tweenierob

Been having a couple of probs with the scoob of late (couldnt run more than 11psi boost no matter what, lack of power....)
thought i would try and solve one of my problems today and buy a s/s downpipe as i was told the cat was causing the low boost problem...
fitted the downpipe and the boost now runs properly.
This is where the good bit ends!! the downpipe did not fit properly and i'm gonna have to remove about 3-4 cms of my gearbox crossmember as the downpipe touches and vibrates the car!!
this was my first upset.

As i said the car has shown a lack of power lately and not pulling very well, went to the scoob meet at PE the week before last and the guys told me that my ecu is faulty... which is not a problem, just get their upgrade??

Finally my question to you all is...
The car does not struggle all the time and the problem seems intermittent, when the car was on the rollers at PE there was no sign of power loss and although they plugged there upgrade ecu on and gave me a power increase (test only) i am a bit worried that the problem may lie elsewhere and i will be p*ssing £650 up the wall as the problem may still happen after i leave.
Can anyone suggest any other reasons why my car power fluctuates as i accelerate above 4000rpm sometimes, the select monitor gave no faults whatsoever???????????????

please please please please help, i am absolutely dipressed to **** and am considering selling the scoob......
Thanks people
Rob

RRH

rob,
need to know what model.
it would be helpful to know any mods you have made,
and what fuel are you using?

simon

www.scoobessential.com

tweenierob

Have full decat, and run optimax only nothing else
Thanks mate
Rob
edited as i was sulking so much i forgot to add 93' wrx


[Edited by tweenierob - 5/14/2002 11:15:14 PM]

RRH

rob,
what year and model?

tweenierob

Any ideas simon??
i'm completely lost
Rob

tweenierob

back to the depressed top

RRH

cheer up,
YHM

dnb

Mine has been doing that as well. Have checked the throttle position sensor (and the solenoid near it - can't remember what it is called) Mine (a UK 96) seems to work now (although I've said that before and been wrong!)

Sounds to me like your problem could be a dodgy electrical connection - have you tried cleaning all the sensor connectors?
(Just a thought - it's too easy to overlook the bl**dy obvious - I do it all the time!!)

Without resorting to major diagnostics and prodding with a multimeter I think it will be difficult to pin the blame on anything

There are ways of probing sensors with a DVM, although they rely on having wiring diagrams etc. (Which I do have lurking somewhere)

tweenierob

It definately sounds like a loose connection or something, the problem is that the idle is fine and the tests could only be carried out with the car on full chat?????
I'm so fecked off, i have managed to gather a reasonable sum of money to modify my car and have the feeling i'm gonna have to put it all into getting the car back to normal!
i'm gonna go and sulk for a little while......
What prob did you have with teh throttle p sensor??
Cheers mate
Rob

dnb

Was caked up with gunge (sure there is a technical term ), along with a few more electrical bits in the vicinity. Have WH40d all of the electrical connections, and brake cleanered a few more pipes, and looked at some of the voltages and resistances of the electrics.

My guess is that if the TPS is dodgy then the ECU doesn't know when to boost

Mine idled perfectly as well and confused the hell out of me!

Cosie Convert

Rob

I had a similar problem and eventually traced it to a leaking air pipe to the fuel pressure regulator. When the engine was cool it was fine but when it was hot, the rubber pipe was softer and let more air out, causing the fuel pressure to drop when on boost.

Try a voltmeter across your O2 sensor and monitor it when it plays up. If it goes low, it's fuel shortage. If it goes high, it's more likely ignition related. If it stays normal the it could be boost pressure control.

Andy

dnb

Takes so much time to find silly problems like that doesn't it?

BTW mine still worked properly this morning!! First time for 5 days, so cheer up - I'm sure it can be fixed (hopefully for pennies rather than moding cash!)

tweenierob

Once again thanks for the replies people, i'm wondering wether to buy a afr meter so that i can monitor it when it actually happens, andy would you suggest this as a good idea?? the problem is that it only shows lack of power high up in the revs so i would need to test it on the move....
Thanks
Rob

GavinP

Rob,

It is also worth downloading the early Link ECU manual (MY96) and performing the earthing mod on the back page:

http://www.link-electro.co.nz/possumlink.html

Bear in mind that the ECU and sensors are all influenced by this mod so it is worth the time to do it. It could explain why it seems that some sensors are playing up ?

Also worth cleaning the AFM element with some warm water and a cotton bud - they are not as fragile as the later cars so can be cleaned with a little care.

Having said that, my money would be on the Lambda sensor as already mentioned as these "wear out" over time.

Thanks

Gavin

[Edited by GavinP - 5/15/2002 12:47:28 PM]

[Edited by GavinP - 5/15/2002 12:49:09 PM]

tweenierob

Thanks gavin will try....
Rob

EvoRSX

Gavin,
Do the scoobies run closed loop fuel control even at higher up the rev range? I would have thought that a faulty lambda sensor would show up mainly with idling problems as that's when it's used to get the fuelling correct rather than higher up the rev range when the fuelling is based off the ECU map.

As always though, I stand to be corrected

Andy

GavinP

Andy,

I'm sure you are right about running open loop - I would say that the recent replacement of the downpipe could be a factor ?

Although reading the original post again, it sounds like it was an issue beforehand.....

I would try the earthing mod first as some wire and an hour or so is all that is required.

Thanks

Gavin

[Edited by GavinP - 5/15/2002 1:26:50 PM]

AJbaseBloke

Just another suggestion on cleaning up the connections and doing the earthing mod - the following is on a Legacy, but it works for all scoobies - the ony thing these guys have missed is a big cable from the body to the minus terminal.

http://www.lumine.net/subaru/legacyb...earthing1.html

HTH

ustolemyname??stevieturbo

iTrader: (1)

Looking at that link makes me think.... Why on earth would that be necessary?? One good heavy cable from battery to engine is sufficient, and similarly one to the chassis of the car.. What benefit can sever small cable spread around the inlet manifold possibly have. The Alu of the engine will conduct electricity a lot more easily than a small length of copper cable ever will.
Maybe i missed something elsewhere.. Is your car maintaining steady boost pressure while the power loss is happening?

tweenierob

Yes the boost holds steady whilst the power fluctuates???
and it doesnt always do it!! the problem started before i made any modifications, the only thing that has changed is that the mods have made the problem little more noticable...
the saga continues!!
Rob

AJbaseBloke

This is nothing new, it is done to maximise the size and efficiency of the drain for static and unwanted charge. It cleans up the information the ECU sees because even a little noise in a signal corrupts things.

Don't take my word for it, THOUSANDS of people have done it here, quite a few in the UK too (esp. car audio fans). It is not a power gainer (at least not a big one), but it can tame uneven performance and noise in both sound systems and engine management.

My car responded well to it, and I did it after only 3 months.

There was a long thread about it, and while some people noticed no improvement, quite a few did like it. It's cheap, quick and unless you forget to disconnect the battery, easy and safe to do.

Cheers