I live in the St. Paul area and am hoping to enlist the help of a fellow Subaru owner that can help me with some issues I'm having with my 2006 Lgt. I am having major miss/backfire issues at WOT. The car runs great until you get into high RPM's. I inspected the coil packs and replace plugs with the OE NGK. I ran to Hudson and hit the gas and it just falls on its face, sounds like rapid backfire in the engine and then CEL. I pulled codes and got p301 and p302. I just did the timing belt, water pump and thermostat a few weeks ago. No issues after. I need pointers or someone that is willing to help me log. Car is a 2006 Lgt 132,000 miles. New turbo this time last year. Any help is GREATLY APRECIATED!!! Thanks, Dan.
Glad you posted this, I seem to be having the same issue on my 02 wrx.. Curious what ppl have to say about this. Can any one help?
Is it tuned? Misfire could be a lot of things. Was the CEL flashing? P0301 and P0302 are misfire cyl 1 and 2, did you get codes for cyls 3 or 4 ever? If not, you can try swapping the coils from 3-4 with 1-2 and see if the misfires follow the coilpacks. Or just read this thread and go through that list it could be lots of things (O2 sensor, MAF, vacuum leak, exhaust leak, etc etc). http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/gener...553-if-you-have-misfire-code-please-read.html
Are you sure it wasn't caused by the timing belt job? Did you check valve clearances or compression recently? Wild stab in the dark since its a turbo Subaru... your pistons are cracked or your valves are burnt and your engine is blowed up.
It ran great after the timing belt replacement. I was going to pass last week and went into high RPMs and that is when it seems it started. I have been in the garage looking things over for the last few hours. Pulled the IC, checked all hoses, grounds. I put everything back together and same issue. It is not throwing any codes currently, and runs great as long as I don't stomp on it. I did notice when I got back the up pipe was glowing around the exhaust temp sensor. If it was something big wouldn't it idle and drive funky always and not just at heavy throttle? It's driving me crazy. My car is completely stock including tune. I'm starting to wonder if my up pipe cat is plugged.
Well the misfire could be caused by something else (fueling related) which could lead to running super rich and saturating your cat with fuel which makes it glow red hot. It could be clogged but even if it is there is probably something else. Regardless, you should get that catted up pipe out of there because if it is getting saturated and glowing red it will likely break up soon and bork your engine and turbo... Did you do a boost leak test?
I did a boost leak test. Changed the clamp from my turbo to intake hose. I'm stumped. Stayed up unti 2 am looking over things. I'm not sure what to do next. Driving me crazy. I have not thrown a cell for a few days, but I know it will pop if I was to push it too far.
Shot out the dark, but my previous car had issues at WOT when I first got it (2008 EVO X GSR) . I was having it tuned and it turned out the CAT was collapsed (common for the OEM piece) and was the reason for the odd issues at full throttle. Could be a potential reason your CAT is red hot as the airflow is severely restricted and things are backing up getting heat soaked. Other than that I got nothing as I am not much of a weekend mechanic these days anymore (ain't nobody got time for that!!! Well, at least me anyways).
My 02 actually did it prior to timing belt. I replaced belt, tensioner, all pulleys, water pump ect.. Had the heads cleaned and replaced all valves with springs by a reputable small shop where I live. Cel doesn't flash and only comes up with one code. However the car idles and pulls great up until 4500k and that's when it seems to act up, it does only do it at WOT, I can easily get passed it if I baby it and hold it half throttle..only mods I'm aware of on the car is a no name 3" turbo back exhaust, DP is catless. Any other thoughts? Thanks
I think my next step is to pull the up pipe inspect cat and check the timing. It ran great after timing belt/water pump replacement, but went into boost/high rpm and it has happened ever since. I drove it this morning to get my kids to school and myself to work and as long as I don't hammer it it runs fantastic. Good idle no misses.
I did not touch the TGV sensor. I can't get this out of my head. I'm sitting here at work searching online for ideas!
Whatever is going on it is either choking out or dumping too much fuel. I will not give up until I find the issue. My wife gets so pissed at me because I become totally absorbed when anything happens with our Subaru's!
I never knew the TGV mechanism needed to be preloaded. If this wasn't done, then the TGV butterfly would remain closed at all times (restricting air flow), correct? ...If that's it, you'd think it would run like ass all the time, not just WOT.
My son found out the hard way. 03 WRX would run great, just fluttered and feel flat at WOT. Never threw a code either.
4500 is where the (overboost?) fuel cut kicks in IIRC. Is your car tuned for the catless DP? Do you have a boost gauge?
No it's not tuned for it as far as I know but it was on the car when i purchased it. And have actually been looking to use/borrow a oem dp and just give it a shot. And it has the stock boost gauge. Doesn't feel like a fuel cut but the needle on the BG does flutter when in boost
Any recommendations on a shop that can do leak down and compression check? What does something like that cost? Is it something I can do myself?
Yes can do it yourself. They have the testers at most parts stores. Remember to remove the fuel pump relay before doing this test however.
I'm going to add that to my list along with looking for an up pipe without the cat. I am going to dig back into this when I get off work this evening and have tomorrow off. Need to figure it out.
Especially in the cold weather overboost without a tune is inevitable. Are you sure its not tuned? A catless dp should throw rear O2 codes so your CEL would be on all the time.
My wrx started throwing misfire codes on 3 cylinders, idled fine, ran like crap when I would get on the throttle. Ended up being cracked piston ringlands on those 3 cylinders. Easiest way to check would be to pop of the intercooler piping and check for oil. Best way to check would be leakdown test. Although reading forums trying to figure out my issues had me all over the place, so maybe you should just forget you even read this.
Honestly it sounds exactly like my car was acting about 2 years ago. In short order I had coil after coil go bad. Needed to replace 3 of the 4 within a month or so of eachother and the 4th no more than 6 months later. Was fine ever since. I would start there after comp test
Catted uppipe removed. Cat was separated from uppipe wall. This is what the top looks like. Bottom side looks clogged. HKS uppipe should be here in 30 minutes. Turbo looks good, spins freely and zero shaft play. I sure hope this gets me on the right track.
Oh my lord! This car runs like I have never felt! Thank goodness! Conclusion was bad uppipe. HKS installed, resistor mod and next is tune. Thanks
It's a good thing that cat held together! Did you notice a mpg drop at all? I would think the car would have to work pretty hard to drive with a clogged cat.
You deff dodged a huge bullet. Next time the car acts up don't drive it. You could have even babying it had the cat let go and there goes the whole motor and turbo.
Lucky break! Glad its not blowed up but GET A TUNE ASAP!!! Catless DP without a tune is just asking for trouble.
Contact Devin(D-tune). He can be contacted through JM Automotive. https://www.google.com/search?q=jm+automotive+osseo&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
Oh my bad I got confused someone above said they had a cat less DP and thought it was you. Never mind.
It sounds like it is a good idea to get off the stock tune ASAP anyway. Just glad I finally get to feel the potential of this car!
