hey, this is my first post so go easy.

 

my name is jessie, i bought my car about 6 months ago. ( 2007 subaru sti )

 

i picked it up off a VW dealer with 8,000 miles on it and from what I could see and to what I understand I'm looking at, stock.

 

about a month ago I noticed a jerking at acceleration no matter how the gas pedal was pressed.

 

the car drove fine for 2 months after i bought it so I started doing research, I found some info on K&N air filter oil clogging up the AIRFLOW SENSOR, made sense to me so i bought some cleaner and carefully cleaned it. seemed to help but could just be me.

 

THEN a couple days ago I noticed my battery is a TOYOTA battery and around the rim of the CASE, not where the cell access is, there is acid coming out and dumping around the engine compartment.

 

I took it to my local dealer where I got exhaust gasket because its local and they seem nice.

 

two guys drove it and said they didnt notice anything and I said thats bull************. they also checked it for OVERCHARGING and systems check out ok.

 

I told the guy i wanted someone to go with me so a tech came along and instantly felt the issue. He popped the hood, checked out the visuals and noticed my downpipe is not stock. I knew it wasnt but when i bought it I had no idea. I played dumb because really, I am.

 

subaru wont cover anything, even a tail light bulb because the car is not stock now so they want to take it again tomorrow to run engine tests. they also want to replace the aftermarket exhaust back to stock because it has no cat... it sounds quiet so i had no clue. they want the dealer i bought it off to pay to right things.

 

 

 

has anyone else had this problem? can taking corners too fast make a standard battery leak and does your new subaru jerk at acceleration all of a sudden?

 

cash is tight and im stressing!

 

thanks

has anyone else had this problem? can taking corners too fast make a standard battery leak and does your new subaru jerk at acceleration all of a sudden?

 

cash is tight and im stressing!

 

thanks

 

Not normal for sure and I have not felt anything like that on our '07. Now, if it was a surging you're feeling, then yes, I have felt that.

 

As for the battery, no, that's not normal either.

It sounds a little like a knock sensor causing the jerking

First off the subaru dealer can not void your warranty. They can deny coverage on powertrain related items only because of the aftermarket downpipe. If it has a catless downpipe then you must also have some sort of tuning done to the ECU or it would have a check engine light on. As far as the acceleration problem goes it could be so many things on a car as complicated as an 07 sti it would be hard to give advice online. But some things to check for are boost leaks if it had any other aftermarket parts installed previously and improperly removed. If you want to keep the downpipe your best bet is find a local shop that specializes in wrxs and take it to them. If you want warranty coverage for the problem, you are stuck putting a stock downpipe with cats back on before the dealer will work on it. Also you'll get better advice about your sti on http://www.nasioc.com than here.

awesome, thanks for the responses! I will update after tomorrow

I am sure you have already posted your issue on www.nasioc.com ? Those guys might be helpful, just beware that the locals are not as friendly as we are here.

Ya that is why I never thought to post questions on the net because of stupid kids on almost all car forums.

 

I will post on the other and see what happens

You could probably locate a used stock downpipe on NASIOC cheap. If the subaru dealer didn't flag your car's warranty, put a used downpipe on and take it to another dealer for service. Yes I know this is somewhat shady, but if you honestly bought the car like this, it's not really your fault and this will get you warranty service which IMO you deserve.

most dealers won't consider looking at or fixing this new of car which is Modded.

 

OEM parts are good, aftermarket, pretty much can ruin / make or break the car.

 

I would put it back to stock if you expect any real help from Subaru.

this is fishy, 8000 miles on a 07 and the battery is a toyota battery?????????are you sure this car isn't ???? i dunno how to put it really, but maybe you got took

they just finished looking at the car and they deturmined the oil from the kn filter is clogging up the mass airflow sensor. They say if I don't put back the cat 2000$ and a new mass sensor and airflow sensor cleaning 800$ the turbo is going to go soon.

 

Time to take it to a speed shop and salvage the mod, but toss the kandn of course?

Just put back the OEM filter or intake if the intake was replaced and remove the mass air flow sensor and spray it with electronic contact cleaner. See how it drives after that.

I'm going to pick it up now and get a new filter try it out. I'm also calling blood enterprises

something isnt right here...an 07 Subaru with 8k miles and a toyota battery???...did they run a carfax for you before you bought the car?...I would be intrested to see the history....

I'd recomend you do this first. Go buy a paper air filter. Install that, it's just two clips. Go to an auto parts store and buy some MAF sensor cleaner. Take out the MAF sensor. It's usually just two screws and it pops out. 07 may be a bit different than the 02-06 wrx but not much. Spray the inside of the sensor with the cleaner well and let it air dry. Put it all together. Disconnect the negative battery cable then step on the brake pedal for a minute. This will reset the ECU. Reconnect the battery cable and drive it a bit to see how it is. If you are reasonably handy with a wrench and screwdriver this will only take a few minutes and might save you a lot of time and money.

that is exactly what I did and it seems to perform just as it did when I bought it. I took apart the pipe after the sensor too and gave it a good cleaning.

 

I also removed the battery and removed the acid that filled the tray. Also doused everything with baking soda. Found sand in the tray also. Hooked everything back up and went for a test run.

 

So far so good. Monday blood enterprises are getting me a Cobb access port and tune everything so the motor and turbo will last without a cat.

 

From there I might remove the stock exhaust from the catback and get something to acompany the downpipe if safe of course but untill then I will be crossing my fingers

 

Thanks a lot for all the solid input everyone!

Maybe the ECU needed to be reset? When you unplugged the battery probably fixed it.

It was really oily after the filter

Something appears to be wrong with the battery that is causing the acid to come out. Either there is a crack in the case or possibly there is AC voltage getting to it from the alternator. Have the shop test the alternator again with the engine running and then check the battery for AC voltage across it. There should be less than .1 volts. If there is AC voltage present you need to replace the alternator.

my subaru dealer says the charging system is fine. I am picking up a new batt

my subaru dealer says the charging system is fine. I am picking up a new batt

 

Well I hope they did a test for AC. Most places may not think of doing that test and only check the DC voltage. If there is AC present it will damage your new battery if it goes on too long.

So far there is no acid coming out the battery. I will have the hguy test for it again

i know someone who had a similar deal with a wrx... he bought it as "stock" but the dealer apparently didnt know that it had a bigger turbo with a stock intake box and exhaust... as well as cracked pistons...

 

knock on wood...