[ThePizzaGuy]

Recently my 2006 WRX has been acting very odd. It takes a few seconds to start and sometimes dies right away unless I give it gas for a second. It is also idling like absolute trash, will sound like its running normally then sputter for about 2 seconds then run normally and repeat until I am moving. This happens at cold or hot, doesn't matter and doesn't change pace. As soon as I am moving it completely stops and drives like a champ...

This seemed like it wouldn't be a huge deal but when it started dying on me I think I need to figure out what is up. Also started throwing an all 4 cylinder misfire frequently.

Past and present:

last month I got into a wreck and it messed up the headlight, hood, fender and bumper :shakehead: totaled the car but I bought it back and slapped a new headlight on and shes running good again. The one issue was that the wreck unseated one of the radiator fans and I drove it like that for a while until one night I heard a loud pop and it had cut through my top radiator hose. Of course I immediately stopped and figured out what happened. First I filled it as full as I could with coolant and drove about 3/4 of a mile, saw the needle moving a bit, pulled over and refilled and that made it home. (Hoping I didn't really mess anything up here, never let it into the red...)

Recently (~1500 miles ago) had a new street performance clutch from ACT and a streetlite flywheel installed, thought this was the issue due to the misfires but I don't see that giving me a hard time starting.

Put in a Walbro fuel pump a very long time ago, did not change the fuel filter out at that time like I probably should have, ended up breaking two of the mounting bolts when putting it back together and ripped the wire for the fuel level sensor (no more gas gauge and get a "fuel level sensor circuit low" or something like that code almost every time I start my car.

cam seals were leaking, had them replaced.

ran a little low on gas a while back (~2 gallons left), could this possibly have burnt up the pump?

definite oil leak, can't figure out where from. Seems to be from the timing cover but could be from anywhere, also on top of engine by the oil pressure sensor. smells very bad when I first start my car.



THINGS I HAVE TRIED TO FIX THE PROBLEM (Many from the misfire sticky):
I changed the crankshaft position sensor (had a lot of grime on it when I took it out, normal?)
cleaned MAF and throttle body
reset idle
new spark plugs recently professionally
injector cleaner/ seafoam
timing belt replaced
leakdown/compression showed 125 123 122 123



My next step was going to be replacing the fuel pump and entire assembly so I can have a gas gauge again, but that will probably be a $3-400 that I don't really have, so not excited to keep throwing parts at it. I was also thinking maybe just a new air filter is in order and if none of that worked I am out of ideas.

I really tried to do as much as I could before posting the question on here but sadly haven't even seen a slight decrease in symptoms.






MODS:
3.5" catless turboback
Greddy BOV
performance clutch ACT
lightweight flywheel ACT
Tuned after exhaust and BOV install, 17psi
255 Walbro fuel pump

 

[XJman]

Recently my 2006 WRX has been acting very odd. It takes a few seconds to start and sometimes dies right away unless I give it gas for a second. It is also idling like absolute trash, will sound like its running normally then sputter for about 2 seconds then run normally and repeat until I am moving. This happens at cold or hot, doesn't matter and doesn't change pace. As soon as I am moving it completely stops and drives like a champ...

This seemed like it wouldn't be a huge deal but when it started dying on me I think I need to figure out what is up. Also started throwing an all 4 cylinder misfire frequently.

Past and present:

last month I got into a wreck and it messed up the headlight, hood, fender and bumper :shakehead: totaled the car but I bought it back and slapped a new headlight on and shes running good again. The one issue was that the wreck unseated one of the radiator fans and I drove it like that for a while until one night I heard a loud pop and it had cut through my top radiator hose. Of course I immediately stopped and figured out what happened. First I filled it as full as I could with coolant and drove about 3/4 of a mile, saw the needle moving a bit, pulled over and refilled and that made it home. (Hoping I didn't really mess anything up here, never let it into the red...)

Recently (~1500 miles ago) had a new street performance clutch from ACT and a streetlite flywheel installed, thought this was the issue due to the misfires but I don't see that giving me a hard time starting.

Put in a Walbro fuel pump a very long time ago, did not change the fuel filter out at that time like I probably should have, ended up breaking two of the mounting bolts when putting it back together and ripped the wire for the fuel level sensor (no more gas gauge and get a "fuel level sensor circuit low" or something like that code almost every time I start my car.

cam seals were leaking, had them replaced.

ran a little low on gas a while back (~2 gallons left), could this possibly have burnt up the pump?

definite oil leak, can't figure out where from. Seems to be from the timing cover but could be from anywhere, also on top of engine by the oil pressure sensor. smells very bad when I first start my car.



THINGS I HAVE TRIED TO FIX THE PROBLEM (Many from the misfire sticky):
I changed the crankshaft position sensor (had a lot of grime on it when I took it out, normal?)
cleaned MAF and throttle body
reset idle
new spark plugs recently professionally
injector cleaner/ seafoam
timing belt replaced
leakdown/compression showed 125 123 122 123



My next step was going to be replacing the fuel pump and entire assembly so I can have a gas gauge again, but that will probably be a $3-400 that I don't really have, so not excited to keep throwing parts at it. I was also thinking maybe just a new air filter is in order and if none of that worked I am out of ideas.

I really tried to do as much as I could before posting the question on here but sadly haven't even seen a slight decrease in symptoms.






MODS:
3.5" catless turboback
Greddy BOV
performance clutch ACT
lightweight flywheel ACT
Tuned after exhaust and BOV install, 17psi
255 Walbro fuel pump

Check for boost leaks and vacuum leaks. Neither is uncommon. There is a misfire thread in one of the sticky posts you can browse through.

I had a similar issue and I can tell you where I looked and what I did to rectify it.

Torn turbo inlet, leaking tgv, and the intercooler throttle body hose. All of them had a leak, and are common points of failure. A boost test will check them all at once.

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[SD_GR]

I'm sorry I searched the post but am missing this info -- my fault if it's there! -- does the 2006 use an IACV like earlier cars, and have you checked/cleaned/replaced/etc the IACV?

 

[ThePizzaGuy]

(sorry on mobile now and can't quote)

I very clearly stated that I have checked almost everything in the misfire sticky before posting this.. but I don't think I have a boost leak, just had my car in the shop last month and everything looked good but I will check again.

Also I don't believe that my car has the IACV.

 

[ThePizzaGuy]

Also I went out after resetting my idle and did some highway pulls and they felt great. This is why I doubt it's a vacuum leak, as soon as the car is in gear all problems pretty much stop. I was hitting the boost pretty hard and didn't hear or feel anything out of the ordinary. This wouldn't be the case with a boost leak would it?

 

[SD_GR]

Under the intake should be a vac line to the fuel pressure regulator. Also, behind the alternator to the left as you face it there is a T fitting with a blue “pill.” Have another look at those. I do not know if your fuel level CEL would be a show stopper.

 

[ThePizzaGuy]

I will check those out when I get home from school thank you, also will do as in-depth a search for boost leaks as I can.

 

[ThePizzaGuy]

Update: just got home and checked the best I could and all hoses seem to be good. It seems like most run under the manifold though and I would have to take that off to get a really good look at it. Might just take it to a shop and see what they say...

 

[SD_GR]

How did you adjust the idle? Via ECU or?

 

[ThePizzaGuy]

Sorry wrong wording, I did the idle relearn by following the steps in this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud6OU13IDSQ.

 

[ThePizzaGuy]

Another update... I went to go to work today and started my car. It started alright and seemed to be running okay, but when I went out to leave the cel was blinking and my torque pro app showed just the 4 misfires and the fuel sensor. Anyone have any other ideas??

 

[dtodt13]

What you got for CEL codes? My 06 had camshaft and crankshaft postion codes and caused your issues.

 

[ThePizzaGuy]

Only codes are all 4 cylinders misfire and fuel level sensor.

An UPDATE though, went in and had my cover gaskets taken off and had valves checked, all between .11-.14 so those aren't the problem. I changed the air filter, not the problem.

I have a blue tooth OBD reader that uses Torque pro on my phone, last night I was monitoring the AF ratio and when it is doing it's cyclical misfire, it is bouncing between 11.8ish and 16! It struggles really hard when it gets down that low obviously and I think that's when it miss fires

 

[XJman]

I'm still sticking with a leak somewhere in the intake post maf

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[ThePizzaGuy]

Maybe the manifold gasket? Im going to get a vacuum test either this weekend or next. Gonna test the air pressure and fuel pressure

 

[XJman]

Manifold gaskets, tgv, intercooler to throttle body hose, intercooler, intercooler to turbo seal, turbo inlet, and a few other places are known leak points.

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[dtodt13]

So misfires and can't hold 11 afr.. bad gas or bad spark plugs? My car sat on 1/8 tank of gas for a month in less than 20 degree weather while I waited for parts to come in, when I fired it up I got cam shaft & crankshaft position sensor codes, misfire codes, and when i was under load (11 afr) the misfires were very prominent and shuddering was bad. I hobbled my way to get a full tank of gas and it took about 2 days to clear up on its own with no additives

 

[XJman]

Your last comment isn't clear. The fuel cleared it up? No? Sparkplugs?

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[dtodt13]

I was saying bad fuel or bad spark plugs could cause his issue. From my experience last month all it took was a fresh tank of gas and I was good. My next route was spark plug, thinking maybe the watery gas fouled them out but luckily it didn't.

 

[ThePizzaGuy]

SOLVED! This is hilarious, so you were right and I was wrong, there was a boost leak. I had it tested twice, first time we did it wrong and didn't find anything, second time his gauge was broken. So it read 0 the whole time!

The leak was actually the small inlet(?) Hose on the side of the BOV. Like the tiny hose that is connected to the boost gauge as well. It was unscrewed from my BOV almost all the way. Put some tape on it and screwed it back in and she's back to normal!