Engine stuttering when changing gear?

sven · Jedi Guardian Joined: 27 Dec 2006 Posts: 814

Sometimes it feels great to be stupid. Grin

Good to hear you had an easy solution.

ElusiveStranger · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 10:39 pm Post subject:

mike1978 · Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 7:37 am Post subject:

mike1978 · Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 5:13 pm Post subject:

ok, i thought i`d got rid of this problem, but fitting the fuel pressure vacuum has just made it less apparant. i`m still getting the same symptons , not quite as bad now - if i can to slow stop, the engine stalls. on the way back from my test trip tonight, the error code light lit up and i`m geting error code 24 now.

i think this is the idel control circuit? could this be the cause for the stuttering aswell as the stalling?

i`ve fitted a VSS now aswell which hasn`t changed anything.

i took the top of the idle control valve off a week or so ago and the solenoid inside turns freely and was quite clean.

mike1978 · Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 6:36 pm Post subject:

i just took off the idle control valve and there was a piece of wire/solder in there which must have got in there when i had it off -

also, the top edges of the cylinderical magnet are chipped where the other piece has been pulled hard on to it when i fitted it last so there were a few flakes of metal. Another thing is that one of the screws was snapped off from when i first removed it so it might not have been sitting quite straight i guess although it looked to me like it was sitting flat.

anyway, i cleaned it all up and fitted it back down flat without the rubber seal so it sat flat and i`ve still got the same problems.

anyone got a spare idle control valve for a 98 EJ20 engine i could buy!?

rjes · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 12:27 am Post subject:

That certainly sounds like it's likely to be the cause of the lack of idling. The throttle is pretty much totally closed when you lift your foot off, so if the ISC valve can't move, and it's nearly closed, you can't get any air in. The bit of wire is no doubt something ferrous which has stuck to the magnet while it was apart.

I don't know for certain, but I thing the valves are the same on all pre MY00 naturally aspirated Subaru's.
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mike1978 · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 8:30 am Post subject:

thanks richard - just to add to this, the problem of stuttering appears to be worse when the engine is under load. from where i live, i have to drive up a steepish hill and it always seems to stutter when changing from 1st to 2nd here. not as bad on the flat.

mike1978 · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 12:36 pm Post subject:

well i`ve taken the idle control valve off completely. i retapped a new hole where the screw had snapped off and its tightly down now.

to be honest, there doesn`t seem much wrong with it - its clean and turns easily enough when it is has the top on. it sits half open with no electrical connection to it.

i`ve now taken the fuel injection off and am soaking it in carb cleaner and then blowing it out with compressed air. i`ve also got a new set of plugs to try and a proper fuel injection metal fuel filter to fit. i`ve tried 2 different sets of ht leads with no difference.

next on the list after this is to get a new fuel pump which starts to cost more money. the current one does seem to work ok though.

the TPS seems to be set correctly giving a resistance of 0.5 to 4.5 (WOT).

i`m starting to run out of ideas!

mike

mike1978 · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 4:17 pm Post subject:

right, i `ve done all of the above and still no difference!

the problem feels fuel related to me. I`m getting no error codes and the engine will start and idle no probs - you can also rev it while parked no probs. The problem occurs when the engine is under load - for example, there is a steepish hill which when i drive up, the engine stutters as if there is fuel starvation..

i`ve now also changed the feed pipe from the fuel tank to the engine to an 8mm bore which meets the new fuel filter. this then leaves here into an 8mm-12mm adaptor then a couple of inches to the fuel pump which then feeds the engine via an 8mm bore pipe.

All this including the outlet from the tank is clear as fuel flows easily through all this sections.

The return pipe at the moment is still the original vw plastic hose which appears to have an inner bore of 4mm - could this be the issue even though its the return pipe?

I`m going to change this for an 8mm bore pipe tomorrow when the shops are back open and see what effect this has!

MostlyMonki · Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:56 pm Post subject:

dragging this one up from the depths... anyone know if this got fixed, as it sounds exactly the same as my problems?
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mike1978 · Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:00 pm Post subject:

yep - there wasn`t enough petrol in the tank so when the van jerked, fuel sloshed round starving the intake pipe of fuel -

DOH! Laugh Out Loud

t3monkey boy · Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:24 pm Post subject: SCOOBY

Did you sell the van in the end Mike? Cheers Nick
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