36 replies to this topic

[L1BER8ED]

hey trendsetters. i know that the population of you know that im having on going issues with my car, and im trying to learn/read/teach myself wtf is going on under my bonnet.. i have come to a few ideas.. and i guess without anyone really witnessing it, might make it hard to explain, but ill do my bestest. i think it is not firing correctly somehow... i can feel the car.. chug (for lack of a better term) when its idling.. as tho its getting to the stage where its running out of fuel it will "miss" every couple of seconds.. there is no consistency in what it is doing at all either, so its hard to pin point what sets it off.. however after zupps told me that cause he could get the car to play up in every gear then it was a manufacturing issue not the dealership.. i tried this... 2nd gear... 20kms an hour, and nailed it.... dead set ive had more powerfull pushbikes... i understand thats not the ideal way to take off nor the right gear, however thats what the technician did and it did it in all gears cept 5th (due to room to drive) ive driven all other models, ages, kms, mods, and not one other car has even come close to showing the same symptoms.. would an exhaust have effected something further back up toward to engine perhaps? i had the muffler removed underneath the centre console many moons ago that is now the ONLY part of the running gear that is not stock... subaru claimed it was my exhaust that was the issue and when they installed a complete new zaust, it ran fine "apparently" but it just feels contantly under powered, as tho im not running full quid (under the bonnet) and the power, what little i have is not coming on smooth or with any increasing output.. with the amount of people that have seen under the bonnet with no result, im really at the end of what i can do... and considering my upcoming drive to sydney. i at least want to make it! any help or suggestions guys would be greatly appreciated. kurt

[SUBARU]

Have you tried putting a stock exhaust back on to see if it will run "fine" (as Subaru put it)

[L1BER8ED]

yes the exhaust is now stock, cept for that missing muffler, mid way down, it is mechanically stock....

[Mav]

doubt that would make a difference. im surpised that subaru hasnt already checked this during the numerous times youve had them look at it :S engine problems ftl

[tangcla]

Is your car auto or manual? When was the last time the fluids (ALL fluids) in your car were changed? If it hasn't been done, I'd suggest having a look at the gearbox oil to see if it looks normal.

[L1BER8ED]

Is your car auto or manual?

When was the last time the fluids (ALL fluids) in your car were changed? If it hasn't been done, I'd suggest having a look at the gearbox oil to see if it looks normal.

clarence you know this has been going on a while now lol...

at a stab in the dark, the fluids, should have been changed... well lets see, in over 12 months, with a services, warranty replacements, um, the fact it has been in the shop at least once a month this year... and pretty much ever since the engine was changed. they "should" have been changed many many many times by now.. and the most recent of which was done less that 2k kms ago....

[tangcla]

Then by process of elimination... did they change the gearbox as well as the engine?

[L1BER8ED]

well one should be safe to assume that on a service, between 95k and 140, that it would have been changed..... then again, this is subaru mechanics

[Mav]

have you had it inspectd by someone who isnt subaru lol?

[L1BER8ED]

to be honest mate no, cause of the warranty issues, ive kept it with subaru, hoping that if one day, heaven forbid that the car was the lemon that it is, that if i had a good service history that it would work in my favour.. pffft.. how dearly i was mistaken.. is there someone around that has the same sort of computers, and equipment that subaru would have,?? just some grey matter between thier ears?

[SUBARU]

well one should be safe to assume that on a service, between 95k and 140, that it would have been changed..... then again, this is subaru mechanics

They wouldn't have changed the gearbox during any service intervals unless it had a specific issue.

I can see where Clarence is going with this one...
So, you've had you engine changed. Therefore it would be pretty safe to say that the engine is not the issue. You've mentioned serveral times before that the issue is apparent throughout all gear changes.
It might be worthwhile invesitageing wheter there is an issue with your gearbox/clutch/drivetrain rather than continuing to focus on engine issues.

Thoughts?

[tangcla]

I can see where Clarence is going with this one...
So, you've had you engine changed. Therefore it would be pretty safe to say that the engine is not the issue. You've mentioned serveral times before that the issue is apparent throughout all gear changes.
It might be worthwhile invesitageing wheter there is an issue with your gearbox/clutch/drivetrain rather than continuing to focus on engine issues.

Thoughts?

Exactly what I was trying to get at


Pity you're not in Melbourne Kurt, I have a top workshop down here who would be able to diagnose and pinpoint the problem.

I have a friend who is an apprentice mechanic at a Ford dealership, and after hearing his (and others') stories about what mechanics do there, I will no longer be doing a book service at a Subaru dealership.

[L1BER8ED]

ha ha thanks for dumbing it down for me. lol.. is it a hard thing to do?? the gearbox oil?? it has had many aspects of the box changed, ie syncros, bearing and all sorts.. but hey ill try anything.... and like i said earlier clarence, i wouldnt be getting it done at a subaru, but because of the on going problems, and the fact that EVERYTHING has been warranty, ive kept it with them.. time to search elsewhere now.... thanks for the fb tho

[tangcla]

On the side of the engine (passenger side) there's a yellow dipstick, have a look to see what the gearbox oil colour is - whether it's filthy black or not. I suppose even if it is black, it doesn't really mean much... except they 'missed' it on the 100K service which it should have been done. You didn't answer - is it a manual or auto?

[L1BER8ED]

sorry mate, its man.. and the gearbox has been out of that thing i would say at least 4 times since the 100k.. wouldnt it have to be replaced then?

[Xon]

The gearbox oil would have HAD to have been replaced when the engine came out, unless for some reason Subaru drained the oil, dropped the engine, and then put the old oil back in. Not out of the question I guess, but it'd be pretty dumb... To me, the chugging is a symptom of a problem with the ignition system. Does it only happen under load? Or does it happen worse under load?

[DY028]

On the topic of chugging and ignition, when i bought my gen 3 rx i took it for a test drive and when under load it chugged randomly. dealers excuse was the engine had just been steam cleaned resulting in some water getting into the spark plugs. he swapped the plugs and its never happened again, have screwbaru changed the plugs? (figure they would with an engine swap?) Im not really mechanically experienced so i dont know if what the dealer told me was true or what ever, but just a thought.

[SUBARU]

ECU problem maybe?

[bLoNde MaFia]

to be honest mate no, cause of the warranty issues, ive kept it with subaru, hoping that if one day, heaven forbid that the car was the lemon that it is, that if i had a good service history that it would work in my favour.. pffft.. how dearly i was mistaken..

is there someone around that has the same sort of computers, and equipment that subaru would have,?? just some grey matter between thier ears?

My brother duz, remember K.? he's got some equipment/computer that can pinpoint probs.
He said he'd check it out 4 u when u come down here

[L1BER8ED]

thanks kel, but like ive said to not only you, but everyone else here, i want it to make it down there... ive honestly thought a fuel issue.. maybe starvation in some way shape or form, i dont know, but im thinking of seeing al up here, or someone i know wont d**k me around, and to be honest i hope it is something so plainly simple, cause i have the nastiest letter ready to submit, or screw it, the nastiest phone call to make to mr nick senior himself, to give him the earfull about his poor performing staff... (thankyou to my source for giving me that number, you shall remain nameless lol) im trying to be patient with this guys and do really appreciate your help with this, but its becoming a case of the car making it now, not just performing well... and xon to answer your q champ, more so under load, it is really hard to explain it without you in the passenger seat next to me... but yeah under load, or to be more broad, under general acceleration!!!