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#1
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Stuttering/hesitation at low revs?
As of this week I'm experiencing this rather annoying hesitation when initially pressing the acceleration pedal. This is especially noticeable when taking off slowly in a start-stop traffic jam.
If I give it a little extra than I normally would it seems just fine. What would be a likely cause of this? Note that I'm on about 156,000 klm's and had the 150K service done in December. The only thing I can think of is that I did manage to drive the car to the emptiest level fuel I have ever done (took 62 litres to fill up). Thanks, Pete. |
#2
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ECU maybe?
Kinda sounds like your ECU is giving you problems. What year is your SVX? I have a 93 and had the exact same symptoms around 120K miles. I had to crush the little metal bead in the ECU to correct the problem. Hope this helps.
~Ray
__________________
'93 LS-L named "Samantha Victoria Xavier"...Sam for short. All new and improved custom built engine with forged internals, lowered compression, upgraded cams and a stage III supercharger. AMR Engineering struts, Custom exhaust --All 3 Subaru cats removed, and replaced with 2 high flow mustang cats-- Cross-drilled & Slotted rotors, steel braided brake lines, bypassed stock Tranny cooler replaced with aftermarket B&M super-cooler, and a K&N drop in air filter. |
#3
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Thanks Ray - it's a 1994 (the chassis plate build date is Sep 1993).
Not sure what you mean by crushing? As in something was loose? Or you destroyed a part on purpose? Thanks, Pete. |
#4
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It's a long story (and unspecific if you don't have a '92), but he did indeed mean 'crush' as in 'destroying a part on purpose'.
I'm sure this is going to raise some eyebrows amongst many 'newbies'............ -Mark |
#5
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yep, i said crush :)
You take the ECU out and on our cars (yours too since you have a 94 before subaru "fixed" the problem) and there is this little wire that has a cylindrical metal bead on it. You crush it (WITHOUT breaking the wire) and wa la! your hesitation is fixed. That was kind of the "short explanation" as to how to fix it. There are actually a few people on here (ardubjay for one) that have a document on the exact procedures with pictures in it for what to do.
~Ray
__________________
'93 LS-L named "Samantha Victoria Xavier"...Sam for short. All new and improved custom built engine with forged internals, lowered compression, upgraded cams and a stage III supercharger. AMR Engineering struts, Custom exhaust --All 3 Subaru cats removed, and replaced with 2 high flow mustang cats-- Cross-drilled & Slotted rotors, steel braided brake lines, bypassed stock Tranny cooler replaced with aftermarket B&M super-cooler, and a K&N drop in air filter. |
#6
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#7
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Mine used to do that intermittently.....would have to apply more accelerator pressure and then it would tear off down the road.
Could never find a cause or cure....tried different fuels, cleaners etc and the cables were all loose and freemoving (no impediment there) Since it came up every once in a while, I tried not to worry about it too much but it was definitely at very very low speeds *mash foot onto throttle, hold on...problem gone*
__________________
1992 charcoal grey SVX: 27 August 2002 to 27 January 2004 - she will be missed Was back in Sydney for a while but not hot enough so now in Dubai! Has it been that long since I owned SVX-33H! |
#8
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Well this is certainly interesting if not bizarre!
Thanks for that How-To link, only it doesn't explain what the crush is technically achieving? Anyway, the warning about premium fuel being a possible cause for hesitations makes me think that in my case the problem may be related to how empty I drove the tank, and that perhaps the fuel I got was not up to standard (for you Aussie's it was from a Woolworth station). Also, this problem has never ever surfaced before - if it was the ECU wouln't it have been there all along? Finally, the word hesitation is probably not strong enough for what I'm experiencing. The car kinda "stutters" actually - like someone who can't drive taking of in 1st gear and not controlling the clutch very well if you know what I mean. I actually feel embarrassed in traffic at the moment, because that's probably what everyone around me thinks when they see me take off. Any other suggestions? Can't wait to empty this tank and fill up again to see if it indeed is a fuel issue, buit that'll take another week probably. Thanks again, Pete. |
#9
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Fuel
Fuel could be a possibility, I think that the almost empty tank is more likely, particularly since we've just had that hot stinking humid weather for the past couple of weeks.
I've used Woolworths Premium a couple of times with no noticable problems. Perhaps for your next tank you might want to try Shell Optimax. Don't know what they do to this fuel but the few times I've used it in the SVX and the Liberty it seemed to make the cars run smoother. (Might only be wishing on that score as I had to pay "Real Premium" prices for it) Kenn Last edited by KennEls; 02-26-2004 at 04:46 AM. |
#10
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Hi Kenn,
So if having run to such an empty tank may have caused this, then what would fix it? Any ideas? Thanks again, Pete. |
#11
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Hi Pete,
Don't really know if there is much of fix for the problem if its rubbish or water dragged up from the tank. It may have been a bad batch or one with ethonol in it, tho' Woolies said they don't use that. On the other side is that Woolies buy their fuel from Caltex here and Caltex were known to use ethonol. Shouldn't happen in Premium fuel tho'? Some of the old bombs I used to drive would run from empty to empty and had problems with idle. OK when revved, then just about die when stopped. Periodically we would take off the fuel filter give it a good thump and back flush it. Car would run OK until next empty. Trouble thinking along those lines is that those old bombs had carbies so I don't know how injectors would handle this. I tend to think that it may still be some moisture problem (not an expert on this) I would assume that your tank has been kept clean as you use PULP. Perhaps fuel filter if the next tank is the same. Sorry not much help.... Kenn BTW Just got my work car back (ford Falcon BA) They had to rebuild the top of the engine (due to cylinder and vavles coming together (interference motor?)30,000 kms 9 months old) the silly thing keeps surging when in idle now. Work mechanic suspects that the ford dealer has put a one way only fuel filter on backwards, will have to wait and see. |
#12
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Quote:
If i were you I would at least dig out the ECU and see if yours has the little bead on the wire. If your SVX is one that has that still i would go ahead and do the crush mod. Trust me, your SVX will me 10 times more responsive and will accelerate faster overall after getting rid of it. Hope this helps. ~Ray
__________________
'93 LS-L named "Samantha Victoria Xavier"...Sam for short. All new and improved custom built engine with forged internals, lowered compression, upgraded cams and a stage III supercharger. AMR Engineering struts, Custom exhaust --All 3 Subaru cats removed, and replaced with 2 high flow mustang cats-- Cross-drilled & Slotted rotors, steel braided brake lines, bypassed stock Tranny cooler replaced with aftermarket B&M super-cooler, and a K&N drop in air filter. |
#13
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Quote:
If i were you I would at least dig out the ECU and see if yours has the little bead on the wire. If your SVX is one that has that still i would go ahead and do the crush mod. Trust me, your SVX will me 10 times more responsive and will accelerate faster overall after getting rid of it. Hope this helps. ~Ray
__________________
'93 LS-L named "Samantha Victoria Xavier"...Sam for short. All new and improved custom built engine with forged internals, lowered compression, upgraded cams and a stage III supercharger. AMR Engineering struts, Custom exhaust --All 3 Subaru cats removed, and replaced with 2 high flow mustang cats-- Cross-drilled & Slotted rotors, steel braided brake lines, bypassed stock Tranny cooler replaced with aftermarket B&M super-cooler, and a K&N drop in air filter. |
#14
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If your SVX used to have fine accelleration and now it doesn't then I think your throttle body may be dirty. Cleaning it out worked for me.
__________________
May your transmission live forever. SuperbVehicleXtraordinary Proud sponsor of a 1992 SVX. |
#15
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Ray, are you absolutely certain about the reference to his '94 (built in '93) being a candidate for the crush mod? I went back into the Yahoo archives (my CD) and noted that the only references for the 'mod' were '92's and '93's (which were actually built in '92- if memory serves me right). As an example, I thought I had checked out my '94 (built in 3-94) at the time this controversy was 'raging' and it was not applicable.
I also found references that other model years might be harmed if modified. I'm just looking to err on the side of caution and make sure the info we offer is accurate. The improvements are well documented and worth the effort if his SVX is 'appropriate' for the 'crush mod'. -Mark |
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