lestippp

Hello all,
My 56 plate hawkeye WRX has a serious problem. It started a while ago when it seemed to be having surging acceleration issues but these were very "subtle".
Tonight on the drive home this became much worse to the point that I thought the car was going to pack up
When I press the accelerator the car just bogs down but then will suddenly pick up and accelerate, all happens very randomly, no consistency
Feels almost like a fuelling problem, juddery, etc.
I am waiting on Wuz getting back to me but wondered if anyone might be able to suggest what the issue might be, etc.
When wuz did my cambelt service nothing showed up on a diagnostic he did for me
Any thoughts and suggestions would be most welcome

Thanks.

SPIKE LIKE MIKE

Had that on my 07 sti.......

Ended up compression of 95 lowest 115 highest across all 4...should be in realms 0f 150!!

Subsequent re-build followed before it "let go"


Id suggest a compression test asap mate...and I hope its not that

rob84

iTrader: (5)

sounds distinctively like a cracked ringland, get a compression & leakdown test done

lestippp

Well you've cheered my up no end mate
What symptoms did your car have, I know they must have been similar but sure you understand my need to establish if this is exactly the same

lestippp

Thanks rob84, I've never heard of a ringland, what is that?
How serious is it? What action to fix?
Thanks guys for the info just not best pleased with the diagnosis, sure you get that. Only had the car since december and not long since done the cambelt service

SPIKE LIKE MIKE

Hi mate,

when I used to bury the loud pedal I would get a slight hesitation then it would take off.

Other than that it drove lovely!!

I thought/hoped it may of been plugs of something like that and sent it in for a cambelt with full service........then got the not so good news!

Really hope yours is something simple.

lestippp

Cheers buddy, I don't think it's good and not to surprised by the ideas put forward. She bogs down when I accelerate in any gear then picks up and then loses power, blah, blah, blah
Not even covered 37k yet

rob84

iTrader: (5)

The Ringland is part of the piston which supports the underside of the piston ring, Usually they crack and break off causing a compression loss and starts to burn up the engine oil.

the symptoms you describe are very very alike the symptoms of a failure.
accelerate and it holds back quite badly then takes off like a rocket

jazzyjembreaze

iTrader: (11)

Take your oil cap off at idle
If smoke comes out ( bad news )
Go & check now

lestippp

Jazzyjembreaze I'm affraid to check now
Ok off to try it, be right back.

lestippp

Ok guys I've checked this and there is no smoke at all from the oil filler at idle?
Any comments?
Also checked the dipstick and the oil was fine, no milkyness or anything of concern.

SPIKE LIKE MIKE

TBH mate, mine never needed topping up in 10k miles between buying & the rebuild 8 months /10k miles later.

And after the build i was expecting to use some oil but have only tooped up 0.5ltr in over 4k miles since Jan.

I think the oil useage is a little bit hit"n"miss between cars.

jazzyjembreaze

iTrader: (11)

It's not 100% but if it was exesive ring land you would def have seen smoke through / take it to your local Subaru guy & run a few tests
It could be a simple plug issue
Hope you get it sorted m8

scooby1929

iTrader: (1)

It could be any number of things so the best thing would be to take it to a subaru specialist asap. It could be something simple

lestippp

Thanks Spike.
Rob84 great info on the ringland, must say it sounds symptomatically (is that a word) exactly like that. It struggles to go then picks up. Any acceleration at any speed creates the same or similar effect. I'm assuming that I'm looking at an engine strip possibly, if one of the ringlands has gone?
Can this cause any other damage, such as the metal pieces getting into the oil / engine, etc. Thing is the symptoms have been there for a few weeks but they were to a much lesser extent, barely perceivable but I knew they were there. When the diagnostic came back blank I though perhaps not a big issue

scooby1929

iTrader: (1)

I would say thats the worst case scenario but it could be a problem with the coil pack, spark plugs, the turbo, wastegate actuator sticking, fuel pump, electrical problem or any number of things.

If its the ringland then she will need some open heart surgery. Hope you get sorted

rob84

iTrader: (5)

A compression test will Highlight the issue as it will be allot lower than the other 3 cylinders

eventually will start to Burn oil, not noticeable to start with but gradually gets much worse.

Whats it like when you start the vehicle from cold does it sound like the starter hasn't quite caught and then it starts, More like a small skipping effect.

lestippp

scooby1929 I hope its one of the other problems then never thought I'd say that

Rob the car starts fine no issues at all?

scatty

iTrader: (1)

fuel pump would be my first starting point....

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

I take it from your user name the car has ppp? Could be map related problem, the one map for all cars ppp map doesn't suit all cars.

Also, what petrol you. Running? They don't like some super unleadeds and shouldn't be run on 95. I'd give it a full tank of Tesco 99 and see if it improves.

Otherwise... Unfortunately it does sound a little like ringland failure. Hope not.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Andy

icbm

I had this issue on mine the other week! I took it to a specialist to diagnose. Gave it a full service including plugs which made it better but still hesitated, took it back for more diagnosis.
It appears mine was due to crap 95 octane fuel. Try putting a few tanks of 99 Octane (Tesco or Shell) through it. That certainly helps, however didn't completely solve the issue for me so I ended up remapping the car (and decatting to make it worth while!) Now the problem has pretty much diappeared. Only issue i have now is the throttle is too sensitive but i'm having that adjusted (throttle map) very soon.

Had my compression and leak down tests carried out which were all ok, so piece of mind its all ok in there.

Aparently the ringland failure is caused by the low octane fuel and std map?

lestippp

Andy - no my handle was from a blobeye sti ppp I had a few years ago (great car still miss it), just running a bog standard wrx sl as a runaround just now. Always use BP Ultimate in the tank, no shell or Tesco available nearby but I ran my sti on the same stuff for 18 months with no issues.
I will check the service history to see when the plugs were last changed, tomorrow.
Off to kip now guys, thanks for all your help, excellent support in here as always
Will update tomorrow.

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

There's your problem. Some don't work well with the bp ultimate stuff. Try get some shell v power or Tesco momentum 99. Sorted!

rob84

iTrader: (5)

I know you mentioned you cant get shell or Tesco but is worth mentioning BP ultimate is quite an unstable fuel to be using, seen mappers have to pull the timing off the engine to get it to run as it should.

the 2.0 sti had a more forgiving engine than the 2.5.

My old blobeye sti 2.0 was an awesome car and could handle anything thrown at it then I bought the hatch, it decided to blow a piston due to crap fuel, I ended up with the same symptoms as yourself

icbm

maybe better fuel and a remap then?...You may have caught it in time before it does any ringland damage!
Plus it makes them rather quick after

chopperman

If it's a ringland it will smoke like hell.. A couple of things to check before you get into the serious stuff.
Check vacuum hoses as these are prone to split or go loose.
Check oil has not got into the boost solenoid. this happens if its been over filled.
Check none of the spark plugs have come loose. both my rear ones were lose when i replaced them.
check cam belt has not jumped a couple of teeth due to tensioner issues.
good luck.

madmarx

iTrader: (1)

Could it be the MAF acting up ?

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

Might be maf. Rich at fb tuning told me they go through a self clean burn cycle every now and then, but that said, may benefit from a very very careful clean with some brake cleaner and a cotton will bud.

Probably still the bp fuel causing it imo.

lestippp

Guys thanks for all your input, this forum is just fantastic for help

I don't have any smoke coming from the car at all, checked her last night with the filler cap off whilst at idle and nothing. Per Jezza's suggestion, thanks again
Rob and Brown Pants - I didn't realise that the 2.5's were a bit twitchy with the BP fuel (sh*t), I just filled up as well As you say Rob my 2.0 was brilliant and went like stink (using BP Ultimate) just had no idea about the fuel issue
So if I have no smoke there may not be any serious damage yet but do i now need to drain the tank and fill up with shell or Tesco 99? Not to keen to run her for another 250 miles to empty the tank
Chopper thanks for those suggestions and you've also confirmed what Jezza said last night re the smoking.
icbm - well us scooby owners can always accept a little extra grunt

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

I wouldn’t be too concerned with your full tank. If I were you I’d just drive mostly off boost until the tank is empty, or at least don’t give it full beans.