Hey guys,
Longtime reader, first time poster.
So 8 months ago i got myself my first wrx. I am new to subaru but not to turbocharged cars.
My issue is my wrx has an intermittent bucking and hesitation problem that i cant seem to solve.
So the problem occurs after about 20 minutes of driving after start up, highway or on the streets it doesnt matter. At this point the idle is fairly smooth, feels like it has a little shake every few seconds compared to start up idle that has no shaking. I can stop the car, turn the ignition off and restart the car and the problem goes away for another 10 to 20 minutes again.
When the hesitation starts it gets worse the longer the isses goes for and the lower in the rev range it affects.
So after lots of research when i first noticed it i went in and started replacing bits and pieces.
I started with the fuel pump, fuel filter and spark plugs.
*i noticed the fuel pump was dirty and inspected the tank, it was full of muck and light rust. I had the entire tank cleaned and a new walbro pump installed. For a week this seem to have fixed the problem. But i didnt know it was something that happed after a certain amount of driving as i work 5 minutes down the road.
Once it happened again i checked the tank and pump to see if it was all still okay. It was.
Jumped on all the forums again and everyone was saying maf sensor and coil packs. Cleaned the maf and checked the coils for water or oil seemed fine. Problem persists.
Bought brand new coils. $800 later the problem still happened.
I noticed the smell of fuel in the engine bay it wasnt bad just light and coulnt pick anything. It got worse over a week and found it was the return pipe under the intake. Removed the manifold and tightened the clamp and was all good. Thought this may have fixed it. Decided to get a new maf sensor, the day i ordered my genuine part the car started to get really bad and almost stall when accelerating so i ordered a new genuine o2 sensor as well. After replacing both parts the car was still palying up but without the stalling from before. I took the car to subaru at this stage. I took the technician for a drive while it was behaving bad. They had it for 8 hours and could not come up with anything at all. Not even a "maybe it might be this solution?.".. i took the car into another mechanic who turns out to be a subaru enthusiasts and had a full timing kit done injectors cleaned out and flow tested, had a compression test done and was good. All the sensors on the engine tested and cleaned. They had the car for 2 solid days looking over it cleaning every ground checking every sensor and couldnt find any issues whatso ever. No leaks in the gaskets, no boost or vaccum leaks, no codes or pending codes, all obd2 readings where "within spec"
After spending at least 3500 on finding a solution i have had enough. Yesterday i changed my plugs as the plugs wernt the best ones i could get. I got the nkg iridium platinum laser or something and a new hi performance battery and cleaned all the terminals. Still problems.
I got looking and found out about the green test plugs. As i had my own obd2 i could check faults. Bare in mind that to date i have never had a code show. They will if i pull a sensor but never whilst driving with the problem.
I went through the procedure of testing and i got some codes while in neutral just in the drive way but when cleared, and drove the car in test mode it came back with nothing i tested the car 20 minutes after it was having issues. Still nothing.
I have no ideas on what is up. A hand full of mechanics have no idea, subaru techs and the report to head office for the big specialists to figure out and theyre stumped too.
I though the ecu might be fault
Any thoughts?
Longtime reader, first time poster.
So 8 months ago i got myself my first wrx. I am new to subaru but not to turbocharged cars.
My issue is my wrx has an intermittent bucking and hesitation problem that i cant seem to solve.
So the problem occurs after about 20 minutes of driving after start up, highway or on the streets it doesnt matter. At this point the idle is fairly smooth, feels like it has a little shake every few seconds compared to start up idle that has no shaking. I can stop the car, turn the ignition off and restart the car and the problem goes away for another 10 to 20 minutes again.
When the hesitation starts it gets worse the longer the isses goes for and the lower in the rev range it affects.
So after lots of research when i first noticed it i went in and started replacing bits and pieces.
I started with the fuel pump, fuel filter and spark plugs.
*i noticed the fuel pump was dirty and inspected the tank, it was full of muck and light rust. I had the entire tank cleaned and a new walbro pump installed. For a week this seem to have fixed the problem. But i didnt know it was something that happed after a certain amount of driving as i work 5 minutes down the road.
Once it happened again i checked the tank and pump to see if it was all still okay. It was.
Jumped on all the forums again and everyone was saying maf sensor and coil packs. Cleaned the maf and checked the coils for water or oil seemed fine. Problem persists.
Bought brand new coils. $800 later the problem still happened.
I noticed the smell of fuel in the engine bay it wasnt bad just light and coulnt pick anything. It got worse over a week and found it was the return pipe under the intake. Removed the manifold and tightened the clamp and was all good. Thought this may have fixed it. Decided to get a new maf sensor, the day i ordered my genuine part the car started to get really bad and almost stall when accelerating so i ordered a new genuine o2 sensor as well. After replacing both parts the car was still palying up but without the stalling from before. I took the car to subaru at this stage. I took the technician for a drive while it was behaving bad. They had it for 8 hours and could not come up with anything at all. Not even a "maybe it might be this solution?.".. i took the car into another mechanic who turns out to be a subaru enthusiasts and had a full timing kit done injectors cleaned out and flow tested, had a compression test done and was good. All the sensors on the engine tested and cleaned. They had the car for 2 solid days looking over it cleaning every ground checking every sensor and couldnt find any issues whatso ever. No leaks in the gaskets, no boost or vaccum leaks, no codes or pending codes, all obd2 readings where "within spec"
After spending at least 3500 on finding a solution i have had enough. Yesterday i changed my plugs as the plugs wernt the best ones i could get. I got the nkg iridium platinum laser or something and a new hi performance battery and cleaned all the terminals. Still problems.
I got looking and found out about the green test plugs. As i had my own obd2 i could check faults. Bare in mind that to date i have never had a code show. They will if i pull a sensor but never whilst driving with the problem.
I went through the procedure of testing and i got some codes while in neutral just in the drive way but when cleared, and drove the car in test mode it came back with nothing i tested the car 20 minutes after it was having issues. Still nothing.
I have no ideas on what is up. A hand full of mechanics have no idea, subaru techs and the report to head office for the big specialists to figure out and theyre stumped too.
I though the ecu might be fault
Any thoughts?