76mgb88rx Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 I recently acquired an 88 rx with 81,000 miles for a good price. The car was very slow and would stop and not start after a few minutes of driving. If allowed to cool, it would start up fine again and run for a few minutes. The previous owner spent around 500 at a shop here in town doing simple maintenance stuff to try and get it to run better, but it wasn't until after I bought it and cleaned out the cats that it began to run correctly. My question is, after I gutted the cats, reset the ecu, and changed the plugs, cap, rotor, and wires the car seems to stutter at about 3500 rpm's when I am at half throttle. If I floor it from low rpm's and let it come up on boost, it runs great and is very smooth. It just seems to hiccup at 3500 at half throttle and then boost fine. What might this be? I checked the timing, it is correct. Will the ecu show codes even if the check engine light is not on? The car is still great to drive, this doesn't keep it from running right at all. Im just wondering if the clogged cats might have made something else on the car go bad. I think the reason the car would die before the cats were cleaned is because it would build up pressure in the intake and the fuel cutoff sensor was set off. Once the pressure released when the car sat it would run again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 you might want to check the 02 sensor located at the mouth of the downpipe, right behind the turbo. Sometimes, if the cats get plugged, it'll end up fouling the 02 sensor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
76mgb88rx Posted May 13, 2006 Author Share Posted May 13, 2006 It was the cat in the downpipe that was clogged. Ill definitely check it out. Would this make my car run slightly lean? my plugs were a light tan after a few days of driving, I felt like they should have been darker. I thought if the O2 sensor was bad it would run rich. Also, the wire going to the O2 looks brand new. Could have been replaced by previous owner. Other than removing the breather from behind the passenger side fenderwell and cleaning out the cats, what kind of modifications can I do to a completely stock car to make it run better? I have an MSD coil I plan to install tomorrow. I don't want to crank the boost and my car is in very original condition, I want it to look remotely stock. Any more freebees? I have been researching on the but I can't really find any more cheap mods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausubaru92 Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 If your car has engine has problems at a certain part of throttle, it could be a bad TPS (throttle position sensor) Must do mods are 1. Intercooler... a must for a boosted motor, 2nd hand top mount IC's are usually pretty cheap on ebay, especially wrx ones. 2. Better flowing exhaust, 2.5" from turbo back with sports mufflers will sport you a good few extra ponies 3. Make sure your ignition components are in good condition, coil, leads, spark plugs ect. Gannon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 The best mod you can do is the 'search function' mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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