"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
07/05/2018 at 12:10 • Filed to: wrx
0
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"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
07/05/2018 at 12:10 • Filed to: wrx | 0
| 27 |
I have in my possession a 2006 Subaru WRX that belongs to my sister, I’m helping her sell it. It’s got some issues. I scanned it for codes (the CEL is on), and found only one code, P0244 -
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Turbocharger Wastegate Solenoid A Range/Performance
Read more at:
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
Copyright OBD-Codes.com
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
The code came up when I was passing a slow car with a bit of enthusiasm, and by that I mean WOT in 3rd gear up to about 5,500rpm. The engine stuttered, though
I was able to complete the pass, however
the CEL came on and the “Cruise” light was flashing as it has ever since.
If you google this problem, you will find a plethora of WRX and STi owners who have had the EXACT same symptoms caused by the EXACT circumstances: a hard WOT pull in a higher gear, fuel cut-off, then car runs fine minus the visible CEL and/or CRUISE flashing light.
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
. What happens is, the turbo builds too much pressure and the car cuts off fuel supply to keep you from blowing the engine up (I guess). In stock configuration, this is the purpose of the wastegate, or at least one of its purposes, from what I understand - to allow enough exhaust to bypass the turbine to keep boost at acceptable levels. Hence the code relating to a wastegate malfunction. An ECU tune that allows higher boost pressure can
cause
this issue, but if you have other modifications such as a free-flowing exhaust, an ECU tune can’t necessarily
fix
the issue.
Of course, a malfunctioning wastegate solenoid, or just a broken wastegate itself could also cause this code. But I’m not going to start throwing parts at this car. And especially not if the problem is caused by an unknown (to me) modification. My sister doesn’t know if it’s been messed with. If it has, I’d like to return it to stock so it hopefully doesn’t do this. Every example I can find on the interwebz of this happening, it’s on
modified cars.
*** How can I determine whether this car has an ECU tune?***
I’m tech savvy and willing to get some sketchy software or a little dongle to help me figure this out; I already have a laptop that runs Volvo diag stuff, and I have a bluetooth OBDII dongle and can use apps with that, if I can run some test to look for stock specifications or something.
I’m reluctant to post on NASIOC or similar forums partly because I’m not sure I can speak their language. Here’s someone who had the same problem and who also undoubtedly has a flat-brimmed hat and a Ken Block jersey
.
Happened to me yesterday. Cruising 80 on the freeway in the number 2 lane, minding my own business when some bitch in a
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
decides to tailgate me. Dropped into 5th and punched it, had fuel cut at
about 95 and threw the CEL. Guess I should have just slowed down to 65
and made her go around. LOL
I have a Perrin
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
pulley and a Borla Hush cat back, otherwise drivetrain is completely
stock, no EM. It’s been a little rough around town in the cold weather,
lately.
Guess I’m due for a tune. Been post-poning until I get my FMIC and scoopless
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
going.
I mean, I’m trying to be open-minded about the WRX community... but also
I just don’t know a lot about this particular car and I’m not sure I can withstand the barrage of questions about the car and then WHY don’t I know more,
bro did you just steal this car or something,
etc. So I thought I’d try this crowd first. What say you?
CalzoneGolem
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 12:26 |
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I can’t really help you out but if you say that it’s your sister’s car that should forestall some of the bro- did- you- just- steal- this- car- or - something -ing
Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 12:29 |
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I’d say just reset the code and if it doesn’t come back under normal driving conditions, it’s good to go! Somewhat shady but I believe all used cars are shady anyways. As long as you aren’t in a smog state where the new owner is responsible, then it’s not really a problem.
I have an ‘06 STi, so the same car basically. But yeah I don't know much other than that I'd check Google and end up on Nasioc or one of the other Subaru forums. Obd2 reader and then just try the solutions suggested if you fancy.
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functionoverfashion
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/05/2018 at 12:34 |
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I am going to clear it and then try to drive it a bit more before it goes to my local shop for NH inspection next week.
The solutions include a) don’t use a turbo-back exhaust (pretty sure this doesn’t have that)
b)use a multi-port external wastegate
and c) stay out of WOT. Also a series of other band-aids like restricting or de-restricting various related vacuum lines to/from the wastegate solenoid... but I’m not eager to start trying that, beyond inspecting the hoses for obvious cracks.
So like you said, clear it and drive it normally, maybe it’s just a problem that comes up when you’re driving it like you actually did steal it. Maybe it’ll pass NH inspection as-
is?
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CalzoneGolem
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 12:41 |
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It could easily be a freak occurrence maybe the computer just got confused and had a senior moment. Our Soul will t hrow a throttle position sensor and we’ll clear it and it doesn’t come back for a couple years.
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 12:43 |
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I hear if you mix wintergreen flavor
vape smoke into the intake plenum
at >5,000 rpm this code goes away.
jasmits
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 12:47 |
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I wouldn’t worry about inspection, I’ve had two cars, one with a tune and one with an occasional giltch that caused the fuel pressure to momentarily read -1 and then go back to normal(eventually figured out it was the fuel rail pressure sensor, $50, 5 minutes and a few gas soaked rags to fix) that would trigger the CEL. Clearing the codes was enough to pass inspection, I guess if I had gotten unlucky and it happened during inspection it would have failed but it was occasional enough that it didn’t matter.
I’d be more concerned for selling it, a WOT pull is pretty normal test drive procedure but also if you’re upfront about it people buying beater WRXs usually aren’t, or shouldn’t be, people who are afraid of CELs.
DipodomysDeserti
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 13:01 |
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The easiest and cheapest way to make sure the ECU has a stock tune is to buy a Tactrix Openport cable, download RomRaider on a Windows machine and get the stock tune from the RomRaider site or Nasioc and upload it to the car. The Tactrix cable is $170 and RomRaider and stock tunes are free. I tuned my 2008 WRX using this method. I have a Tactrix cable I’ll sell you if you want to go this route. The software is all open source which is why it is so cheap. The more expensive way would be to buy an Accessport or pay to have a stock tune uploaded by a tuner.
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functionoverfashion
> CalzoneGolem
07/05/2018 at 13:09 |
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I can repeat the issue, not 100% but I have had it happen again when I was trying to make it happen. So, it’s not a complete fluke....
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CalzoneGolem
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 13:11 |
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Does it throw a code every time?
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functionoverfashion
> jasmits
07/05/2018 at 13:13 |
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haha, true. I am thinking it will pass inspection if I can drive it enough between clearing the codes and when it’s inspected, and I can stay out of the throttle.
You’re right on both points, though, regarding selling. Someone buying a 12 year old WRX can’t expect perfection; at the same time they’re buying a WRX and probably want to see what it’s like at WOT. Mind you, I’ve had no trouble in 1 - 2 but when you’re going 40mph already,
lean into the throttle to build boost, THEN floor it - that’s when you get into trouble.
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functionoverfashion
> DipodomysDeserti
07/05/2018 at 13:17 |
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Hmm, interesting. Can’t be harder than getting the Volvo VIDA working on my old laptop. I’d be more eager to spend the money if I were keeping the car, of course. But it could be a good tool to have. My email is stepper459 at gmail if you want to wheel and deal outside of kinja.
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functionoverfashion
> Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
07/05/2018 at 13:19 |
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NEED MOAR
STIKAAZZZ
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jasmits
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 13:19 |
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Yeah, both times I just had to drive it around for awhile. Once I didn’t do it long enough so I drove around for half an hour and went back and passed lol , but I think Oregon’s pretty much the only state that bothers with emissions tests where that’ll fly
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functionoverfashion
> CalzoneGolem
07/05/2018 at 13:20 |
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I haven’t reset it since the first scan, and
I haven’t been driving it every day. Tonight I need to drive about an hour round trip and I plan to take the subie - I’ll clear it, see if I can reproduce the issue, check code, clear it, then drive like a normal person.
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functionoverfashion
> jasmits
07/05/2018 at 13:28 |
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I don’t know if it’s manufacturer-driven or regulatory body-driven, but there’s some series of conditions that have to be met for a car to have all its emissions modules “ready.” If you know what the conditions are, you can maybe get the modules into that ready state faster; most of the time, people will achieve this with normal driving. I had an issue once where my normal commute didn’t meet one of the conditions, ever, so I had a module “not ready” for many drive cycles.
NH doesn’t do smog testing, but they do hook you up to a computer to make sure your car at least thinks it’s OK. It might be 100% based on OBDII outputs.
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jasmits
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 13:38 |
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Oregon just does an OBD scan on OBDII and newer and a tailpipe sniff on old ones, but it’s just at idle and must be pretty lax because I’ve passed cars that really were not running at their best.
Now that I think about it the time I had to do some extra driving wasn’t code-related, the car had been sitting in my parents’ garage for 6 months while I had been temporarily located across the country, tags had lapsed in the meantime so the first thing I did was take it to the emissions station to get it over with . Drive over wasn’t enough(unsurprisingly), OBDII scan failed but it was an E36 and the station was near some great back roads so taking it for a nice hour flog was enough to hit all the parameters. You know, just because I had to. I hadn’t taken it to that particular DEQ so I could hit those roads after the test anyway, no sir.
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DipodomysDeserti
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 13:55 |
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I’ll shoot you an email when I get off work. The software is easy to use, especially if you’re just uploading the stock tune. I was able to tune my own car after swapping the turbo and had zero previous experience.
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functionoverfashion
> DipodomysDeserti
07/05/2018 at 14:00 |
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Awesome, thanks. Not sure if I’ll go that route, but it’s an option. Could give me some street cred when it comes time to talking to people looking for a cheap WRX....
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functionoverfashion
> jasmits
07/05/2018 at 14:01 |
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lol, yeah I’m not taking the Subie for a spin tonight because I
want
to, nope. Strictly for science.
thejustache
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 14:26 |
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I don’t have a WRX, but I have an ‘05 Outback XT with a similar turbo motor. I had that same experience once on my test drive actually. The shop sold mostly used subarus and let me take it out by myself for a test drive... I let it warm up (it was maybe -5 Fahrenheit that day in Maine) and then did a WOT pull in third and wouldn’t you know it the CEL came on and it started limping. I drove it back and after carefully explaining to them that I wasn’t just out there abusing their car they filled it up with fresh 91 octane gas (the empty light came on at the exact same time as well in my case), reset the code and went for another drive. The light never came back on and I ended up buying it. 2.5 years and I’ve had a few other issues, but never that code again. In my case I think it was just a glitch in the ecu? Or maybe related to it sitting on the lot for some time?
I was going to say it’s probably a one time thing, but it sounds like you’ve been able to reproduce it so now I have nothing to add, sorry.
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functionoverfashion
> thejustache
07/05/2018 at 15:01 |
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Interesting. I think it’s common enough (based on the amount of forum discussion on the topic), but there are several potential causes. One of them is just literally putting on a free-flowing exhaust, which is a popular mod, along with increasing the boost via ECU flash, also common. So... a stock car might not see it happen much at all. But you can also bet that a modified car is being driven harder, more often, and thus more likely to trigger this issue.
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thejustache
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 15:06 |
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Yeah, that makes sense and I can’t add much to that. It happened that one time for me while totally stock and never again. For the last year I’ve had an exhaust and a tune and the grimmspeed crank pulley and I still haven’t gotten that code again. Could the wrx be fully stock but have a non-stock tune? Or maybe somebody tuned it, than pulled off the supporting mods before selling it to your sister but left the tune on the car? Like some have said resetting to the factory tune might be the only way to rule that one out.
random001
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 15:45 |
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A 2006, you say?
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DipodomysDeserti
> functionoverfashion
07/05/2018 at 16:02 |
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A WRX with a Tactrix thrown in would be a sweet package.
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DipodomysDeserti
> functionoverfashion
07/06/2018 at 09:08 |
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Just shot you an email with the deets on the Tactrix
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functionoverfashion
> DipodomysDeserti
07/07/2018 at 21:33 |
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Hmm, now that’s an interesting proposal haha. I just replied to your email. I’ll ponder that angle...
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functionoverfashion
> random001
07/07/2018 at 22:17 |
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yep