Loss of power going up steep hills. Any ideas??

[William MacDouglas]

Hi,
I have a 1997 doutback sports (2.2l engine) which has rarely given me any trouble. But last week on a long, long drive from Winnipeg to Toronto I noticed that it started loosing power (speed) quite dramatically when driving up steep hills. After a bit of analytical thinking and observations, I noticed it was occurring only when the gas tank was getting low. In fact the emptier the tank the more painstakingly slower it went up steep hills. I therefore assumed it was either the fuel pump or the fuel filter (air filter is ok). But as it happens only going up steep hills and going along the straight and level (or down) the response and speed is it's usual brilliant self. Therefore I came to the conclusion it must be a dirty fuel filter. Am I correct in this assumption? Or, does anyone have a better or correct idea of what is happening? My assumption about the fuel filter lies in the fact that the same thing happened to me years ago when I had a Toyota (loss of power going up hills). In that case the fuel filter was easily opened, checked, cleaned and replaced. I would appreciate any relevant comments, ideas or suggestions. Thanks.
William.

 

[Owlmeat]

Hi,
I have a 1997 doutback sports (2.2l engine) which has rarely given me any trouble. But last week on a long, long drive from Winnipeg to Toronto I noticed that it started loosing power (speed) quite dramatically when driving up steep hills. After a bit of analytical thinking and observations, I noticed it was occurring only when the gas tank was getting low. In fact the emptier the tank the more painstakingly slower it went up steep hills. I therefore assumed it was either the fuel pump or the fuel filter (air filter is ok). But as it happens only going up steep hills and going along the straight and level (or down) the response and speed is it's usual brilliant self. Therefore I came to the conclusion it must be a dirty fuel filter. Am I correct in this assumption? Or, does anyone have a better or correct idea of what is happening? My assumption about the fuel filter lies in the fact that the same thing happened to me years ago when I had a Toyota (loss of power going up hills). In that case the fuel filter was easily opened, checked, cleaned and replaced.

There's no guarantee as to what it is. That said,
if you haven't changed the fuel filter within the
recommended interval, do it now and see if it fixes
it. My '99 Outback Legacy started acting a little
sluggish at 98k miles and a new fuel filter fixed it.

 

[Kurt C. Hack]

Gravity.

Sorry couldn't resist!

-Kurt

 

[William MacDouglas]

Gravity.

Sorry couldn't resist!

-Kurt

No problem Kurt, I would have replied the same to someone else. ha ha. Now if life (and motor vehicles) were only that easy.

 

[William MacDouglas]

There's no guarantee as to what it is. That said,
if you haven't changed the fuel filter within the
recommended interval, do it now and see if it fixes
it. My '99 Outback Legacy started acting a little
sluggish at 98k miles and a new fuel filter fixed it.

Funny you should mention 98k, thats when my problem started, just after it hit 98k between Dryden and Thunder Bay. And no, I don't think the fuel filter has ever been changed. Damn problem is, unlike the old ones, you can't open these sealed ones and look at them to see if that really is the problem. You have to buy a bloody new one. Damn. But thank you for your advise, I'll nip round to my Subaru dealer sometime in the coming week and buy one and replace it myself.

 

[hippo]

I'll go with fuel filter too. Try that anyway 'cos it's waaaay overdue! If it's no better - try driving with the gas cap unscrewed a bit for a while. If that seems to fix it then you may have a blocked line or breather. Good luck.

 

[Clifford Heath]

...problem is, unlike the old
ones, you can't open these sealed ones and look at them

You can pour a bit of fuel into the outlet end and let it drain out the inlet so you can look at what comes out. At least, I did that once on a Volvo fuel filter to confirm it was full of c%^p.

 

[John Senior]

I have a 1997 doutback sports (2.2l engine) which has rarely given me any trouble. But last week on a long, long drive from Winnipeg to Toronto I noticed that it started loosing power (speed) quite dramatically when driving up steep hills.

I had the same symptoms on a 2001 Forester. Took 4 trips to the dealer but they eventually traced the problem to a bad catalytic converter.

John
www.enterpriseblue.com