Hi Gang, I'm after a bit of advice please? My car (97 WRX Wagon) has developed a bit of a problem. When flooring it and hoping for max boost the car has started to offer a less clean, smooth boost, infact the problem started out as a suttle though noticeable repeated surging as the revs built and only after the Turbo kicks in. This happened for a day or so but now manifests itself as a complete power loss. The best way to describe this power loss is to compare it to the one experienced when the car redlines and cuts out momentarily before powering up again after the revs have dropped.
Any suggestions as to the problem (Maff, boost???)would be much appreciated. PS. I had ragged the motor the day before these issues began to appear.

Many thanks in anticipation.

 

Just remove the MAF and try starting the car and if it runs okay then it will be the MAF.

 

Does the car have any modifications and what fuel are you running?

Tony

 

No known mods Tony - recent Import and thanks for reply. And interesting point re fuel as I was almost out of fuel when first complete power loss occured. However, I refuelled and unfortunately found that the car still cut out momentarily when floored all be it intermittently. I've used various fuels as and when I've needed to fill up.

Thanks Cobra - I'll give it a whirl.

 

You should be using super unleaded only really, they dont run very well on unleaded, it can kill the engine
Oh and it could be that you dragged the crap out of the bottom of the tank if low on fuel

Tony

 

Super it is from here on out then Tony ta!

Mmmm, crap from bottom of tank, this was my first thought? I guess the remedy or diagnosis is beyong the layman that I am?

I'm not daft, just not particularly able with these things lol.

Many thanks.

 

Definitely give the removal of the MAF a go.

Its very simple. Just unplug it from the cable it is attached to and if the car runs smoothly you'll know its the MAF.

I had a similar problem where my engine actually cut out after hitting 1500 revs. It turned out that water had gotten into the air filter and the MAF went into limp mode and cut out. Removed the MAF and the car ran fine again.

 

Please correct me if i am wrong, but is the fuel not drawn from the bottom of the tank anyway


Fill her up with V-Power or Tesco 99, reset the ECU and see what you get

 

Things float about in your fuel, mainly drawn up from the bottom of the tank, the more fuel in there the less chance due to area/ammount of debris (we shall call it that for now), the less fuel the greater the chance of this "debris" of being sucked up, so on virtually no fuel in the tank, crap sucked up

Tony

 

to add to what tony has said, also check your igntion side of things as it sounds like either fuel cut or limp mode. What revs does this occur at? if it is around 4k then its limp mode, if it goes over thatbut feels sluggish then my thoughts are that it is going to be ignition related - either plugs - coil packs (cant remember if a 97 will have individual coil packs or 1 shared, the individuals are weakened with age).

If its recently come across from japan then a good service would be the first thing I would do

 

Thanks so much for those tips people!

(Nice ere aint it face)

 

Forgive me for asking but how does one re-set the ECU please?

(Is it a laymans task face?)

 

Hello mate,
Not a sccoby owner for a couple of years now, but if your engine is still revving ok, do have you a boost guage fitted. If so, is it boosting normally ?

You could have a leak from the intercooler, which you have made worse with your spirited driving, up to the point where there is no real boost pressure, and a major power loss.

Do you get a whoosh when you put you foot down and find no power ?

All other suggestions made so far very valid - just adding another option, and if it is this, an easy / cheap fix.

As stated, Super is the way to go - I would also change your fuel filter as a minimum (under the bonnet (do it when engine is cold )

Good luck,
Mart.

 

Thanx Gonzo I'll get a service etc. Yep there's a boost guage but I don't know what it means when it flicks one way or the other lol. The fault is intermittent and to be honest didn't do it yesterday but when it did previously there was a sudden complete power loss, so dramatic it was like switching the car off to be honest. There was also, if I booted it less hard, a faint wooshing and a suttle surging of power not consistent with the smooth power previously felt. Any advice on re-setting ECU please?

(Thanks again face)

 

Here ya go

JollyGreenMonster.co.uk

 

Wow! That's most helpful.

(Grateful to ya all face)