Rare, but sudden loss of power going uphill

[Fairtax4me]

Are your hills covered in ice? Had a guy come sliding down a hill backwards toward me yesterday. Good thing the snow was packed up like a ramp at the curb because the sidewalk was my only option!

[bendecker]

Dang. That'll be etched in your brain forever. No ice here. Our idea if winter is we put on longer shorts instead of regular ones. I've driven in ice plenty though, and vividly remember doing down a hill that looked just fine, but was covered in black ice. That was a wild ride and, luckily, no damage or injuries.

[bendecker]

No complete loss of power as of yet (still taking it very easy on long hills and not driving it much). But, my wife was driving up our not-so-big hill (1 mile long, moderate steepness) today towing our hay trailer (car works great for that) and it threw a two p302 codes (misfire cylinder 2). First CEL in a very long time.

 

Running out of stuff to replace. My timing belt is overdue and that's on my list. I have heard that an old belt can cause misfires on occasion. Most likely looking at an oil pump reseal, crankshaft seal and possibly camshaft seals while I'm in there (no leaks on the valve covers or pan, but seeing more oil these days. Not a ton -- a few drips on the driveway and stink after driving).

Edited March 17, 2015 by bendecker

[Fairtax4me]

That smell is probably oil dripping on the exhaust from a leaky separator plate. Have to pull the engine to fix that.

 

An intermittent misfire won't be caused by an "old" timing belt.

 

If the belt jumps a tooth you'll have pretty constant misfires on both cylinders on the side that jumped.

I would guess the misfire to be spark plug or plug wire related, especially if the weather there has been wet recently.

[bendecker]

No wet weather here. In fact. we're having record heat -- 95 or so.

 

The timing belt comment was from a local self-proclaimed Subaru expert shop. The owner does have a habit of making it sound like everything that can possibly be found on the car needs to be fixed right now. He does good work on what I choose to have him work on (I set very definite limits), but I rarely take my car there and only for very Subie-specific things that I can't figure out. In short, it wouldn't surprise me if he did a "sky is falling" dance to get me to have the timing belt fixed.

 

I'll check the plugs again, but they are not very old at all. Same with the wires (NGKs on both).

 

Leaky separator plate sounds very probable. Hmmm... I could pull the engine, fix that and do the timing belt at the same time. I've never done a timing belt before and certainly never pulled an engine. But, I have all the tools (air and hand),  can follow instructions and take my time. All I need is the time -- lol. Could get the heads done too. Dang! What am I getting myself into?!?!        

Edited March 17, 2015 by bendecker

[moosens]

Same thing many of us have gotten into. You'll be fine. Just jump in , we'll get you swimming.

[idosubaru]

replace the PCV valve - that may reduce crankcase pressures and mitigate leaks.  very, very easy to do and cheap.

 

timing belts are easy - you can do a belt only in less than an hour.  i almost never do just a timing belt, because it makes sense to replace the pulleys, tensioner, reseal the oil pump etc while you have access.  but it's not hard at all.

gates kits with new belt, pulleys, and tensioner are only $120 on amazon.

[jeryst]

Have your fuel pressure checked. Sometimes a weakening fuel pump will show up first when going uphill.

[naru]

jeryst, on 02 Apr 2015 - 19:23, said:

Have your fuel pressure checked. Sometimes a weakening fuel pump will show up first when going uphill.

 

+1

 

This sounds like the classic weak fuel pump/clogged filter scenario.

It always shows first on long steep high throttle hills.

 

You may need to monitor fuel pressure as you drive up the steep hill to see a problem.

Probably OK at idle.

 

I`d bet plenty of money this is your problem.

 

A vacuum gauge would show if the cat is restricted enough to cause problems on the hill.

Edited April 3, 2015 by naru

[bendecker]

I drove it today and, from a diagnosis point of view that most likely doesn't stinking matter anymore (see below), I think you both are right. I had a car full of kids today and it just didn't have the ooomph. It used to be sudden on just really big hills, but today it was more continuous. The way it was acting seemed like a fuel delivery problem.

 

BUT!!! AAAAAARGHHHH!!!! I F#$#$G wrecked the car today. I pulled a bonehead move in front of another driver, completely my fault, and the front right wheel, stuff behind the wheel, fender, and a good chunk of the passenger door are a mess. I'm so bummed about it. So, we need to decide if we are going to fix it, junk it, or donate it. If we do fix it (gotta get that past my wife who really wants a newer car), I'll let you know.

 

Damn.... 260k and I REALLY wanted to brag about it going over 300k.

 

Here's hoping your day has been better than mine.

Edited April 4, 2015 by bendecker

[moosens]

Sorry to hear ... Best of luck with the insurance and next car.

[Fairtax4me]

Dammit maing! Now we'll never know what it was!

 

Just kidding, glad to hear you're Ok!

Kinda sounds like the car might be fixable. Just ask the insurance about keeping it for salvage. They take off a certain amount based on what the car is worth as scrap and give you a check for the difference in value, then you get to keep the car. Depending on your state laws there may be some hoops to jump through to get it road legal but those are usually not too big of a deal for a 20 year old car.

[1 Lucky Texan]

hope everyone feels OK from the wreck.

[bendecker]

Thanks for the kind words. It's weird, I feel like I've lost a family pet or something. BUT, we just committed to buy a 1997 (unfortunately, with the dreaded 2.5l engine, but the head gaskets were already done with OEM subaru parts and the guy has the receipts) with only 120k miles on it. No rust. Pretty good condition cosmetically (but not as good as the old one). $3,300, which in our neck of the woods is a steal. Worst case scenario, if it blows another gasket I'll drop a 2.2 into it.

 

So, the king is dead, but long live the not quite as good, but in one piece king (that will actually get me up a freakin' hill for a change   ).

Edited April 5, 2015 by bendecker

[1 Lucky Texan]

check that parts list. You want them to have used the multilayer steel gasket like the turbo motors get.

[bendecker]

It was a  11044AA61, which I believe is the standard gasket, not the turbo one.

[bendecker]

BTW, my gut tells me the guy (73 years old) is legit. He hardly ever drives the car, obviously makes a ton of money, there is not a drop of oil leaking from it and it is clearly very well maintained. He just wants to get rid of it because he is sailing home to Hawaii and no longer needs a ski car at his second home in Tahoe (must be nice! BTW, there is no salt allowed on the roads there). So... I think it's a good gamble.

[Fairtax4me]

Sounds like a decent car. Price would be a little high in my area, but I know Soobs hold their value pretty well in the unsalted states.

I hardly see 1st gen Legacys here anymore. Loyales are a rare sight. Anything from the 80s is non-existent here. The rust takes them.

[bendecker]

Next issue popped up. Starter needs a new solenoid and contacts. No big -- I expect little annoyances when I first buy a car. The broken shifter cable from my other thread was a major annoyance. Learned a lot on that one...