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OBD-II Code

P1092

Severity

Not yet reviewed

Nobody on our side has assessed this code yet, so we are not going to guess at how serious it is.

Can you drive it

We cannot say

Treat it as unknown until a shop reads it with live data. If the check-engine light is FLASHING, stop driving as soon as it is safe to — that means an active misfire, whatever the code.

Indicative cost (USD)

$80–$1,400

From this code's diagnostic notes. Varies by vehicle, diagnosis, parts, and local labor. This is not a repair quote.

$80 (DIY clean + oil) to $1,400 (OCV + AVCS hub on FA20 turbo with labor).

P1092 is a Subaru AVCS code meaning the bank 1 AVCS solenoid is mechanically stuck — distinct from P1086/P1087, which are angle-deviation codes.

How a shop works this

Work from evidence to part, not the other way round. A code names a circuit or a symptom; it does not name the part that failed.

  1. Note every code that is set, not just this one.

    Codes that appear together usually narrow the cause faster than any one of them read alone.

  2. Read the freeze frame — the conditions the fault was recorded under.

    Cold or warm, idle or load, road speed and engine speed. A fault that only appears cold is a different fault from one that only appears under load, even with the same code on the scanner.

  3. Confirm the fault is current rather than history.

    Clear the code and see whether it returns under those same conditions. A code that does not come back may have been logged during a repair, a flat battery, or a bad connection that has since been disturbed.

  4. Then follow the diagnostic notes further down this page, in the order they are written.

    They are written in the order a shop works this code, cheapest checks first. Where they name a component, inspect its wiring and connector before replacing it.

If the code comes back after a repair, the underlying fault is still there. That is the point to bring in a scanner with live data and freeze-frame, or a shop that has one.

Common symptoms

  • Check engine light
Read the full diagnostic procedureP1092 is a Subaru AVCS code meaning the bank 1 AVCS solenoid is mechanically stuck — distinct from P1086/P1087, which are angle-deviation codes.

P1092 is a Subaru AVCS code meaning the bank 1 AVCS solenoid is mechanically stuck — distinct from P1086/P1087, which are angle-deviation codes. P1092 indicates the OCV (oil control valve) itself failed to respond to commanded duty cycle changes at all, suggesting the spool valve inside the solenoid is physically jammed by varnish, debris, or a broken internal spring. The ECU sees zero cam-position change in response to a full 0-100% duty sweep and flags the solenoid as mechanically failed.

Cheapest-first ladder

  1. Pull the bank 1 OCV (passenger-side cam cover on most EJ engines, intake-side on FA/FB). It's a single 10mm bolt and a connector.
  2. Inspect the inline oil screen — a fully clogged screen mimics a stuck solenoid because no oil reaches the spool. Clean with brake cleaner and compressed air.
  3. Bench-test the OCV: 12V on the solenoid pins should produce an audible click and visible spool movement. No movement means the solenoid is mechanically toast.
  4. Resistance-check: 6.9-7.5 ohms cold for EJ-series, slightly different for FA/FB — out-of-spec confirms electrical failure inside the winding.
  5. Most expensive: if the OCV is good and the screen is clean, the AVCS hub or phaser itself is mechanically stuck (vane seized in the housing), which requires timing belt or chain removal plus phaser replacement. Don't order a $300 OCV before pulling the screen — half the P1092 codes Brian's seen on neglected EJ25s clear with a brake-cleaner flush of the screen and a fresh oil change.
Vehicle-specific patterns2005-2012 Subaru Forester/Outback/Legacy/Impreza EJ25 SOHC is the dominant P1092 platform — the OEM OCV (Subaru P/N varies by year) uses a fine-mesh…
  • 2005-2012Subaru Forester/Outback/Legacy/Impreza EJ25 SOHC is the dominant P1092 platform — the OEM OCV (Subaru P/N varies by year) uses a fine-mesh screen that clogs catastrophically when oil change intervals stretch past 7,500 miles, and the spool seizes from varnish at 90,000-130,000 miles.
  • 2008-2014Forester XT and WRX/STI turbo EJ255/EJ257 see P1092 from heat-soak fatigue on the OCV winding (turbo oil is hotter and breaks down faster) — the solenoid clicks audibly but the spool sticks midway.
  • 2013+FA20 in BRZ/WRX uses a different OCV design but still suffers spool sticking from the engine's notorious oil-consumption issue dumping carbon into the oil.
  • 2011-2018FB25 (Forester, Outback, Crosstrek 2.5) sees P1092 less often, but when it appears it's usually paired with a P0017 or P0021 cam correlation code indicating the AVCS hub itself has failed mechanically rather than just the solenoid.

Estimated repair$80 (DIY clean + oil) to $1,400 (OCV + AVCS hub on FA20 turbo with labor).

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