Impreza Power Loss

Speedway

Hi everyone,

I've posted this on the isdc.ie website already but I just wanted to get some opinions here.

went for a bit of a spin on the lovely roads by Sallygap yesterday and noticed a strange problem with the car seeming to lose power for less than a second in some gears then continuing on as normal.
I thought it was just my imagination but I noticed it again consistently today while doing some city driving.

What I noticed was that while accelerating in 2nd and 3rd gear (it might also be in other gears I didn't notice) at 2,000 rpm it loses power for a second.
It's just a little dip in power, so small that I don't think a passenger would notice it but I could feel it with the acceleration pedal.

I'm driving a 2006 Impreza RX (normally aspirated) with no mods at all. Has about 44,000km on it and was serviced last about 5 months ago.

Some of the isdc lads suggested spark plugs or plug leads might need changing.

Cheers!

Viper_JB

Speedway wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I've posted this on the isdc.ie website already but I just wanted to get some opinions here.

went for a bit of a spin on the lovely roads by Sallygap yesterday and noticed a strange problem with the car seeming to lose power for less than a second in some gears then continuing on as normal.
I thought it was just my imagination but I noticed it again consistently today while doing some city driving.

What I noticed was that while accelerating in 2nd and 3rd gear (it might also be in other gears I didn't notice) at 2,000 rpm it loses power for a second.
It's just a little dip in power, so small that I don't think a passenger would notice it but I could feel it with the acceleration pedal.

I'm driving a 2006 Impreza RX (normally aspirated) with no mods at all. Has about 44,000km on it and was serviced last about 5 months ago.

Some of the isdc lads suggested spark plugs or plug leads might need changing.

Cheers!

Ya I'd agree with the lads isdc, I'd start off by checking your ignition coils, a visual inspection of them should tell if they're okay or not, white spots on the back generally indicate that they're shorting and need to be replaced. Moving on from that try taking out just one of the spark plugs and check for carbon build up or rust at the tip of the plug. If everything looks okay from the ignition side of things then I'd start checking air filters and stuff 9 out of 10 times with stuff like this it's realted to the ignition system.

smash

Should have got an EVO :P

drunkmonkey

steve06 wrote: »

Should have got an EVO :P

Or a Toyota:p

Speedway

Viper_JB wrote: »

Ya I'd agree with the lads isdc, I'd start off by checking your ignition coils, a visual inspection of them should tell if they're okay or not, white spots on the back generally indicate that they're shorting and need to be replaced. Moving on from that try taking out just one of the spark plugs and check for carbon build up or rust at the tip of the plug. If everything looks okay from the ignition side of things then I'd start checking air filters and stuff 9 out of 10 times with stuff like this it's realted to the ignition system.

excellent thanks very much Viper_JB. I've picked up some new plugs today so I'm going to fit them later and hopefully that'll lead to see results!

Testament1

steve06 wrote: »

Should have got an EVO :P

Why buy an Evo if you're driving a non turbo Impreza? Two majorly different cars! Anyway sounds like just a bit of a misfiring problem so just run with Viper_JBs recommendations and see if theres an improvement.

Hal1

Have a look at this guide for spark plugs.

Speedway

Hal1 wrote: »

Have a look at this guide for spark plugs.

That's really helpful thanks very much!

Muckie

Hope you got it sorted. Love the Subarus can't beat the boxer sound

Speedway

So I got the spark plugs changed and no improvement. Nothing noticeable wrong with the coils or plugs.
Still behaving exactly the same way losing power from about 1800 rpm until over 3000 rpm and its actually gotten worse over the past few days.

I think it's time to get it plugged into a computer and see whats wrong with it.

homer90

I'd go with the coils- similar prob happened to a WRX I had...
Swapped them out and was perfect again.

Speedway

Right I think I have it sorted. I took out the MAF sensor and it's perfectly clean, air filters all seem ok too.

I did a soft ECU reset by disconnecting the battery and the acceleration problems seem to be gone. It does sound and smell like its running a bit rich now though so I just need to do another soft reset and give it some "spirited" driving tomorrow I think in quieter traffic to allow the ECU to sort itself out.