the rest of the diagnosis is hourly. One code-reading is roughly the cost of buying your own scanner.

Which still begs the question whether I should return to the Subaru dealer for the part replacement (presuming it's really needed). They are quoting me $267.95 for the part, and I am guessing labor is extra though maybe it's included. According to 1stsubaruparts.com, several sensors are sold under $100.

In related news, my Forester's front right foglamp assembly needs replacement due to internal water. Subaru dealer is charging me $254 to replace (again, I don't know if labor is included) whereas the same website is charging $142.

If this is the O2 sensor, $267 sounds like a lot.

Is that for one sensor, or several? One of my cars has 1 and it's trivial to replace (with the car on the ground), the other has 3, 2 of which are difficult to reach, and all require access from below. No idea how many are on the Forester 2.5l, or how to get to them.

There could be a different problem that caused the O2 sensor to fail. Is the car running well otherwise?

Also, I'm not sure about this, but it may be possible to clean and reuse the sensor. I never have, but I've kept a couple that were removed simply for high mileage (145k), but looked fine.

I had forgotten about your original post. It's normal at least for some cars to replace the sensors at around 70k, so maybe it's OK if it failed at 86k miles.