How moody is your car?

IggDawg · Post by **IggDawg** » Wed Dec 18, 2002 1:51 pm

Sometimes my engine will tear up the road, and other times it seems very lax. Usually she's quick like a bunny when I want her to be, but this morning she just had no fight in her at all

.

How moody are your cars? My Impreza is much less moody. The 2.5 is pretty predictable. My last Saab 900 turbo was moody like this too. is it a turbo thing?

-IggDawg

LegacyT · Post by **LegacyT** » Wed Dec 18, 2002 2:10 pm

Weather, ie: relative humidiy, temperature etc all affect how dense the charge is compressed by the turbo. But it shouldn't be so variable as to make the car feel completely different on different days.

Mark,

Post by **Legacy777** » Wed Dec 18, 2002 3:40 pm

mines pretty moody....but she's a little biatch that needs a new tranny and an intake leak fixed

eastbaysubaru · Post by **eastbaysubaru** » Wed Dec 18, 2002 5:57 pm

Mine's a little moody. She'd really love a new turbo and a rebuilt motor, but the money really isn't there right now. She charges when I ask her to though.

-Brian

IggDawg · Post by **IggDawg** » Wed Dec 18, 2002 6:08 pm

Funny thing was that it was so damn cold this morning that I'd expect her to be a little faster. What are some things that'll cause unexpected hesitation/ moodyness?

Possible culprits:

fuel filter
spark plugs
spark wires
knock sensor
unknown intake leaks
any more?

I've replaced the plugs and fuel filter. I looked, and the knock sensor has the white connector. Maybe a combination of air density, humidity, and how hard the car has been run so far that day would cause different sort of conditions on the spark plugs. And if my wires need replacing and I'm not getting full discharge with the plugs, I could be getting buildup some days and not others. or something.

Also, I've found autotrannies to be a little moody. On super cold days the fluid takes forever to get up to temperature, and if they're not being run hard enough the fluid just stays too cool. This doesn't allow for very good power transfer through the TC IIRC. I'm hooking up a tranny cooler and tranny temp gauge today, so we'll see what kind of temps I'm running.

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Wed Dec 18, 2002 7:06 pm

My car is strange like that in only one way: If I don't drive it for a day or two, it runs a little better and faster when I do drive it again. I can't come up with any rational explanation for it!

totech · Post by **totech** » Wed Dec 18, 2002 7:08 pm

My car is strange like that in only one way: If I don't drive it for a day or two, it runs a little better and faster when I do drive it again. I can't come up with any rational explanation for it!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder!

Aaron's ej22t · Post by **Aaron's ej22t** » Thu Dec 19, 2002 9:01 am

Iggdawg, are you letting your car reach normal operating temps before taking it up into boost?

IggDawg · Post by **IggDawg** » Thu Dec 19, 2002 2:16 pm

Aaron's ej22t wrote:Iggdawg, are you letting your car reach normal operating temps before taking it up into boost?

very good question, and yes. I've always been good about that. I wait for the car to get to temp, and then another several miles for the drivetrain to heat up. I learned all about the care and feeding of turbos and their respective powerplants/drivelines back in my Saab days. Now that I have a tranny temp gauge I can tell for sure when I can drop the hammer and not care

(and when I should let up a little).

I've been a 4EAT info junkie since I got my Impreza a year ago. proper warm-up procedures was something I got into on i-club (see now: NASIOC :rolleyes: ).

Post by **DLC** » Thu Dec 19, 2002 8:34 pm

1st thing that a turbo owner should do: replace the damned boost solenoid and install a gauge.

So many people have hesitation problems, and find out that their boost is funky after installing a gauge that the first thing i can recommend is a cheap MBC and a gauge, to replace the 8-11yr old solenoid, and make sure that you're at least running stock levels of boost.

Dave

IggDawg · Post by **IggDawg** » Thu Dec 19, 2002 9:40 pm

Huh. the first thing a bud of mnine said was "maybe the dolenoid is sticky." so maybe that's it. I'm getting a boost gauge in a couple days, so I'll know then.

I'm planning on an EBC. a guy on the i-club sells the "boostmonkey," and that seems to work real well. I'm assuming it'll work just fine in my car since the wastegate setup is similar to the WRX's. I knwo some people complain about these units, but I actually know the guy personally and I'll vouch for their stability.

-IggDawg

PS - any way to "clean" a boost solenoid that's moody? cause that could very well be the whole problem. Just need a temp fix till I get a MBC or EBC (which I'm assuming use their own solenoids)

Aaron's ej22t · Post by **Aaron's ej22t** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 2:06 am

yeah,when i had my boost gauge hooked up, i was getting almost 9psi, but the needle was bouncing all over the place once it reached full boost. now, i don't feel this hesitation until about 4000 rpms which is when i already have full boost. although, i did not have this problem when i was stock. i removed the snorkel in the fender and then i noticed this problem. i also have the vacuum bypass mod, ground mod, and a k&n panel filter.

i am thinking about returning the car to stock with the exception of ngk plugs, wires, and a k&n filter. i want to see if the hesitation dissappears.

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How moody is your car?

How moody is your car?