My heartiest of thanks to Peter Connely at Stamford Garage (aka Subaru Manchester or C&K).

Some may recall my car has consistantly failed to perform on the rollers at PE, it was even suggested that the 4WD rolling road be named in my honour, (Thanks Dobbo).

Merv fixed, (adjusted) the Wastegate actuator which was a task in itself (it's non-adjustable) because it wasn't closing fully.

Still not right, Exhaust emissions (CO 2?)were very high, Merv thought that the cat had probably failed and was blocking the exhaust so he suggested changing it, or the cam belt may be a tooth out but the exhaust was the prime suspect.

I arranged to have a straight through pipe fitted to remove the cat but that would have meant borrowing one at MOT time, enter BPM.

I (<B>Eventually</B>)fitted one of their complete system with 'twin Dump' front pipe. Dyno day...... No change. <B>"DOH"</B>


So waited patiently for a slot at C&K so that Peter could have a look at it (they have a complete set of Subaru specialist tools and a 'Select Monitor').

A mechanic at a local Subaru Main dealer had the long explanation of faults & symptoms and said that a sensor must have failed and if the cam belt was even one tooth out the car would run like a bag of nails!


The results from C&K were as follows:
=====================================


RH inlet cam 1 tooth out.
RH exhaust cam 1 tooth out.
LH inlet cam OK.
LH exhaust cam 2 teeth out.
Cam belt tensioner bent.

Also 3 faults in ECU.

1) Lambda sensor.
2) Air mass sensor.
3) Boost pressure solenoid.

All three faults were cleared and did not re-appear after adjustment and a hard test run.

Car now idles better (smoother) HC readings are down drastically to .95. Starts to pick up hard from below 2,400 rev's (used to be about 3,300).

This has been a 95% success, Peter removed the bleed valve from the car which the previous owner had fitted as the 'K Series' chip fitted is apparently a closed loop chip.

The car is markedly improved but is still boosting to 1.6 bar in 4th & 5th. This can be avoided by accelerating on the pedal and will receive further attention.

As soon as the over boosting is cured (minor problem in comparison) the car will yet again grace the rollers at PE.

Big thanks due to Peter at C&K, and Merv at PE.

Peter informs me that they are also going to be installing a 4WD rolling road probably next year, (I hope he does).

The garage who originally did the service (inc. cam belt change) will be spoken to in the morning.

Mike.

 

Glad to hear you are finally getting somewhere Mike. Cant wait to see the results when it is finished

 

Mike,

Which garage did the CAM belt change?

 

GTi service centre in Nottingham did the cam belt change.

I have used this garage for about ten years and know both of the partners well.

The partner who 'did' my car is back from holiday on Monday and I am certain that he will be gutted when he realises the state he left my car in.

If anybody has ever seen one done it is virtually a 3 man job, I will not hold it against them (<I>well, not for too long</I>) as this is the first time I have known them to make a mess of things. I am sure that they won't see me out of pocket when the bill comes.


Mike.

[This message has been edited by Mike Tuckwood (edited 19-09-1999).]

 

The cam belt is a difficult job, as two of the cams are on the lobe, for it to fit correctly. That said, the casing, timing wheels and cam belt all have markings on them which must all line up. If they don't line up, you haven't done the job right.

I can't imagine anyone putting the outer casings back on, without checking, double checking and then checking these markings again.

 

I agree Pete and that is exactly the tack which will be taken on my next visit to them (let 'em sweat), later in the week.

(Hope the car is not too bad BTW).

Mike.

 

When the cam belt was checked on my car it was found that one cam was one tooth out, and this was the cam that had the sensor for the fuel injection. It must be easily done!!