Car is having a hard time starting. I checked cylinder roughness and all is good. Changed the spark plugs just in case. But once its on and warm it would idle at 2000rpms and the drop below 1000 and the car would start to die. Before it dies my afr gauge reads at 9.2. I checked for boost leaks through the fmic and everything is fine. Checked thw turbo and still looks good with no play. What do I do????

 

I got some ideas but not guaranteed. Possible causes: Bad battery? Bad Fuel pump? Fuel lines clogged? Faulty Ignition coils? Dirty Throttle body, possibly caused by excess oil. (Maybe Need Air/Oil separator?)

 

I have a crawford AOS when i took the pipes off for the fmic it was clean all through. But when you go to gove it gas thats when it drops from 14 to 9.2 on the afr. I think its an air leak somwhere but cant find it cause i heard a pop like a balloon go off when i was driving. Its not a head gasket and cylinders still have compression.

 

Hmmm if your AFR is 9.2, I think you're running lean, so not enough fuel is being injected. Isn't the ideal A/F mixture 14.7? So I don't think you have an air leak.

 

I said it wrong

 

No problem ha. But i believe i do have an air leak just dont Know where....ugh. I cant find it. I checked all the pipe cupplings and fmic and its all good

 

I'm no wizard but the first thing I check/clean when my car idles rough is the IAC valve, then MAF

 

When i was cleaning the Maf and went to put it back on i found holes on the inlet. So i replaced it with an agency hard inlet

 

What about the IACV? My car had similar issues. I cleaned it and my car idled perfect after. Its happened to me twice. The last time I cleaned it and spreyed a little wd40 in it and never had problems with it since.

 

do you get a CEL?

9.2 AFR is more RICH than 14.7 AFR. LEAN would be on the upper scale like 18-20 AFR.

since it's an 08 you don't have an IACV since its drive by wire

only the drive by cable guys have IACV

if the car is starting good it's normal for the idle to be high at or just before 2k. eventually it should be dropping and eventually idle out at either 7-900RPM with AC on and around 5-700 RPM without AC.

On a DBC (drive by cable) car if the RPM stays high continuously you will get a CEL.

what have you changed assuming it's not stock.

if you had vacuum leak you'd see AFR more lean like 18-20 range as i've mentioned. where and how are you taking your AFR readings? is the gauge a wide band or a narrow band gauge? there is a difference.

 

I got a new inlet an agency hard inlet and cleaned the maf. No cell has been thrown since then but my alternator is dead. So im looking to get one of higher than stock 110amp. The battery is new but due to the alternator being dead i think that is the new issue. Do you happen to know where i can get one here on island?

 

hard inlet can leak right after the turbo to coupler connection and or coupler to inlet. again, if you've got a wb02 installed it'll read more lean and it'll indicate a leak. you can try to pressurize the intake system and spray soapy water to verify if you've got a vacuum leak or not. further, what happened to your alternator? you can check o'riley or similar shop for a replacement alternator. i believe there's also alternator repair shops on island as well. cannot think of them right now. in fact, i have my original 14 year old alternator in my car now and it's still going. alternator will only affect your charging system anyway. i doubt a CEL would be thrown or affect your idle either. since the battery is new thats why your car is starting since the starter is good as well. again not related to your idling issue.

 

The old inlet had holes so i had replaced it. My wideband Is reading 14 so thats good and i check for leaks so its good. But now when i drive it its hard to start. Power is pulling straight from the battery.

 

Right since your alternator isn't charging the system or keeping the car running. I would check O'riley or this place called starters & alternators

An oem replacement is a lot cheaper than oem Subaru one.

 

Starters and alternators - they can rewind your stock one for $150 probably your best bet.

Why would you want to get a higher amp alternator? Are you running a gigantic sound system in the car? That's a hell of a lot of draw....