Baby's down on Power!
 

i've done some searching and reviewed some posts, but i don't see anything that seems to be just like my 92 LSl's problem. it has 145K on it, but lots of new stuff.

Problem: when i try to accelerate, it moans through the intake and starts to detonate. of course, i pull my foot out of it right away! so, basically, i'm only able to drive it around with a light touch on the throttle.

i replaced the air and fuel filters, although they weren't really very old. (fuel pump is original--may be the prime suspect.) Nippon Denso plugs are less than 20K miles. MAF was replaced a couple years ago.

normally, i can run the sh*t out of this car any time i want, and it does the job. tranny is new, exhaust and cats all new.

the problem came on quickly about a week ago, when i kicked it and it started doing this moaning and detonating.

thanks guys and girls,

my guess would be MAF

I have yet to hear of a fuel pump failure on an svx ever

I'm with Matt on this....

Have you tried bringing the rpms up with the car in P or N?

-Bill

I'm on my own I guess. Any Check Engine codes in the system? My XT is famous for throwing codes but not showing 'em with a check engine light as is our race car. I'd start there first but it sounds like your MAF or Air Control Valve possibly. If there are codes reset the system by disconnecting the battery for a 1/2 hour or so, then check it a few days later and see what's there!

i've only got 15,000 miles on my MAF. could it perhaps be related to my PCV? i've been reading many posts; some indicate this?

BTW, i checked and cleaned the lines from my cam cover breathers.

how do i check my engine fault codes?

thanks

Earthworm's site will tell you how to check your codes. If its a subaru PCV I doubt it. They can easily last forever.

The answer, at last!
 

After all this time, nearly five months, and I now have the solution. THE TIMING BELT SKIPPED A NOTCH! i've spent lots of money, over four grand, and have had it in three different shops, not to mention a couple of months under the cover while i pondered what to do next.

i finally took it to a place in Gaithersburg, MD, whre my old mechanic (a tech from the Subie dealer) now works, and, after methodically going through all the external stuff --"likely suspects"--he finally took the timing case cover off and scoped things out. there it was, plain as the day: camshaft and crankshaft marks out of line.

now i have my baby back; and she's mine! we're having some light snow today and i drove around and gave 'er the boot; everything is perfect! i've been driving a different car all these months, not a bad POS or anything--a Camaro, and it's like "getting back in the saddle again." smooth power, no slipping or sliding, quiet, powerful. the Camaro is primitive in comparison, even though it has T-tops and leather, etc.

i won't go through the litany of events that resulted in my spending thousands more than i needed to, but the end result is that the car has lots of new stuff (more than before): new precats that i had already replaced back in 2000; new crankshaft pulley adn drive belts; new timing case cover; new oil seals all over the place; throw in a new battery.

so, here's what happened, as best we can reconstruct it: the front pulley started to disintegrate; as it did, a piece of the accessory belt went up into the timing belt assembly and caught in it, causing it to jump a notch. (the wearing pulley had cut notches in the timing case cover.

weird, i grant you. but as i said in my original post back in October, i had put the boot to it, and i took a dump, then started to detonate, etc. it amazez me that three shops couldn't figure this out.

anyway, i'm happy as punch. it's a REAL NICE RIDE!

thanks, All

I am glad you finally found out what the problem was. A friend of mine has an outback and it kept over heating. He had it in and out of shops without finding why it would over heat on long trips, but not on short ones. A good tech who used to work for Subaru checked the belt and found the same thing. It was off by on tooth. :eek:

At least he know why now. :)