El_Freddo

1999/2000 Subaru Liberty.

I’m wondering if anyone knows of a way to fix the harsh/sudden off throttle to idle and from idle to on throttle response of the EJ251?

I’m specifically looking at low load and coasting situations - cruising in 4th or 5th around town at 60km/h, slow manoeuvring in car parks in 1st gear.

I’ve put up with it for some time and now I’m thinking if there’s a way to sort it. An old mate of mine sold his outback over this throttle response issue! Apparently he tried many things, one of them I remember was a progressive throttle cable wheel so lots of foot movement was needed from zero to small throttle openings. That didn’t work. I think the issue is the plunger style IACV.

Knowing this, I’m wondering if anyone knows:
A/ Does the EJ202 suffers the same throttle response issues?
B/ Could the factory ECU accept a different throttle body from a later model that uses a better IACV rather than the plunger style of the EJ251?

Lots of wondering on this one. I want to avoid buying parts only to find they don’t work because the ECU doesn’t accept them. But this might be the only way.

Also, anyone know what sort of IACV the EJ202 uses?