aussie in trouble 2006 wrx

[CLAY MILLER ELECTRICAL PTY LTD]

I have a 2006 wrx that has an intermittent problem I was hoping somebody can
make a suggestion. Every now and then the car seems to be starved of fuel
making it hard to start or worse when your driving it starts to kangaroo
hop. There does not seem to be any pattern to it and drives fine otherwise.
The mechanics have tried many things to no avail .they now want to install a
new cam sensor. Are they on the right track.
cheers clay

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

I have a 2006 wrx that has an intermittent problem I was hoping somebody can
make a suggestion. Every now and then the car seems to be starved of fuel
making it hard to start or worse when your driving it starts to kangaroo
hop. There does not seem to be any pattern to it and drives fine otherwise.
The mechanics have tried many things to no avail .they now want to install a
new cam sensor. Are they on the right track.
cheers clay

Does the ECU set any codes? Are you running any aftermarket parts?
(even a K&n 'oiled' filter or ???) Was any work done just prior to the
problem beginning? Wreck? You say no pattern. There have been heat
failures on crank angle sensors years ago I think.

how many miles on the car?

Anyway, they should put the MAF sensor on the list of possible issues
I guess.

Carl

 

[Illuminated]

Hi,

I would suggest starting with the basics, e.g. when was the fuel filter
last changed ?, maybe run a can of injector cleaner through it and check no
codes related to ignition problems sitting in the ECU.

Regards

 

[.._..]

Also check for O2 sensor operation. That same thing happened to me when my
O2 sensors were going kaput. (Eventually traced to a head gasket leaking
coolant down the exhaust, but the 2006 probably isn't having that problem.)

 

[S]

Hi Clay!

I have a 2006 wrx that has an intermittent problem I was hoping somebody can
make a suggestion. Every now and then the car seems to be starved of fuel
making it hard to start or worse when your driving it starts to kangaroo
hop. There does not seem to be any pattern to it and drives fine otherwise.
The mechanics have tried many things to no avail .they now want to install a
new cam sensor. Are they on the right track.
cheers clay

I would think an intermittent in the cam sensor would throw a CEL, or
at least post an ODBII code.

Unfortunately, once you start trying to diagnose intermittent problems
that _don't_ set an OBDII code, you're sort of stuck swapping in new
(or known good) parts. We call it a "witch hunt"

Your best bet as far as minimizing cost, will be to find a willing
owner of a similar car, and systematically exchange components until
you get the problem to switch vehicles. Then you'll know.

About the only other thing you might try would be to purchase one of
the OBDII tools (try ElmScan), hook it up to a laptop running one of
the diagnostic programs with data logging capabilities, and drive
around until the intermittent starts. Look for fuel or timing issues,
or anything that changes from when the car was running normally. This
can be tedious, but probably preferable to paying someone to do it for
you, or spending a lot of $$$ on a Witch Hunt! Hope this helps a bit.
Best of luck mate!

ByeBye! S.

Steve Jernigan KG0MB
Laboratory Manager
Microelectronics Research
University of Colorado
(719) 262-3101