Subaru Outback O2 Sensor - PO130

Driving along you look down at the dash board and notice that the little check engine light is on.  What a sure way to spoil your day.  Immediately dollars signs flash as you wonder how much this is going to cost you.  If you do the work yourself and are careful with your diagnostics, not very much.  In my case it cost 62 dollars and a 6 pack of beer.  Our Subi is a 2000 Legacy Outback 2.5 Auto with 150k.

A few weeks ago I had such an event occur.  Since the car is newer than 96, it has an OBD II (On Board Diagnostic) system.  I drive home and plug it into my code reader , and out pops a PO130 code.  Cross references an on-line manual which states that I have a Front Oxygen Sensor circuit malfunction.  From some on-line reading on Subaru Fourms, circuit malfunction often means a short in the circuit, usually caused by water in the plug connection. Well that makes sense as right before the code was thrown I was getting the family truckster sideways in an parking lot with 3 inches of  slush on the ground.  So I cleared the message and waited for the car to dry out.  One thing to mention is that when the check engine light came on, it was steady and did not blink.  This means that you have an error message you should get it checked out.  If it was flashing it means that you are doing damage to the car, stop driving. 

A few days later the car develops a stumble.  Press on the gas and it barely runs.  Pull over and take a look at the engine.  Yep it looks like an engine.  Rev it a few times and everything is back to normal.  The check engine light never came back.  Over the next couple of days this stumbling issue happens a few more time.  It feels like the engine isn't getting gas.  I check the basics around the engine.  Gas in the tank, air intake not obstructed, fuel injectors ticking, spark plugs sparking, spark plugs look good, O2 sensor plug dry and secure, all oil levels full, no blown fuses  Over the next few days it also has several more stumbling episodes, and it throws another PO130 code which I clear out.  The last few instances was really rough,  engine even made popping sounds typical of super lean (low fuel) conditions, like the sputtering right before you run out of gas.  Somehow I must not be getting gas. 

I got a fuel pressure gauge and "T" it into the fuel line just down stream of the fuel filter.  Before unhooking any fuel lines you want to bleed off the pressure to minimize the amount of fuel you spray.  Leaving the car over night usually does it.  But pulling the fuel pump fuse or relay and cranking the engine till it dies is much quicker.  Unknown to many is that behind the knee panel compartment is a fuse bank. I removed the whole panel, but all that is required to be removed is the little flip out compartment. Locate and remove the 15 amp fuse at the top left.

The greatest diagnostic tool ever made is the Internet.  So I hit all the usual Subi Forums asking for advice.  Fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator, mass air sensor, coolant temp sensor, transmission temp sensor, and bad gas were allsuggestion.  At this point I had a bad O2 sensor codes appear twice now.  Why didn't I just change out the O2 sensor.  Well I was under the impression that other codes told you you had a bad O2 sensor (sensor reading out of range), and if the circuit was really bad, it would constantly have the check engine light on, not occasionally (every150 miles).

Before I go any further let us talk about O2 sensors and what they do.  Your car needs a mixture of fuel and air to burn.  Back in the carburetor days the carburetor mixed the fuel and air.  Since carbs only mixes the fuel and air to one ratio without consideration for varing conditions, fuel injection was developed.  The amount of fuel the injectors spewed is based on the amount of pressure in the line and the duration the spray nozzles are open.  Input signals from the Mass Air Flow/Pressure sensor determines the duration of the spray.  The O2 sensors read how much fuel is left unburnt in the exhaust and fine tune the mixture.  When one of the sensors is not working it sends the fuel map into a safety mode, erroring on the side of burning more gas than is needed (rich).  Running rich is safer cause the car will still run and you do not run the risk of detonation (blowing up your motor with a too lean of a mixture-this is a whole other topic).  This is why it waste gas when you have a check engine light on.  This is also why I figured a known O2 sensor issue will simply cause the car the run rich and not generate such a shortage of fuel condition, and thus not a result of the PO130 error message. 

Often times cars have two O2 sensors or more.  This can add a bit of confusion, as some are desginated as bank one and two and others as front and back.   In some "V" configured engines an O2 sensor might be present to monitor the left bank of cyclinders and the right.  In newer cars there is often O2 sensors located before and after the catalitic converter, its purpose is to monitor the condition of the cataletic converter.  I assume that it is possible to have a combination of such sensors and have four seperate O2 sensors for your car.  Our Subi has two sensors to monitor the condition of the cats, and does not have sensors to monitor the left and right bank.

The problem with my stumbling problem was that it was intermittent.  This makes diagnosing the issue difficult as it would not do in the comfort of my garage, only on the open road.  If it was my fuel pump or fuel pressure regulator I wanted to confirm it before I replaced it.  Nothing worse than replacing a part only to find that it was fine and not related to the issue.  This I call the "machine gun" way of repair; fire a bunch of bullets and hope to hit the right thing.  A working fuel pump will generate a constant and adequate fuel pressure.  If the pump is dying I would be able to tell with a gauge. 

With the fuel pressure gauge hooked up I drove it around the neighborhood for 30 minutes and no issue.  Dang.  The next day I drove it to work and finally the car started to stumble.  The fuel pressure was higher than spec and steady.  The fuel pressure regulator's job is to lower the fuel pressure to the specified amount. A vacuum actuate diaphragm restricts the amount of fuel which passes.  This is also how the FPR varies its regulated pressure.  As you stomp on the gas, less vacuum is available in the intake manifold, thus reducing the amount of fuel pressure reduction.  To check the FPR, pull the vac line.  The pressure should rise.  There should also be no fuel dripping out of the vacuum port, as that would indicate a ruptured FPR diaphragm membrane. 

I was now at a loss?  Do I start checking other sensors like the forum members suggested.  While driving home from work the car developed a stumble again.  Pull over and the check engine light comes on and the stumble went away.   The code read PO130, and  I did not clear it. I then proceed to drive the car for 50+ miles with out a hiccup.  I think I finally figured it out.  PO130 means that the ECU has received a grossly out of range signal from the O2 sensor for a steady duration of time.  Though often it means something is awry with the circuit, it could also mean that the sensor is completely dead.  An error message is then generated and the ECU no longer looks to the sensor for fuel mixture tuning.  When the error code was deleted the ECU still considered the sensor input (though grossly wrong) to mix the fuel, and did so incorrectly, causing a stumble.  The car sensing that it was not running properly, reverted back to a preset safety fuel mixture. 

Ok now that I concluded the source of my error, I needed to do some actual repair.  First I sourced the part.  Bosch has been known to make quality OEM replacement parts.  Bosch oxygen sensors are often times specified by the auto manufacture and used as original equipment.  I found a direct replacement part at the local Napa Auto parts store for about $60.  There are other cheaper versions of the sensor which require you to cut and splice your original plug connector.  No thanks. 

Now to remove the sensor.  First locate the connector plug on the passenger side of the engine. It has a light grey colored safety clip on it. Remember how the clip is attached cause it is tricky to get back on correctly.  Undo the clip and pull apart the connector.  Undo the wire keeper tab that is located a bit further down.

Most O2 sensor are a standard size, 7/8".  However it is not something that you can remove using a standard socket.  Due to the wire you need to use a tool similar to a flared nut tool.  I guess for removing the old sensor you can simple cut the wire off and use a deep socket.  Using a open end wrench only grabs the hex in two points and easily rounds out the hex.  The idea is to clear the wire but to engage more than two of the hex points. 

Though the subi uses a boxer engine with two separate banks, it uses only one O2 sensor for it fuel mixture reading.  The sensor is located at the "Y" portion of the exhaust as the two header pipes meet.  Because of the location I was not able to get my O2 sensor socket in.  Maybe if I had a crows foot type socket I could wiggle it in place.  But I did not so it was time to drop the exhaust. 

Of course in order to drop the exhaust the first thing that needed to be done was to drop the skid plate.  Next I undid the six exhaust header nuts.  The exhaust comes down but not quite far enough. I needed to go to the next exhaust hanger and undo the bolt.  Once the bolt is removed the hanger has a lip which the exhaust mounting bracket hangs from.  Lift the exhaust up past the lip and to the side to fully release the exhaust.  Be sure to have something support the exhaust.  The flex joint located downstream is not capable of support to forward section of the exhaust.  There is also the wires from

 the rear O2 sensor that will snap if required to hold the weight of the front exhaust portion.  Gently wiggle the exhaust when you lower it onto your support as the O2 sensor and wire stick through a heat shield and gets hung up.  As you can see in the picture I supported the exhaust on the catalytic converter with a block of wood on a floor jack.

Once you get to this point the rest is easy.  Undo the bad front O2 sensor and replace. Once removed it was obvious that the O2 sensor was toast, as it rattled with a broken part inside.  In the picture you can see the small threaded hole, or bung, that the O2 sensor fit in right at the "Y" portion of the exhaust.

Put the car back together again,  clear the error code, and be happy once again.   This is the part where you drink the six pack of beer to celebrate.

Harken Camper Shell Hoist

Those with pickup trucks usually fall into two categories; the ones that run a camper shell and the ones that don't.  Both have their benefits, both have their draw backs.  For many years I had a pickup truck with an open bed.  The ability to simply toss large items in the bed was one of the major draws of owning a truck.  But once you have a shell , it is hard to go back. The secure storage, shelter from the elements, and the ability to over load the bed without worrying about things flying out is nice.  However the shell does get in the way when you really need to transport large items in the bed.  Such a dilemma.

Camper shells however are not permanent installations.  They can be removed when you need to carry something that is too large for the capacity of the cap.  Though typically not to heavy, 100lbs or so, the large dimensions of the shell make it nearly impossible to remove and install by yourself.  Even with two people it can be awkward. 

A friend suggested that I buy a hoist system for my camper shell so that it would be easy to take on and off.  Taking the shell on and off was happening more often, now that transporting motorcycles became a regular thing.  Me, being the "do-it-yourselfer" of course looked into a homemade hoist system.  However once I found the Harken Hoister I knew that this was one of those things best left to the professionals.  From my years of sail boat racing the brand name Harken was synonymous to quality.  At a price of under $150 dollars, I knew that there was no way I could put together a system as good or as cheap as the one Harken made.  So I bought it.  At the heart of the system is the 8 to 1 block and tackle pulley.  This mechanical advantage device not only has all of the pulley nestled within itself, it also has a line lock, similar to that found on your mini blinds.  Of the many hoist systems Harken makes, the 200lb rated version was designated as the "camper shell" hoist. 

Prior to getting the hoist it is key to find a place where the hoist can pull the camper shell out of the way.  Carefully measure out the location as some spots which might look like it will work simply won't  As seen in the first picture my camper shell fits snugly between the back wall of the garage and the garage door opener.  It also sits high enough so that the back door of the garage can be opened without interference. 

The installation was pretty straight forward.  Though upon initial unpacking, the parts and lines are a bit over whelming.  The detailed instructions clearly lays out the steps required.  In addition to the parts included, you need to provide some 2x6s and some lag bolts.  It is recommend that two people do installation.   The most tricky part was to insure that cross member was bolted to the joist.  This isn't one of those things that will hold if bolted to the dry wall alone; you must sink ALL the lags into solid joist. 

Once installed the system perform flawlessly.  If you plan on leaving the shell in its hoisted position for any amount of time, it is a good idea to provide a safety back up.  Two fixed length of rope under the shell in case the buckles let go, and to securely tie off the primary hoist line in case the line lock gives.  Though I write this precaution, I have yet to add such safety back ups and had not had an issue. 

With this hoist I can now go from camper shell to open bed in less than 15 minuets.  A great addition to any truck owner debating a shell.  Now you can have the best of both worlds; thanks Harken.

The Solo Traveler Plus Coffee Cup Lid

Not all coffee cup lids are created equal.  In an earlier post I reviewed the three most popular types of "to-go" coffee cup lids.  For some time now I have noticed another coffee cup lid that seems to be very popular.  It is a variation of the "gapping hole, slosh all over yourself" type of lid.  However this lid has a rotating hole closure.  There seems to be a growing trend towards spill proofing lids, following the Starbucks "hole plug".  I guess it makes sense, it is a to-GO cup, and it is easy to spill when you are going.  But this seems like a bit excessive.  I don't really need this feature, don't need to waste that extra bit of natural resource, manufacturing energy, transportation...

    This spill lock does not make it any better of a lid, as drinking from it as a cup is still its primary function.  Thus the Dart slip lid is still the best coffee cup lid.

Climbing Skins for Twin Tip Skis

Twin tip skis are all the rage these days. What started off as a trick ski capable of skiing backwards is now as common in the park as they are all over the mountain. Two properties of twin tip skis also make them popular as back country ski: cost and flexibility. Most people find that a soft ski is better suited for the variable conditions encountered in the back country. Twin tipped park skis are often time priced less for park rats that tend to destroy and constantly replace skis. This fact also jives well with the cheap or broke back country skier. I have also found that the ability to ski backwards to be very helpful when side slipping steep chutes, where it is often necessary to "falling leaf" backwards in deeper or soft snow.


Though going down is not a problem, the up hill part presents a problem for twin tipped skis. Duck walking and uphill kick turns are made more difficult by a turned up tail. However the most common problem with twin tip skis is how to attach climbing skins. Traditionally climbing skins are attached to the ski via a tip loop and a tail hook. An elastic rubber tip loop is paired with a metal tail hook, or a static tip loop is paired with an elastic tail clip. The tail hook sits in a notch on a squared off tail. Cutting a notch in the tail of a TT ski is not desirable, as the tail has metal edges wrapped around. Cutting into the metal edge could expose an corner of the edge and cause it to "unravel". Without a notch to sit in, the tail hook can easily slip off to the side.

Many opt to not use a tip and tail connection. Tip loop and skin glue is all that they use. This works well if you have fresh and sticky glue, or you do not encounter icing and freezing of the glue. Trips that do not require repetitive skin on and offs, can fair well with a tip and glue only approach. I personally like both the tips and tails of my climbing skins to the fixed to the tip and tails of my skis. A good solution is to run two tip attachment devices. Here I use a standard static tip loop for the front. It is sewn into the skin for a permanent non adjustable connection. For the rear tip I used a rubber elastic tip loop. It is attached by simply folding over the skin onto itself. This give some adjustibility in length to the system. The rubber tip loop has a few special bends in it to accommodate larger tips. The skins need to be trimmed down at the fold over spot to fit the relatively small attachment loop.

Prior to coming up with this twin tip skin set up, I was sold a STS Black Diamond tail kit . These, I was told by the gear sales person, would hold on twin tip skis. Since the that since the tension was near the fixing clip, the tension would hold the clip on the curved rear tip. Not so. STS tails DO NOT work on twin tip skis. Sure they might work in the parking lot but once you started skinning and kick the heel of your ski, you would pop off the tail clip. Often times I would look back only to find that the tail clip had unhooked. It was typically not too much of a problem since my glue would continue to hold the skins on. However this was not a good long term or a long tour solution. Instead, I took some heavy wire and bent up a set of loops. These had the extra bends like the rubber elastic loops I used for the other set. The STS tail provided the tension, and I fashioned my own loop/clip. This worked pretty good. But bending the heavy wire was difficult, and it took many iterations to achieve the right tip loop shape.

A couple of seasons later G3 released a twin tip connector This connector was fashioned after the front tip connector it released the year prior. This new connector had pivoting wings, which could conform to the curvature of the rounded ski tip. The rear connector attached to the elastic tail strap of either the STS kit or the similar G3 version . In order to have a skin setup as light as possible I opted not to use the fold over technique to affix my tip loop. Instead I used a sewn in place loop. This will limit the adjustable of the skins. In fact I had to remount the tail strap twice in order to achieve the correct amount of tension. If the distance between the clip and the skins is too short than not enough tension is provided. This is made worse by the fact that when frozen the straps lose even more of its tension. For my current set up I needed a wider tip loop and had to rip the stitching from the sewn connector, swap loops, then sew the the connector back together.

So how do these three twin tip skin connectors work? Good. But I have kicked the loops off of all of them. Both the front and the rear. It all depends on the size of your ski tips and the size of the tip loop. Use the largest possible tip loops that will fit your skis. This is the key point in keeping the loops in place. With your skins fitted it is now time to do some skiing; Uphill skiing

Garage Floor Drains - Clearing clogged ones

Garages are the best! In the snow country, garages are a must. Not only does it keep your car free of frost and snow, it is a place for your car to thaw out. Snow free also means a few extra minutes of sleep in the morning. A well thought out garage has a floor slab pour with a drain in it. Without a drain, garages tend to flood as your car shed the snow and ice it accumula ted from the roads. I have found that our subi can collect about 15 gallon of water, and my truck can accumulate over 20 gallons of liquid. This is alot of water which needs to be disposed of.

Most garages floor drains are directed to a gravel pit under the house. The ground under the house is warmer than the outside air and typically stays above freezing. Sometimes pits are located to the yard. These can be problematic as they tend to freeze. Garage drains sometimes are directed to the sewage system or septic tanks. This is also a bad idea, as it contributes a large volume of gravely water to the septic or the city sewage system.

Over the years a garage drain will being to clog. The snow which accumulates under your car is not simply snow. It is also chocked full of road grime. In areas that spread sand on the roads the problem is even worse. The first winter at this house after I had finally cleaned out the garage enough to park the cars in it, I discovered that I had a clogged garage drain. A flooded garage is no fun. I would attempt to clear or knock off as much snow as I could before I parked the car inside. Then spend the evening bailing water into a bucket to be hauled out and dumped. A drill pump made the job a little easier, but I was out to seek a solution.

I was not sure what I was up against. Did the drain freeze? Was the drain pit filled with debris. I fished a small plumbers snake into the drain, only to have it stop a foot or so down the pipe. I was up against something solid. Most likely a blockage of gravel. Clearing a clogged drain of gravel and sand is not going to be easy. In fact an Internet search yielded no solutions. I had to come up with something.

My Dad was an oil man. As a child I spent many hours pouring over the details of off shore drilling rigs. One thing that made a lasting impression was the use of "drilling mud'. The drilled hole was deliberately filled with a fluid. This fluid served many purposes, but the one which I was most interested was the use of mud to remove material which had been liberated when a hole was bored. This was how I was going to clear my clogged drain. To get this idea to work, I needed a way to introduce my fluid, and a way to remove the fluid with the drain clogging media suspended within it. My simplified setup would involve a wet and dry shop vac and a garden hose. However getting this worked out would require a trip to the hardware store and what would seem like an eternity in the plumbing isle.

The garage drain has an opening of about 1.5 inches. The Shop Vac had a 2 inch hose, and the garden hose was about 3/4 of an inch. The first thing I needed was to reduce the size of both hoses. I speced the input water line at 1/2 inch and outtake vacuum line to 3/4", after all you needed to remove more volume than was introduced. Combined these two hose would barely fit into the drain. The garden hose was easy: a thread on cap to a 1/2" barbed fitting. The vacuum neck down was a bit tougher. The heart of the system was a 2 inch rubber compression fitting with a 2 inch threaded female collar. It was a blessing that the shop vac had a common size hose end. Next was to find a variety of reducer to finally end up with a 3/4" hose. 2" threaded double male coupler, 2"threaded female to 2" glue in female coupler, 2" male glue in to 3/4" female threaded reducer (this was the piece which really reduced the number of reducers needed), 3/4" threaded to 3/4" barbed fitting, 3/4" I.D. hose. These sizes are what I remember off the top of my head. Be sure to measure and test fit for yourself.

Once at home, I assembled my contraption. No glue was necessary in any of the glue in joints. Next I taped the two line together with the water line protruding a couple of inches ahead of the vac line. I then attempted to stuff the two lines into the clogged drain. I was only able to get the device in about 6" before it would not feed any further. A 90 degree bend in the drain line prevented the tight fitting pair of hoses from advancing any further. I thus untaped the two hoses, pushed the water line in as fas as it would go then the vac line to the bend. Once I had everything in place I turned on the shop vac and then the water. Then adjusted the water flow till a steady state was reached with that of the vacuumes. With the clear vac hose I could see it sucking up clear water, another second or two passed and then output solution was brown. IT WAS WORKING! A five gallon shop vac can only suck about 2.5 gallons before it if full. I was cautious not to suck water into the pump. But even then I found out that there is a flap that blocks the flow before water is allowed in. Idot proof. After several dumpings of the shop vac, the output water in the vac line finally ran clear.

I now have a perfectly working garage floor drain. I kept my vacuum fitting in case I ever need to clear the drain again. On snowy days I now drive straight into the garage without clearing any snow off the car, knowing that the run off will now take care of itself.

Filling Old Binding Holes on Skis

It would be great if every ski I owned was new. Buy skis, get them mounted, ski the piss out of them, then get rid of them. But the truth for us budget minded skiers is that one pair of skis often serves many roles in its life time. These many roles usually involve mounting and remounting various bindings. Because of this, a "new to me" ski usually has a set of holes from a previous set of bindings. Sometimes there are so many holes already in the skis that they look more like a peg board. Three sets of separate binding holes are about max. Beyond that you run into hole over lapping issues.

The first thing to do is to make sure that the new holes for the new bindings do not overlap on an existing hole. It is recommended that the distance of a holes width, reside between the old and the new hole. In practice half a holes width is fine. I have even had holes over lap before and been fine. Just make sure to use plenty of epoxy when setting the screws. In a situation where two holes are overlapping, I have read that a hardwood plug can be inserted into the old hole to provide some structural support. I have never used a hardwood plug, but think that they would be better than nothing.

Before mounting new bindings, the old holes need to be filled and smoothed out. How to do this has always presented many different solutions. Two things need to be accomplished. The old holes need to be filled so that water does not seep into the ski. Water into the ski could fill and water log the wood or foam core. The freezing of this water could then swell, bulge, and ultimately rip apart your ski. The next thing to deal with is the circular ridge of material that has built up around the old binding hole. The holes drilled for the bindings are slightly smaller than the the screw that goes in it. As the screw is inserted into the binding hole it taps it threads into the hole and top sheet. The first few twist of the screw will force a ridge of material up above the top sheet. This is ok for the old binding as the correlating hole in the binding itself is slightly counter sunk to allow space for the ridge of material. But for the new binding, this extra material will not allow it to sit flush on the ski. Many people use a sharp chisel or a razor knife to remove this ridge, but there is a better way.

Most ski shops stock an assortment of ski hole plugs. These are plastic plugs that are hammered into the old holes. These plugs are

slightly larger than the hole which they are fitted in. This interference fit not only seals the hole but locks the plug in place. Plugs can be had in various colors so the holes can be camouflaged. I am not a big fan of these plugs. Sure they are cheap and easy, but I never seem to have any on hand. I also believe that they are not very secure. Sure the fit is tight initially, but a lot of flexing and movement goes on in a ski. Old binding holes are typically underneath the new binding so inspection of these plugs can not be performed.

Now that I have told you how other people solve these two common issues, let me tell you how I do it. After all isn't that the reason you follow this blog?

For filling old holes, I use to use epoxy. You already know that I am a fan of the two part wonder and use it anytime I can. But getting the sticky resin to completely fill the hole is difficult. Making sure that top of the hole is sealed is the best you can hope for. I now use hot glue for my old ski hole filling. The hot glue flows into the deepest corners of the hole, and seals up nicely. I apply a healthy dose of the glue and leave a little dome of glue on top of the hole to insure that it is completely filled. Once the glue has dried, I use a cheese grater type rasp to remove not only the extra hot glue, but the ridge of material around the lip of the old hole. This type of rasp, often called a multi rasp, has a cutting surface that is relatively smooth to the touch. The cutting teeth are flat, and require the material to enter voids before they are sheared off. Running this type of rasp over the top of your skis does not damage the top sheets, as only things that sit above the surface will be cut off. Be careful though. If you really hog down on the rasp, it can still mark up the ski; especially if you hit the edge of the top sheet. Do not use a standard type rasp with sharp protruding cutting teeth, as it will rip up the top sheet of your skis. Using a chisel or a razor knife often results in cutting off more material than desired as these type of cutters tend to dive.

Once I have smoothed out the holes, I will go back with the hot glue gun and touch up some of the holes that might need it. Bubbles sometimes form, and the top of the hole, once leveled to the top of the ski, will not be completely filled. You can use to hot tip of the glue gun to melt some of the old glue before pumping more hot glue on top. This is insure that the two separate application of glues are bonded to each other. Wait till it is dry and rasp again.

Now you have a clean ski which is ready for mounting.

Drill Pump - flood solution

During the wet winter months it is common for flooding to occur. A ruptured pipe, melted snow, leaking water tank. I have spent alot of time bailing water out of flooded areas. That was till I fond this little device. It is a water pump that is powered by a common electric hand drill. These drill pumps can be found at your local hardware store for about $10. Often times they are packed with a bunch of hose attachments and ball valves and sell for close to $50. No Thanks. Just look for the drill pump by it self.

How does it work. Simply attach the quarter inch arbor to the chuck of your hand drill. Attach garden hoses to the two ends and hit the trigger. The pump is self priming, however I found that the self priming is very limited. It is helpful to keep the intake side hose short and close to the water. Make sure that there are no leaks in the hose as the pump will draw air and not water. The discharge side is less sensitive to hose length and condition. The pump is capable of pumping water at the rate of about a gallon a minute. Of course this all depends on the speed of the drill.

I found that the pump required a bit of torque and quickly ran down the batteries of my cordless drill. Even with a large corded drill, be weary of continuously running the drill and burning it out. Be extremely careful when using a corded drill, as the extension cord connection can easily fall into the water which you are pumping. This often times is the same water which you are standing in. Getting zapped with household 120 can kill!

A drill pump is not a long term solution for any large volume of water which needs to be transferred often. However before I was able to clear my garage drain, this was how I cleared out my flooded garage. I now keep this little gem handy, and is another tool in my proverbial box of tricks.