SoreHead

Got the PP fitted to my MY01 yesterday and was nicely pleased with the noise and the initial impressions of the performance.

Drove it last night a good amount and there's something amiss. 90% of the time it runs like a bag of sh*t. It's like theres a miss or hesitation coming in and out and the power is way down. The other 10% it's completely smooth and way faster than before.
Anyone have this problem?
I also can't spot the other bit of exhaust that's supposed to be changed in addition to the tailpipes. Anyone know which piece it is and where I can see it?
Thanks

Hong Kong Phooey

isn't it the centre section, from the DP to the backbox? You need to get under the car to see it, or get it on a ramp.

SoreHead

The description I was given a while back was that they leave the Main Centre CAT and replce the next one along but when I lie on the ground I can see the back box and then a couple of sections that are definitely not new and then I can't see further along without a ramp.
I'm wondering if they're trying to pull a fast one. Would that cause the hesitation I described?

Pete Croney

Sorehead

Was it a complete assembled unit or was the piggy back soldered on by your installer?

If its not running right, I would check the soldering. Its a pig to do as there isn't much room to make some of the connections and you may have a "dry joint".

SoreHead

I am guessing it was not a replacement unit based on an argument I had with them on the time it should take (they said 2 days). How can I check the solder and what should I look for?

Thanks

Pete Croney

You check the resistance over all the joints from the piggy back board.

Also, a number of the capacitors on the original board have to be bent flat so that the piggy back fits. This could have broken the legs.

The units are only supplied complete to UK dealers and I know that many Dutch dealers won't do these anymore due to the amount of ECUs that have been damaged during installation.

SoreHead

Can a damaged ECU be fixed or does it need to be replaced?
Also, is it safe to drive it the way it is?

Pete Croney

Without seeing it, I can't say.

BugEyed

SoreHead

There is not much to spot when you look for the replaced 3rd cat - it is just a plain pipe with the original heat shields refitted.

Hope you get the other problem sorted - if you are lucky it will be a dodgy connection with the extra board in the ECU.

Duncan

PS In the UK the ECU is swapped for one that has had the extra board added by Prodrive, but when the kit is exported "abroad" (including the EU) the extra board is sent for fitting by the garage. I guess that is down to the difficulties of doing exchange with a valuable unit without the garuantee of return provided by Subaru UK. Perhaps there is some value in dealing with SUK.

Edited to add a couple of pics. The PPP replaces part 17 and 30 in the diagram, and the "centre exhaust pipe (rear)" replacement is shown.






[Edited by BugEyed - 6/19/2002 12:40:56 PM]

SoreHead

Interesting!!!
I'll get it up on some stands and see if I can see if that piece looks clean and new.

Thanks all for the help.
Subaru are taking it tomorrow to sort. It's a bummer. I drove it to lunch and it was flying and then on the way back the problem was there again.

SoreHead

This is odd.
Met a guy last night that has the PPP and we drove each others cars and there is definitely something not right. It wasn't at it's worst either but he noticed it.

I drove in this morning and the problem was there as usual. I got stuck in traffic at a crash at one point and it got hot so I turned on my newly working AirCon (wasnt' filled when it was delivered). Once I got free of the traffic the problem was gone and the car was running smooth and fast. I didn't get a chance to do a few runs yet and I'm off to Subaru at 10am so I'll try it out on the way. Wonder was it coincidence or something relevent?

SoreHead

Well there you go. I was speaking to Subaru and they asked me to run it for the weekend and then if it was still dodgy on monday they'd replace the ECU.

Ran it with the a/c on for most of yesterday as it sorted the problem and now it's just working really well with or without a/c.

Big improvement. Even got tempted into destroying a 1990 BMW 323coupe (god loves a trier). It was a joyous sight to watch him go in reverse in my mirror and hear that gorgeous noise out the back at the same time. I even let him catch up a couple of times to see if he'd take the bait again. Some people will never learn .
He even tried to keep up on the twisties.

I really need to grow up