Trouble with dead stop acceleration.

[92xScott]

I know the automatic 05 2.0 turbo is not exactly blistering off the line but lately Ive been noticing when Im going through an intersection or from a stop light, of even pulling out of a drive way I floor it and the car litterally will not accelerate. Its almost as if the RPMs are not climbing. It feels like a clogged cat or Im not getting the fuel or something. This concerns me as I am now having to wait for big openings in the traffic so i don't get hit. It take about 10-15 secs or maybe a bit more for it to finally decide to move. the car has 108,000 miles on it. I do normal oil changes, I cant even come close to do the timing belt because i cant afford it, and I aslo cannot do the up-pipe again because i cannot afford it. The parts are way too expensive and with kids I cant afford the big things. I know on the 92x aero/WRX I should be doing those two items now, but Im just driving on borrowed time as I probably wont be able to do one or the other from about 6 months. So whats the deal with this acceleration?

[Anub1s]

When was the last time you did any of the routine maintanence, other than oil changes? Spark plugs, fuel filter, that kind of thing?

[92xScott]

As far as I know they were never changed.

[mangostick]

I'd start with the basic maint stuff. Plugs, air filter, fuel filter (if it has one) clean the maf sensor.. all of those basic and fairly inexpensive things can alter performance of an aging engine. Is it making any odd noises or pinging (sounds like shaking pennies in a jar) along with the slow acceleration? How's the fuel mileage?

[434WHP]

Time to sell and buy something you can afford to repair/maintain. It was fun while it lasted eh. Its better to have a car that gets you where you need to be rather than one that doesn't. Sorry mate.

As far as I know they were never changed.

[92xScott]

Time to sell and buy something you can afford to repair/maintain. It was fun while it lasted eh. Its better to have a car that gets you where you need to be rather than one that doesn't. Sorry mate.

thats the problem, I traded in a car that was giving me big time problems hoping that this one wouldn't turn into a problem either. I cant get rid of this one.

[92xScott]

I'd start with the basic maint stuff. Plugs, air filter, fuel filter (if it has one) clean the maf sensor.. all of those basic and fairly inexpensive things can alter performance of an aging engine. Is it making any odd noises or pinging (sounds like shaking pennies in a jar) along with the slow acceleration? How's the fuel mileage?

There are no noises or pinging when its slow on acceleration. Fuel mileage im getting about 270 maybe 280 a tank if Im lucky. Thats a combo of highway and city.

[MainFrame]

Sounds like the 4eat in my Forester.. is your car manual, or automatic?

[Anub1s]

As far as I know they were never changed.

If that's the case, you are WAY overdue for spark plugs, and probably your air filter if you've never changed it yourself. Fuel filters on the 2005+ WRX's are inside of the tank, if the spark plugs and air filter don't help, you may want to tackle that as well. Without a proper way to datalog, diagnosis over the internet can be quite difficult.

[Soobvirgin]

....I traded in a car that was giving me big time problems hoping that this one wouldn't turn into a problem either. I cant get rid of this one.

Cars don't just last forever when neglected. They all turn into a problem if you don't care for them... or pay someone else to care for them. Like houses, boats and even people, you must keep up regular maintenance or something major will go wrong and it will cost way more to fix than if it had been cared for in the first place.

Your lack of info regarding basic maintenance leads me to believe you don't service this car at all (other than oil changes?). If the car isn't making any odd noises, but won't go, my guess is it's being starved of one of the three things it needs: fuel, air and spark. As others have said, replace your air filter, spark plugs and fuel filter... especially if they've never been done in over 100k miles! However, without seeing or hearing the car, this is just a guess. But replacing these things will only make your car happy regardless. It's a good place to start if you can't afford to pay a mechanic.

[MainFrame]

100k.. it's time to do the timing belt, water pump, tensoner, and cam seals as well as flush ALL fluids, plugs, fuel filter, air filter, etc.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a dealership asking $3k for to do all the maintenance this car needs. I would check the brake pads, and the struts are probably worn out as well..

[92xScott]

Cars don't just last forever when neglected. They all turn into a problem if you don't care for them... or pay someone else to care for them. Like houses, boats and even people, you must keep up regular maintenance or something major will go wrong and it will cost way more to fix than if it had been cared for in the first place.

Your lack of info regarding basic maintenance leads me to believe you don't service this car at all (other than oil changes?). If the car isn't making any odd noises, but won't go, my guess is it's being starved of one of the three things it needs: fuel, air and spark. As others have said, replace your air filter, spark plugs and fuel filter... especially if they've never been done in over 100k miles! However, without seeing or hearing the car, this is just a guess. But replacing these things will only make your car happy regardless. It's a good place to start if you can't afford to pay a mechanic.

Sorry I should have been more clear. I actually picked the car up with 101,000 miles on it. Traded a honda civic in on it. The only thing I have done thus far is an oil change. I tryed to get the pre-owned dealer who I bought it from that the timing belt had to be changed but he refused to do it as he said 105,000 was the milage. I actually do not know the service history of this car. But ill go with what you guys are saying. Should i pick up iridium plugs? Would those be good on a turbo car? Oh and i finally changed the struts myself with little to know help as they were bought for me as a bit of a gift.

[MainFrame]

Iridium plugs would be fine.

[teflon_jones]

You definitely need to at least check the plugs and air filter. The timing belt is something that is definitely overdue and while you say you don't have the money, what are you going to do when it goes and you're left with damaged valves and thousands to repair the engine?

You really need to pay more attention to your vehicle maintenance beyond just oil changes, and I'd highly recommend you understand the implications of NOT doing maintenance like what could happen if your timing belt goes before you buy any cars in the future.

With modern MAF sensored cars you're not going to get worse mileage from the car with a dirty air filter. It'll just put less fuel into the engine so you get less power. It's a common misconception that a dirty air filter on a car with a MAF will mean worse mileage. For $10 you can ensure you're getting the best performance possible. With the lack of power cleaning your MAF with a can of electronics spray cleaner ($5 at an electronics store) would definitely be a good place to start, but I strongly suspect your issues are more related to a combination of a lack of maintenance like the plugs. The iridium plugs will be just fine. Any number of cheap plugs will work just fine on a stock car.

[92xScott]

Plugs changed, I put iridium back in as that is what came out. While i was at it I checked the filter and that must have been changed not too long ago as its still pretty white and clean. So mark the plugs, air filter, and struts off the long list of things that seem to have been neglected before i took ownership. Timing belt, up-pipe are next.