After driving my 91 loyale on a long trip this weekend, I'm now sure of the issues with my 88 GL

 

It could very well be a clogged cat in my case, as a couple years ago the front cat got loose and knocked around a while breaking off little bits that are now probably at the second cat.

 

When I get back home I'll see if I can take off the back half of my exhaust and fix that problem.

 

My 02 sensor is also 5 years old, so it could probably stand to be replaced.

 

-Dave

update:

 

A couple weeks ago I took my exhaust out, and am now sure that it's not clogged It did have a lot of fine dust fall out of it, and it looked pretty plugged up.

 

It seems to have made a definite improvement; Hardly any off-idle hesitation & stumbling when cold and accelerating.

 

It's still kinda twitchy when letting the clutch out when cold though That may be the O2 sensor though?

 

-Dave

ok before speculation detracts the original idea lets go back to the tps. when you take off the intake boot yhere it will bo on the side of the throttle body. if you remove the alternator or swing it out of the way you can get to the screws easier and with a stubby screwdriver. take it off and shake it if you hear something rattle its mostly junk. clean up the contacts, you can clock the unit a little for some fine tuning, ir grab one from another spfi.

 

the maf sometimes camn make it feel boggy try the crc maf cleaner. my sedan ran leanish and i swapped in another maf from my other car and it drove nice and snappy.

 

you can try messing with the coolant temp sensor if your car runs different warm than cold.

Had a hessitation issue with my GF's old 87 coupe - turns out the timing belts were loose, and the cap/rotor were crappy. Check to make sure the screw didn't come out of the rotor, and that the contacts in the cap are decent. After doing cap/rotor and complete timing belt job her old coupe runs like new.

 

GD

I cleaned the MAF a few months ago. Do have another one I could try swapping in, although that car had running issues as well.

 

Removed the connector and several inches of bad wire to the CTS a while ago. Didn't seem to make a difference.

 

Put a different TPS on last summer; thought it helped at the time. It tested fine.

 

Haven't checked rotor/cap since last year (right after WCSS8).

 

Have not checked the timing belts since I replaced them 40k miles ago

They could very well be loose by now. That's the first thing I'll check once it stops raining.

 

-Dave

EDIT: So, to satisfy curiosities, I checked the t-belt alignment today. It looks just about bang on, maybe slightly off, but not a full tooth (********* syndrome? -ie: crank pullies reversed?).

 

UPDATE: So, suspicions confirmed. Timing belt sprockets are on in the wrong order! I've gotta get it back together now (which may not happen until tomorrow at this point) and we'll see if this cures the nasty bog/hesitation issue I've got.

Remember, I've checked pretty much everything else by this point, car has new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, air filter, fuel filter, I've run injector cleaners, Seafoam, changed CTS, changed TPS, checked MAF, set timing, etc, etc, etc.

UPDATE: So, suspicions confirmed. Timing belt sprockets are on in the wrong order! I've gotta get it back together now (which may not happen until tomorrow at this point) and we'll see if this cures the nasty bog/hesitation issue I've got.

 

So the sprocket with the recessed area behind it was not closest to the engine? /clarification

 

Interesting... I may have to tear into mine and check that as well...

 

-Dave

So the sprocket with the recessed area behind it was not closest to the engine? /clarification

 

Interesting... I may have to tear into mine and check that as well...

 

-Dave

 

You are correct.

Last timing belt change was done by a tire chain store (Big O) - I found a decal on one of the timing covers.

UPDATE 2:

So, everything back together, timing set correctly. MUCH better now. It pretty much just feels like I would expect a good-running Loyale to feel with 27" Swampers on it. Now on to the front end work I need to do (ball joints, brakes, axles, strut rod bushings, etc.) I may even pop the D/R in soon!

Man man man tell me about it :-\

 

LOL Mine does great sometimes, and other times it pulls the same hill in a gear lower... same load in the car, same temp outside, everything, who knows. I'm started to get the hesitation below 2,500 occasionally on mine recently. Have you cleaned the MAF? That made it go away on mine last time.

 

Z

UPDATE: So, suspicions confirmed. Timing belt sprockets are on in the wrong order! I've gotta get it back together now (which may not happen until tomorrow at this point) and we'll see if this cures the nasty bog/hesitation issue I've got.

Remember, I've checked pretty much everything else by this point, car has new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, air filter, fuel filter, I've run injector cleaners, Seafoam, changed CTS, changed TPS, checked MAF, set timing, etc, etc, etc.

 

WTF? I don't even take off the crank pullies when I do a timing belt?

WTF? I don't even take off the crank pullies when I do a timing belt?

 

Front main seal.

 

GD

UPDATE 3:

Now it's surging

Have not tested it on the highway, only around town a bit. Seems to surge only after it's warmed up. Grrrr.

Weird that WJM recently posted how great he thought the stock ECU setup is, when so many of us are having problems like this.

I think I'll try a different MAF sensor next.

 

Can 'resetting' the ECU (disconnect battery for ~30 mins) clear any info on these, or are they completely non-learning?

 

Forgot to mention: my idle also seems a little low and rough, too. I checked vac. connections: can see any problems.

UPDATE 4: Yay! this morning I get a MIL and codes! Finally something to go on! Codes 23 and 21 (the CTS may be an old code - I drove it once with CTS disconnected).

Ran out of time, but later I'll clear codes and drive it to see what comes back.

OK, borrowed a good MAF until my new one comes from svxpert. Put the original CTS back in after testing it YET AGAIN! Reset ECU. CEL gone. Fast forward several days without much driving, two new axles, new front brakes, and new ball joints later. I go for a drive to bed-in the new brakes, and get a code 32 on the way home. Could this be the end of the problems? Has anyone had something other than a bad O2 sensor cause the code 32?

As per my other thread, changed O2 sensor - much better now. It still surges a little, and has a bit of a flat-spot that seems more RPM dependent than throttle position dependent. Got some theories on that, too.

Thanks for posting updates on what you found!

 

I've got a similar issue, but not nearly as bad. I also had some good help from people here figuring out that my lack of top end was related to my intake snorkel not having the Subaru badge, so it was collapsing on itsself at high flow rates and choking things off.

 

-=Russ=-