Hey folks with MY02 WRX's

I just got off the phone with my dealer in Santa Cruz. Last Thursday, my engine check light came on for the first time. I took it in ASAP and they found that the third cylinder is misfiring. After some tests and calling SOA, they get back to me and tell me it's a problem SOA hasn't found a fix for...they said recommend the customer use 91 octane and to let the car cool for 30 seconds before shut down. Well I've been doing that already since I've had it (only has 26K on it).

So in other words, my $25K car is malfunctioning although I've treated it extremely well. And SOA just offers a big load of BS.

Now, just two minutes ago I get a call again, after talking to the dealer and telling him I think they are full of sh**. He called SOA and pushed the issue so they are going to look again in places that SOA originally told them not to look. At first, the dealer said it might need to have the ECU re-programmed but SOA said it already had the latest update. Now they're going to do a valve adjustment and check all the wiring in the related area.

My question to any of you out there is have you had this happen and what did your dealer do for you? More importantly, what did SOA do about it?

The only other info they provided was that the misfiring could be due to excessive heat since the turbo is located directly above it.

I would appreciate any input if you've got it!

Regards - fil22

 

Fil22,

I see misfire codes all the time (including in my own car). We have narrowed the activity to cool/damp days, which the car hasn’t been warmed up properly. Yes, it has happened with crappy gas too.

In other words, we get p301, -p304 codes when we stomp on the car when it didn’t warm up and we noticed the light come on in between shifts 2-3 or 3-2.

There may be other causes, but this is just we have personally seen.

Chris
I-Speed USA

 

Thanks for replying. Yes, I agree that Sub of Santa Cruz, Mark & Bruce - they are the best as far as I know. And my personal experience with them has been good. But I did not like the load of bull SOA had Bruce tell me. Bruce didn't like it either...he called back and made a push. They're going to look further into the valves today. He mentioned that I'm not the only one with this problem, he was tired of telling customers there's no solution as of yet, and that he made the case to SOA for a better solution.

If anyone has trouble with their dealer, go to Santa Cruz. It sucks to hear about these problems that SOA is not working harder towards fixing.

When I get the final word, I'll post the results.

- fil22

 

Happening a lot? No. First time. But that doesn't matter...I'd rather get a good explanation as to why rather than some BS answer from SOA.

The bigger issue is this is a problem that more than one owner is having. The dealers know about it and SOA know about it and they aren't working hard enough to figure it out (kind of like the clutch rattle noise I've had since day one). Sure it could be a little glitch and nothing more, but I don't want to risk it and this turned into an opportunity for them to look closer. I'm not paying for it so what do I care?

I don't like the idea that my car, which is only a little over a year old, will have some glitch basically giving false readings about misfiring cylinders. How reliable is that?

In other words, I will own a $25K car that I operate properly, but it malfunctions. That's just not acceptable for me...I don't like paying for malfunctions.

If they find nothing still and it continues, then SOA has to go back to the drawing board.

 

psoper - I've already considered what you have written. But that doesn't help fix it...only helps swallow it easier. It's not like I yelled at them or cursed their names. All I did was call them on their BS answer. And now they're looking harder to make sure - it's their job and they should do it that way anyway.

I made this post because it seems like a common problem and my case, according to Bruce, has caused them to escalate it and maybe something good will come out of it for more people than just me.

I just work hard, pay hard earned money and don't like accepting BS answers. Do you like accepting BS answers often? Probably not - that's what this is really about. Let's see what they find.

 

Well I can't explain it completely unfortunately - only because I'm not a mechanic...maybe someone else can. However, the turbo sits just above the third cylinder and it creates a ton of heat which causes problems for the third cylinder sensors, etc. If you shut down right away, the car doesn't cool down gradually back to a normal temp; it cools down much faster which can stress the metal, etc. If you let the car idle a little while, the fans come on and help it cool gradually rather than quickly. It's a precaution to aviod excessive wear & tear.

 

Well if you're interested, this is what happened for me. Got my car back yesterday. They checked & adjusted the valves and tightened the sensor connections & made sure they were clean and operating properly. According to Bruce at SC, 6 other WRX's that had the same problem were given the same fix and none have come back. So far, so good for me. The culprit is definitely the over-sensitive sensors so luckily it wasn't something worse. At least Bruce and I got SOA to do something more about it...if more WRX's have the same problem and they continue to push, then SOA may release a memo for the repair instead of telling the dealers to tell us BS answers.

Bruce mentioned he had reservations about the sensor design itself, so it sounds like there's a lot of room for improvement. Hopefully SOA will find a fix to make the system more accurate & reliable.

Have a good one - fil22