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| Thread ID: 102503 | 2009-08-21 07:10:00 | Subaru Legacy auto problems | Cuchulain (15188) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 803226 | 2009-08-21 23:54:00 | Modern cars have enclosed fuel systems to stop vapour from escaping to the atmosphere, amongst other things. Not sure what bikes have got. | Phil B (648) | ||
| 803227 | 2009-08-22 00:01:00 | Modern bikes do too - and they have catalytic converters - and the whole nine-yards for emission controls. The last time I can remember getting my crotch wet with gas from a vented cap was on a BSA Victor 441 - nasty powerful thumper. |
SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 803228 | 2009-08-22 05:16:00 | accelerators go right to the floor for a reason And the speedo goes to 200 for a reason too :D It's a challenge that I accept where safe to do so. |
ubergeek85 (131) | ||
| 803229 | 2009-08-22 05:37:00 | Not bad for a computer forum eh! | Richard (739) | ||
| 803230 | 2009-08-22 05:59:00 | Yeah - but look what you can learn! I'm going to bed now. 22:00 Friday - or close enough! |
SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 803231 | 2009-08-24 22:27:00 | Ah! Terminology and semantics can create a lot of grief . Let me ask some questions first . 1) you said . . . what do you consider "load" - and is this throttle-on or maintaining cruise speed or during passing demands? 2) you said . . . is "cuts out" is this to the point that the engine actually dies or do you just feel it might die and you shut it off and restart it? Do you hear any backfiring in the exhaust when this happens or is the condition silent? It makes a big difference . 3) I need to know if other filters were also changed when the lubrication service was done . Fuel filter? There's a possibility that an oil-pressure qualifier sensor has been damaged and the ECM sees that the oil pressure is incorrectly reported as unsafe and it shuts the engine off . Is the CEL on? This should at least be an OBD-1 system, possibly even an OBD-2 system but I don't know what models and systems they sell to Upsidedown Land . Typically you are behind the curve by a few years in technology in your automobiles . I doubt seriously that chasing the turbo or it's intercooler for a problem could manifest as total loss of power to the point that the engine stops . Cooling systems and other accessories aren't usually culprits for an engine dying either . Low voltage or an alternator putting out some AC ripple from the DC output can cause a lot of oddball symptoms . The maximum AC ripple that most ECMs can accept are lower than 0 . 013VAC on the DC line . More just confuses the ECM and the sensors . Isuzus have a real trouble with almost- or slightly defective/bad alternators - ones that would run well in anything else, but cause fits in themselves . Subarus are in the same boat for needing current purity . I'll be here intermittently all day today (I'm in Southern California) and will try to answer as soon or nearly as soon as I see your RSVP . Thank you SurferJoe46 for your questions . I will try to answer them as best as I can . 1/ Load on engine I mentioned refered to general cruising speed . 2/Engine actually cuts out and has to be restarted by key . 3/Only oil filter was changed when last service done . As an aside, I have followed your advice from a previous reply you posted on another message, suggesting doing a complete oil change and flush, along with using a fuel injector additive (not Sea Foam) . To date it seems to be behaving itself, though as the problem was very random previously, it will take some time to be sure . Once again thank you for sharing your obvious expertise . |
Cuchulain (15188) | ||
| 803232 | 2009-08-24 23:25:00 | YW | SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 803233 | 2009-08-25 10:57:00 | Holding a car at cruising speed is not putting the engine under load unless you're doing about 250. Lift the back seat & on the drivers side of the car you'll see a couple of electrical connector blocks. Pull them apart & look for burnt connectors. It's another common fault that the fuel pump wiring burns out at the connector block. That could cause your described problem. Low voltage/current will stop the fuel pump from delivering the required fuel flow rate.. Another thing to check is whether the car has an ignition amplifier (igniter) or if they're built into the coils. Check the coils for wires. If there's 3, the igniters are built in. Does the car instantly start? Or do you have to wait until things have cooled down. Told you it'll get more involved. It'll be nothing to do with an oil & filter. Providing you've got oil in it & the engine's not seizing lol |
Phil B (648) | ||
| 803234 | 2009-08-25 20:04:00 | Yeah, Phil - I tend to go for the intermittent electrical problem, that's why I asked some of the questions I did. If it were secondary ignition-related however, most times there should be a loud backfire or exhaust report when the current returns to the plugs and they fire a fuel loaded exhaust system. If the power loss is at the primary side of the ignition, then we have to remember that the CMP and the CKP are all affected and that would shut off the fuel supply for that moment of time too, and then there's no fuel going out of the engine as unburned to create an exhaust report. Fuel pressure loss can be among the intermittent problems and that will usually NOT show up as a loud exhaust backfire since the fuel is not getting into the engine to get into the exhaust - and so on. It will be a silent loss of power, but may not be sudden. One point to consider is a loose or damaged electrical connection on the oil pressure sending unit, since loss of oil pressure will shut off the engine and not just merely make it lose power and sag. This sensor is usually near the oil filter itself and can be damaged by ham-fisted oafs who change filters by day and flip burgers by night. This usually happens in quickie discount oil/filter service facilities who hire the handicapped (mentally) and allow them to wrench on customers' cars for their socio-economic on-job trades training. The aforementioned non-savant might have just damaged this connex enough to make it intermittent, making the symptoms vague and inconsistent. The oil level may indeed also be low (by the same person(s) already mentioned) and as it gets pumped into the circuit at cruising speed, it cannot return fast enough to keep this sensor from shutting off the engine. The timing of the happenstance may not be all that odd to consider - this came about after the oil change. There are answers to this mystery - but I don't suspect the air induction nor the cooling system as faulty - they would surely raise their heads in a larger and more devastating way. I love a mystery. |
SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 803235 | 2009-08-26 09:08:00 | Another possibility could be a intermittently blocked exhaust system (either collapsed catalytic converter or loose muffler baffle), can cause complete engine stall then will start immediately (as the blockage drops away with no exhaust pressure; can also happen more if you're accelerating up a hill (gravity :))), put the vehicle on a hoist and check for rattles in the system, alternatively try taking it for a run without the exhaust fitted (illegal and dangerous tho, but will prove the point). | feersumendjinn (64) | ||
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