terzo, 38,000 miles, had its last 52,000 mile service in may, link ecu full decat exhaust. the car is still under warrenty but just would like to know what sorta things could be up.

first thing.
**** at starting, must turn over at least 5 time before igniting, then the idel drops to 0, comes back up to 1, back down to 0.1 back up then down to 0.2 etc!

2nd thing
****e throttle response,when sat if u just dabble the acc pedal it just splutters as if it is missin, an no i aint got an induction kit on it.

3rd thing
when driving hard, getting near 6 grand revs, it sum times holds back cuts poweroff, then blasts it back on, im gettin sick off hitting me head on the steering wheel!! apparently cud be over boosting?

went to subaru said it cud be maf sensor?

any help appriciated

cheers
ben

 

3rd thing could well be your MAF sensor

 

3rd thing could be plugs/coil related. When was the last time you checked the plugs? Overboost is certainly a possibility too.

Also check the lambda sensor. This can cause stange surging in the mid rev range.

If you've got a Link ECU then the MAF sensor isn't used fro anything IIRC.

 

MAF sensor

 

1st and 2nd thing sound to me like a failing MAF< and the 3rd sounds like fuel cut brought on by over boost, BUT seeing as you have a link I doubt it, could be something like the fuel pump though!!
all items need checking, if it's the maf this could eventually lead to engine failure! and likewise with dicky fuel pump, both as a result of runnig lean!!

get it to a specialist soon, someone like BRD!

 

The MAF sensor is redundant with a LINK, so that's not your problem.
Who mapped it originally?
I'd be inclined to contact BRD asap, and have it looked at.

Alcazar

 

cheers guys, i had it booked in at subaru monty's in sheffield but they said the warrenty papers had to be in my name, so i rang the warrenty companyand they said monty's were talkin ****e!!
so ill get it booked in, should i avoid driving it hard then??

 

Start up: Links are normally like this - take a few 'turns' to get going. It'll be additionally noticeable if the fuel-pressure hasn't had a chance to build - if you turn the ignition & wait for the pump to cut out (should be quite noticeable) then the number of turns may reduce a bit, and will take longer than with the standard ECU, but should certainly start up properly. A steady idle is somethng else though...

Throttle response: my guess is it's running lean, or there's something wrong with acceleration enrichment. But probably lean.

High rpm: sounds like fuel-cut from overboost.

At a guess, Subaru is going to be no use whatsoever. They usually aren't much help, but with the Link ECU I'm suprised they'll even look at the thing - they obviously don't know what they're doing, because as mentioned before, the MAF sensor is irrelevant with the Link ECU...

My guess at your problems is that the Link either hasn't been mapped correctly, or was mapped with the catalyst in place/a more restrictive exhaust system. Whatever, it should most certainly be looked at by someone who really knows what they are doing (eg BRD), and in the mean time, it may be a good idea to find someone locally who wouldn't mind doing a bit of 'basic mapping' just to make it safe/get any potentially disasterous problems out of the way, as it can take some time to get a car booked in for a full remap! Bob (BRD) may well be able to do this initial bit over email, though, if you're set up for a full session with him, which would be a better solution, if possible

 

Problem with starting/throttle as cold is probably too rich for some reason, other issue is boost cut I would say, Moty's DO know about Link ecu's btw. (Nom it could be lean, either is possible)

If you are prepared to get the car to me then I can have a look at it during the week so mail off line if you want including details of the history ie previous owner etc. If its one that we did then I will have records for it including datalogs of the mapping etc.

email as profile.

cheers

bob

 

Bob - glad you saw this