It's a 2013 FRS automatic stock.
Got it used with under 38k miles from some Chevy dealership. Out of state. (Just can't find these cars for sale in Louisiana it seems)... Anyway. It arrived to me in "limp mode" -- CEL + TC lights on. At the time I didn't know what it was. Dude from the dealership said it was throwing emissions codes. Which I thought no big deal. Worst case I'd replace gaskets if I had to. I pulled the codes myself using Torque Pro on my phone with the Bluetooth obd2 scanner and it threw me the following:
P0455 - current fault
P2096 - current fault
P0441 - historic fault
Also I did the uhh diagnostic thing? And these were red. Any one familiar enough with what exactly this means??
After enough googling and thread searching here before I signed up I was like okay. So gaskets, maf sensor, gas cap are all likely culprits. Took it to a mechanic that lives on my street (he's retired. Works on cars for extra cash from time to time). I told him it was probable exhaust leak to see if he can help me find it. I'm not super car smart. I know enough to get by and how to replace stuff... Anyway. He asks me to give it some gas and claims he hears a knocking noise coming from the engine. He said it was "deep" sounding - but it's too subjective of a term for me to say. Then he tells me he mostly only knows Fords/Chevys. Tells me if I get a foreign car it should be a Toyota. (I mean I guess he ignored the F'n Toyota logo on the engine above the Subaru logo. Whatever).
So I did some MORE digging on these forums. Saw where it could just be the vacuum pump; which was apparently a common problem with the 2013s...
Now. My question is; would the faulty vacuum pump also throw either the P2096 or P0455? Or contribute to the historic P0441??? I know limp mode supposedly makes the thing run like shit (honestly this is the only car I've ever owned with less than 90k miles or made after 2010) so it runs better than anything I've driven as-is. I was more or less just annoyed by no cruise control and weird 2nd gear downshifts coming to a stop.
I honestly don't have the ear for the knock he said he heard and tried comparing video I took of mine running after after switching to DI to others I've seen here or on YouTube it sounds somewhere in the middle of a "normal one" and one that had the vacuum pump issue.
Alternatively if the vacuum pump isn't contributing to what's throwing those codes is there something else, or do I just need to look for a Toyota guy in a sea of a bunch of damn chevy/ford guys? Lol
More or less I wanna fix whatever is throwing the codes. I have probably read 200 times these are supposed to sound like tractors. I just know when I did the battery-disconnect reset I got to use cruise control and down-shifting into 2nd was smooth as glass. And that's all I'm aiming for. Got a feeling the dealership i bought from will be little to no help (I don't think Oklahoma lemon laws will help me here since the vehicle is 7 years old) and I've got a car note to show for it.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks!