Uneven low speed running
 

03STi PPP

Made a surprising discovery yesterday.

On the way home from the g/f on Sunday night I thought that my headlights were flickering very slightly. At first I thought this was just running through small patches of mist on the road. Having given this a bit of thought I decided it may be caused by a loose connection on the Battery/Alternator side of things so I went round it with a spanner on Monday morning. I found that although the Battery positive terminal appeared tight I was able to get about a full turn on the 10 mm nut. The clip on the Battery pillar has a plastic bit that sits between the ends of the C clip which tends to hold the ends of the clip apart and make it feel as if the bolt was elastic until the plastic was fully crushed.

I’ve no idea if this has cured my headlight problem but the impact on the low speed running is surprising. Previously it was a bit jerky at low speeds and part throttle and I accepted this as normal. Now the Battery terminal is tight the slow running is much smoother, starting is better, and I suspect the fuel consumption looks better although it’s a bit early to be sure. The slightly poor connection must have been upsetting the ECU.

Check your Battery terminals, it can’t do any harm.

Diccy.

It's for this sort of reason that the earthing mod is a popular one for Scoobies, do a search to find out more...

Yes I might look into that when the warranty runs out. In the meantime I've loosened, wiggled, and retightened all the earths I can find to ensure a half decent contact.

I was also making a specific point about the strange construction of the positive terminal clamp that could cause a poor contact.

Cheers, Diccy.

Hi,
I have a MY96 Wagon and I have had a similar problem like this ages!! I've had new MAF sensor and air filter thinking it was air flow problems. Recently I've noticed the battery goes flat pretty quick if I don't use the car regularly. Might need to check that positive terminal now!! Was pondering on getting a new battery too!?
Have noticed lots of threads and group buys on earthing kits and have read the "blurb" but I've noticed opinion can be a bit divided???