Question - Outlander not Vr4

[AlanDITD]

Hi Guys,

Hope your all well, here, and dont mind an outlander question, you all know more than other forums :D

Having a very annoying issue with the engine, when driving, sometimes the car will boost correctly, and other times the engine is completely dead and bogged down, i can hear the turbo spooling and it shows 1bar on the guage, but 0 power. Sometimes i can here the turbo spooling much louder than other times.

Its been happening for a while, so i changed the coil packs (thought it might be saprk blowout) for a set from an Evo 6, and the car ran faultlessly for 2 weeks, it was very smooth, and power delivery was perfect, and then gradually the problem started to creep back in again, and now its getting dangerous, especially when you need to overtake or pull out quickly, uh oh no power :D Car has done 150000km....i dont think its the turbos as i still see 1bar on the gauge.

One more thing, when it does boost properly, then it feels like there is a surge when the turbo fully spools, almost like overboosting then it settles down to normal again. It causes a brief RPM spike to. Feels similar to when the clutch slips, accept im still accelerating.

Potential boost leak?
MAF?
Boost solenoid?
turbo?
wastegate?

I don't know where to start really, any suggestions, its driving me bloody insane. I would like to sell the car at some point, but not while it has this issue. Sorry for bad explanation.

[Atik]

I had a similar unknown issue on the Stag which turned out to be a dodgy MAF. Car would run perfectly fine, then cut out for no reason whatsoever. Eurospec managed to track it by changing the MAF with another which presented an issue exactly like you are experiencing.

[swinks]

One more thing, when it does boost properly, then it feels like there is a surge when the turbo fully spools, almost like overboosting then it settles down to normal again. It causes a brief RPM spike to. Feels similar to when the clutch slips, accept im still accelerating.

I'd check first wastegate or boost solenoid having issues described above.

[AlanDITD]

Thanks guys, I'll try giving the mad a clean then and see if that helps, guess I can do the same for the boost solenoid to. Just wierd that it ran fine for two weeks with new coil packs and then messed up again, wonder if that's the time the maf needs to relearn after a reset?? Not sure how they work

[crazydriver81]

You don't have a wideband lambda, have you? I'd stick with swinks here. Check anything which controls the wastegate actuator on the car. If the turbo spools and there is no power it might be that the wastegate does not close properly.

I had this once on an Evo 4, where the wastegate actuator is faced to dirt and water, due to sitting pretty low. The diaphragm was ok but the actuator rod would not move freely. Car had no real power and only a new actuator solved the issue.

By the way, MAF does not re-learn. It's the ECU that has to re-learn and cope with the values of the individual sensors. ;)

[AlanDITD]

So if i grab a hold of the actuator i should be able to move it left to right by hand? Because i cant its stuck solid.

[crazydriver81]

So if i grab a hold of the actuator i should be able to move it left to right by hand? Because i cant its stuck solid.

The actuator is driven by positive pressure. So you should see it move between 0.8 and 1 bar I guess. Moving by hand does not work AFAIK. Alternatively undo the spline and check if Wastegate does move freely.

[Subaru ETA]

If you do a bit of a search, you will find a thread on the ball ache issue I had with mine.
Basically I replaced and cleaned everything. Once I did something the problem (which sounds similar to yours) would go away, but would eventually come back.
Spent in total a couple of months at 2 different Mitsi dealers.
Turned out it was the MAF

[AlanDITD]

I cant get a new maf here to even test with, and there over 1k for a new one from Mitsu, whats the situation over in NZ for the Airtrek MAFs? Price and availability?

[AlanDITD]

Actually found one in germany for 120euros so that would be ok. Just bought some MAF cleaner, will give it a blast out tonight and see it helps, car has alot of other symptoms like jerking when backing off the throttle etc so maybe a clean will do the trick.

[AlanDITD]

ok so i have cleaned it, and that has made a big difference, or so it seems anyway, didnt cut power once on a quick drive out, power felt like it was back for the most part and idled much smoother, but still getting that small boost spike just as it comes on full boost, any idea where or what the boost solenoid will look like? I have checked the partscatalog but cant find it.

Lastly i have this cheapy boost gauge vac goes from 0 to -10 mine idles inbetween 8 and 7, is this to low, maybe there are still some leaks i should look for?

[Subaru ETA]

MAF availability in NZ was crap to be honest! New one was ex japan and was a zillion dollars.
The dealer ended up sourcing a second hand one after much hunting for about $350 trade.
If I get a chance after work tonight I will pop the bonnet and have a look for the boost solenoid

[AlanDITD]

thanks mate, appreciated

[Subaru ETA]

Didn't get a chance to look tonight sorry. It's the wife's car. I got home from work late now the mrs has gone out

[AlanDITD]

Hey mate, not worries, just if you get an oportunity, i thnik its up next to the inlet manifold left hand side, that would be a guess, the parts catalog shows five emission solenoids, one is for the turbo, but which one :D

[AlanDITD]

Just found a breaker Airtrek, got the MAF, wastegate actuator, and the boost solenoid for 150quid. That will do as spares anway for that price.