car not driving right....powerlight ect
 

Ok, here is my problem:

First off, my car has been getting 13MPG. When the car is at idle, it will almost die then rev to about 2grand, almost die, and rev to 2grand..it'll do that a few times till it just dies. So, I thought it was o2 sensors. I replaced both of them but car still sucks down fuel and idles weird.

Also, when I drive the car, the power light comes on during nomal driving and the car will shift all weird. The speedometer will jump around while in park and then hold around 40-45MPH!! Sometimes when I try to gain speed and get on
I-10, the pedal will be to the floor, but the car will not accel...then the car will start hoping and bouncing.

Now when I start the car, the power light blinks 16 times. I tired to check the codes by the steps given in form #54025, but nothing appears!!

I need help...I need to get to school and work

check to see if your transmission resistor is plugged in...16 blinks says it should be faulty, not plugged in, or an incorrect resistance.
Once you get that fixed...check to see if you have codes remaining from the power light flashing...I think you have a transmission issue....maybe torque converter not performing properly.

For the sputtering etc....try examining the MAF sensor....could be dirty.

I took the resistor out behind the battery and it looks good...idk how much resistance it supposed to have, but it's resiting @ 12 ohms.

I will look at the MAF sensor and clean it

thnx

Vicsvx,

Do a search on "blinking power light" and then go to the thread called "Smallcar shift kit question".
There are 108 replies and 8 pages worth. Look at the last few pages.
I took Trevor's advice and used a 1 watt 430 ohm resistor in place of the Smallcar stock resistor.
At least this solved my problem when I bought the shift kit. The shift kit still plugs into the Subaru stock resistor which I replaced anyways, but I believe 12 ohms is correct for that component.


Now that I read this you didn't mention you have a shift kit, did you?

Judging by his first post, I HIGHLY doubt that this is the transmission resistor problem. This sounds like a much, much more serious issue. After all, why can't he get into "code reading" mode to pull the code? And look at all the other compound issues. And besides, his resistor reads normal. 12 ohms is well within the range for our transmission resistors (whereas broken ones read as an open circuit).

The resistor issue only causes the following:

-Power Light blinks 16 times (but this happens with ANY transmission problem, as it is to warn the driver that there is a code stored)

-Manual Selection of 3rd gear fails. Selecting 3rd gear will cause the revs to "bounce" off of idle repeatedly and the gear does not engage.

-The transmission shifts very hard.

That's it.

My blinking started happening when I added the shift kit....I had checked all TCU codes to check for other errors and there were no other errors.
In Vic's case...he has to try the method to check codes as listed in the troubleshooting area on www.svx-iw.com

This may sound like a silly suggestion but have you checked your throttle lines and made sure they aren't too tight? I was having weird idle issues where my rpms would jump up and then very slowly decrease. It turned out when my throttle lines were tightened a little too much and when loosened my rpm issue seems to have resolved itself.
I know this wouldn't cause all the issues you are having but it was an idea? You might be having several issues happening at once. I've also read members mentioning the throttle position sensor and the speed sensor when discussing bouncing rpms and then the car dying. I don't understand enough how these two sensors work to know if they might be the solution to your issues but I thought i'd throw them out.

O2 sensor input is ignored until the engine reaches normal operating temperature. Terrible/weird shifting and poor idle performance can point towards TPS sensor issues. Speedometer reading when motionless in park is just weird. This is just my opinion, but I would see about having the electrical system/charging system checked for any irregular behavior. I know there are components in place to prevent A/C from entering the system, but whom knows if they have failed as well. I know that all you need to do is introduce something odd like A/C into our system and all sorts of weird behavior exists.

Re: car not driving right....powerlight ect
 

Can someone tell me if something like this has happened to them with a bad TPS?

My car shifts normally, but always had a slightly bouncing idle after I let off the gas in neutral or park. Then it usually idles low, but occasionally will idle right at the proper little line.

The other day my power light came on twice while cruising up a slight hill. Power light came on with only about 30% throttle, just constant cruise, no pegging the gas or anything. It stayed on until I let off the gas completely. Then later that day it did it to me again this time while just cruising along in 3rd in a 55mph zone. Again, letting off the gas kicked it off, and it didnt come back on with anything less than full throttle like usual.

I hate the price, but if my TPS is going bad I want to get it taken care of. Has anyone experienced this before their TPS died completely? Any other reason for a brief partial throttle power light?

Thanks guys.

Re: car not driving right....powerlight ect
 

Chris, this doesn't sound like TPS symptoms at all and the TPS would throw the SEL and not the power light signifying a trans code. Check your stored trans codes, I just posted the process in a thread today...

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/show...9&postcount=15

Re: car not driving right....powerlight ect
 

The power light will come on when the throttle reading changes fast enough. This can happen with a TPS that has an open in it. That changes the reading when it hits the bad spot.

Harvey.

Re: car not driving right....powerlight ect
 

Ok, fair enough. My TPS is bad but it only acts up occasionally and never have seen the power light come on so I retract my last statement then:lol:

Re: car not driving right....powerlight ect
 

Not contradicting you mate, just adding.:)

Harvey.

Re: car not driving right....powerlight ect
 

Ok, no worries:)

Chris, do you still have that EGR code and issues with that? Perhaps that is coming back to cause some issues as well? It may be a long shot, but good info to put out for anyone else who may be looking to add input;) Maybe run the engine codes again to see if there are any in addition to that after these problems.

Edit: I believe you can get a new TPS from Advance Auto Parts (at least around here) you could buy one and if it solves all the issues, you know its the culprit. If it does not fix the problems, then you could always return the part. (you may have to do some convincing for them to refund you but I know good lines to give to the employees when returning stuff:D)

Re: car not driving right....powerlight ect
 

A bad TPS could cause this.