Hi All

I am a new member.and I hope I am postinghere in the right place/thread.I recently bought an 88 Subaru DL 1.8 auto FWD.In driving it on the road,it seems sluggish and was difficult to get up to speed.I've had other Subarus and with this one there is something definately wrong.I'm not sure where to look first.My thought is converter,but I would like input from others as to what might be causing this.Thanks

Bob in Wyoming

tune up , fuel filter,

trans fluid an filter might need changing.it doesn't feel like trans is slipping does it.you know-give it gas,hesitates,then kicks in an then it gos.that's what my 86 gl auto 4wd did.needed fluid an filter changed,also used to lose fluid so it was usually low on fluid.

doubt it's your converter. typically *new* to you cars need lots of tune-up items that were neglected by the previous owner and that's not going to make a nearly 20 year old car run very well. do a complete tune up and i bet it runs much better.

 

ignition is huge - spark plugs, ignition wires, distributor cap, rotor, ignition coil.

air filter, fuel filter, pcv valve. make sure all hoses and air intake hoses are tight, no leaks. check the timing.

 

do these things (not that hard or expensive) and i think you'll be surprised how much better it runs. if you don't want to do the tune up - check for spark and compression.

 

change the oil frequently to be sure the valve train is clean and lubricated/functioning properly.

 

if it's fuel injected you can have the injector sent off to RC engineering or other companies for 80-100 dollars to have cleaned. i just had 6 cleaned for my XT6. most people just dump a couple bottles of fuel injector cleaner in the tank instead since that's only 5 dollars.

 

the timing belts could be installed incorrectly (plenty of examples of mis-installed soob timing belts).

tune up , fuel filter,

Fuel filter is first thing Monday,then off to trans shop

Thanks

Bob in Wyoming

trans fluid an filter might need changing.it doesn't feel like trans is slipping does it.you know-give it gas,hesitates,then kicks in an then it gos.that's what my 86 gl auto 4wd did.needed fluid an filter changed,also used to lose fluid so it was usually low on fluid.

Doesn't feel like slipping-more like taking time to get into gear-reverse more than drive.I'll strrt with these two things and see what happens

Thanks

Bob in Wyoming