Car sounds a wrx the goes away....so confused

[Macurts]

Hey everyone havin issues with my dsm, when i start it, it'll run normal and when im drivin in 1st or 2nd and gun it, i'll even hit peak boost, but when im goin on the highway, i lose power and it stutters and sounds like a wrx....only in 4th or 5th will it do that, In a constant rpm at a 60 to 80 mph speed. This problem occured 2 days ago and i found a boost leak goin to the boost controller (manual). Check engine light came off and was running like a champ. Drivin home yesterday going 40 down a hill and all of sudden the check engine light came back on and it started doing it again. Another boost leak? Im actually goin to home depot to make a boost leak tester. Check wires and plugs and its all good. Nothing seems fouled out. Any help would be nice thanks!

 

[Archer Fabrications]

Hey everyone havin issues with my dsm, when i start it, it'll run normal and when im drivin in 1st or 2nd and gun it, i'll even hit peak boost, but when im goin on the highway, i lose power and it stutters and sounds like a wrx....only in 4th or 5th will it do that, In a constant rpm at a 60 to 80 mph speed. This problem occured 2 days ago and i found a boost leak goin to the boost controller (manual). Check engine light came off and was running like a champ. Drivin home yesterday going 40 down a hill and all of sudden the check engine light came back on and it started doing it again. Another boost leak? Im actually goin to home depot to make a boost leak tester. Check wires and plugs and its all good. Nothing seems fouled out. Any help would be nice thanks!

first off. you need to make the title of this post a little more readable. i almost only clicked on this because i was confused what it was about.

bet you it has nothing to do with boost leaks aside from the minor ones you might find. it sounds like a fuel thing. running rich or lean, replace your o2 sensor and see if the CEL comes off... OR you could just get the code checked and find out exactally what it is, what do you mean sounds like a WRX, like just deep throaty exhaust sounds? have a video clip or something. need more discription. you could have rod knock for all i know

 

[Macurts]

the car sounds pretty close to a wrx with an exhaust, the car does smell pretty rich, smelled alot of fuel when i got out of the car from a test drive. Car is goin to the shop on Wednesday if it does get fixed

 

[clipto]

Check wires and plugs for missfire. Do you have a wideband? Check boost leaks anyways it is still always good to look into, and make sure you dont have exhuast leaks. A little info off topic i believe the sound your speaking in the wrx, is the unequal header length that gives it that rumbly sound.

 

[jmartinez1228]

Go through and make sure your injectors are plugged in and fully secure. I had one bad injector give me the same symptoms. Except I never tried to drive it til it was fixed. Start the car and unplug each injector one by one. You should obviously notice the car buck. if you unplug one that dont notice a chance then that injector could be bad or loose or something. But also check what everyone else is saying also.

 

[casuprock]

Your car has contracted an STD- Subaru Throaty Droning.

 

[Macurts]

No wideband, i actually went to autozone to have a diagnostic on it and it came up with faulty ecm, vaccum leak, injectors faulty or pressure, random engine misfire, engine mechanical......lost daylight and i will do a boost leak check in the morning....

 

[91awd26]

Sounds like what my car did first due to no clips to hold the plug-in to the injectors and then another time due to an injector that decided to no longer work.

 

[Junfan]

If your DSM sounds like a Subaru then you are likely hearing a miss. Get the code it is a huge help.

Might be worth pulling the plugs and get a read on the following. Not sure it will help but you will have an idea if you are rich or lean.

http://dodgeram.info/Engine-Gas/SparkPlugs/spkplghnbook.html#In

 

[DSMnOOb00]

Your car has contracted an STD- Subaru Throaty Droning.

 

[DSM1G90]

i actually went to autozone to have a diagnostic on it

big mistake.. .what do they know? Go to a more respectable like NAPA, Carquest, et.al. ..

 

[gusu]

How much boost are you running?

If you over run your injectors too long you can cause them to fail. If its dumping large amounts of fuel at one time under boost it may not ignite at all under boost.

Does your oil smell like fuel? If so you are running so rich you are at risk of destroying your bearing because gasoline is a VERY strong degreaser.

As for a boost leak it could be more than one problem. Knowing more about your boost levels could help a lot like i said at first.

 

[91awd26]

Does your oil smell like fuel? If so you are running so rich you are at risk of destroying your bearing because gasoline is a VERY strong degreaser.

+1 on this. Actually in the process of rebuilding a bottom end as a result of this. Something to think about because like I said before I had an issue that sounded a lot like the one you are having and also had an injector fail on me. Don't let yourself end up where I'm at with a pile of what used to be a rod bearing in your oil pan.

 

[tsigui]

hey guy im haveing similar problems with my 91 tsi excepte it sounds like a subaru when i start it. when i drive i get about half boost 5-6psi im running stock which was peaking at 11. first thought was cat was plugged. 180$ and new cat later didnt fix my problem. checked plugs and wires getting spark. i have a aem fpr im getting 37-38psi to that all my injectors are tight and plugged in, not sure how to test to see if they would be bad. wastegate is fine. it dumps to atmosphere. idk im stumped. if you have any insight or suggestions that would be very helpful thanks.

 

[johnovision27]

How much boost are you running?

If you over run your injectors too long you can cause them to fail. If its dumping large amounts of fuel at one time under boost it may not ignite at all under boost.

Does your oil smell like fuel? If so you are running so rich you are at risk of destroying your bearing because gasoline is a VERY strong degreaser.

Hmmmm, this is very interesting. I never thought of it like that. My last engine died because of similar "STD" symptoms driving from Calgary to Toronto. However my conditions were at cruise (60-80mph) and I suppose under LIGHT acceleration. Caused a CEL and only fixed itself after I turned the car off and started it back up. I first thought it was my ignition coil, wires or plugs. Sounded and felt like it was only running on 2 cylinders. Idled fine and garggled like a mofo while trying to accelerate. (which it would only do very slowly)

Rebuilt engine, dsmlink and other upgrades seemed to fix this. However it did it again just last week while under light acceleration/cruise. Didn't catch the code, the CEL vanished as I went to plug in my computer a day later. haha