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Seeing all of these Subaru's enjoying autocross, rallycross, etc. makes me sad that I've only been able to use my WRX to drive to and from work lately, having to miss over 2/3 of the autocross season due to working too drat much. To add insult to injury, the WRX is going into storage next week since I have to go hang out in the Middle East for a year. Sad WRX in question (old pic): 
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Oct 11, 2008 02:03
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 02:30 |
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So the previous owner of my car put a CAI on my 03 WRX. I always planned on reverting it to stock, but never got around to it. I think you can see where this is going. We had a rare heavily rainy day here and I'm pretty positive I sucked up some water. Had a brief stutter of power loss out of nowhere, then felt fine for a few miles. Then came regular stutters, kind of like the lurching you'll feel if you suddenly jump off the gas in 1st gear. Pulled over, and right as I did so got a CEL. Idle was rough. Plugged in my accessport and found that I had misfire codes on all 4 cylinders. Also it stalled very slowly, as in it didn't just turn off all of a second. gently caress. I turned it off and had it towed to a shop. I'm really hoping this isn't catastrophic since it didn't outright blow up on me or cease to function, it just started running like poo poo. I do not want to have to buy a new engine...... mlmp08 fucked around with this message at 22:49 on Jan 22, 2010 |
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Jan 22, 2010 22:25
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Mat_Drinks posted:From what I understand there are quite a few things that can cause cylinder misfire.. It's totally possible water got up into the coil pack, or maybe into a plug if the boot wasn't secured very well. Either way, good luck! The shop ran a diagnostic and said they couldn't seem to find anything and they thought I might've sucked up water, but only a small amount which didn't cause anything catastrophic, though water in oil isn't good. I guess I'll find out if it still drives like poo poo tomorrow when I pick it up.
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Jan 23, 2010 05:48
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Mat_Drinks posted:Driving a neon beater in the past I was once convinced I sucked up water because of heavy rain only to realize the puddle I hit had just healthily doused the engine bay. Once everything dried off it was back to running like a champ. Well, as much of a champ as a Neon can be. Yeah, it's fine now. The shop thinks it was either so little water that the engine sorted itself out or that maybe it just made the MAF read weird and run so rich that it stalled and misfired. Regardless, no new CEL, no hiccups, and everything seems fine. Spark plugs were fine as well. I am definitely getting a stock airbox off NASIOC or something though. That was a close call, and I'm sick of this CAI poo poo, especially if I ever get around to lowering the wrx an inch or so for autocross. At least it didn't cost me much and it gives me a little more faith in my shop to bring in a car expecting a lot of work and big bill and then having them say it doesn't need anything. mlmp08 fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Jan 25, 2010 |
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Jan 25, 2010 16:01
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If you can afford it, just the STI transmission/diffs are a hell of a lot better than those found on a WRX. Launch control without breaking poo poo? Yes, please. edit: So yesterday I swapped out my stock 03 WRX sway bars for Whietlines as well as doing some other maintenance like replacing a torn up plastic underbody part, cleaning air filter, replacing a bunch of plastic pins that had broken, etc. The difference is night and day. I'd read over and over that new sway bars, apart from tires, is your best bang for buck handling upgrade on a WRX but I did not expect it to instantly be soo much flatter. Now it's time to be careful for a while so I don't get tailhappy into a wall/house/children/car. mlmp08 fucked around with this message at 13:54 on Feb 1, 2010 |
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Feb 1, 2010 13:50
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22mm up front and the 22mm adjustable in the rear, which I have set to "medium." I also put on reinforced end links on the rear. The rest of the suspension is stock, and it's my daily driver, so I'm not trying to go crazy.
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Feb 2, 2010 01:38
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I think it looks goofy as hell, but also fun as hell.
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Feb 6, 2010 04:54
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8ender posted:Also leaving for work and just smashing your car through the wall of snow blocking your driveway while your neighbours are out with shovels trying to dig out is pretty I did the opposite in an old piece of poo poo cavalier I had in high school. I parked on the street, and the plow had left a big pile of snow where I park. I achieved ramming speed  and slammed over it, essentially beaching my car on a pile of snow. I really hated that car. I hated myself when it didn't warm up that day like it was supposed to and I had to lower my car to the ground through very careful shoveling of the snow that was supporting its weight.
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Feb 12, 2010 02:03
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CharlesM posted:Get a second opinion Yes. As a sidenote, my mechanic built my trust immensely when I was convinced my car had a serious, expensive problem and they came back saying it was almost nothing and could be fixed for less than $100 (which included the $70 diagnosis fee).
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Feb 12, 2010 16:21
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So as of a couple weeks ago, my 2003 WRX would rarely make a popping noise ONLY when in reverse and ONLY when backing out to the left, and USUALLY it was restricted to when backing up or down an incline, such as my driveway. As of yesterday, it started to pop when going forward and to the left, but still just occasionally and not if I'm going very slow, only when going 15+ mph. It might be related to the fact that I happened to hit a monstrous pothole at about 30mph or it could just be wear and tear. In my limited experience popping while turning is a thing that requires immediate attention if you don't want to post in the "catastrophic mechanical failures" thread. This is correct, right? Any idea what would cause this? I plan to have the shop look at it this weekend, I think, as I need an alignment anyway.
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Mar 5, 2010 00:06
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I'm having a problem with my 2003 WRX. I hear a clunk from what sounds like the front left of the car when I turn abruptly left or if my front left tire hits a bump. The most surefire way to hear this noise is to travel at low-moderate speed and swerve hard left as if avoiding something in the road. Simply turning left at a walking pace or even highway speeds, but in a gradual turn does not produce this noise. It makes no such noise when parked and just turning the wheel. Thoughts: 1. I installed Whiteline swaybars about 800-1000 miles ago, and maybe they are the cause. 2. This noise went from a very slight and very, very occasional thing to a constant nuisance after I hit a rather deep pothole with my front left tire hit at maybe 30mph. 3. Google tells me this may well be a blown strut or loose strut bolts or some such. How would I check that? What does a bad strut look like vs. a good one? Struts and springs are stock. Swaybars are aftermarket. End links are stock in front and aftermarket in the rear. 4. If it is a bad strut, will I cause damage if I have to drive on the car for a week before taking it to a shop? This weekend I'm going to recheck all the swaybar bolts and see if there's any give in the bushings. It really sounds more like a thunk than a squeak, though. A cursory look under the car tells me nothing connected to the swaybars is catastrophically broken.
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Mar 11, 2010 01:50
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How large can I go with wheels/tires on a 2003 WRX for autocross without having to roll fenders? This would not be for daily driving. I'm allowed up to 245 width in STX, but I wonder if putting 17x8" wheels and 245/40/17s will mean having to roll my fenders.
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Jun 27, 2010 00:35
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Hrm, I was hoping not to roll fenders, but I won't be doing it til next season which gives me something like 8 months til the first test and tune next year to figure everything out and get it all done.
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Jun 27, 2010 01:14
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The roadside mount for my front swaybar broke on my 2003 WRX. The swaybar is a whiteline. The other mount and both endlinks look ok for now. Here's a quick video of the problem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll2mdWzsuAk It would be easy enough to take care of if I could just find where to order the part. Everyone under the sun carries all sorts of rear swaybar mounts but no one seems to have front ones, not even big autopart online stores with piles and piles of OEM crap. Anyone know a good place to get this?
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Oct 15, 2011 20:29
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jamal posted:the front swaybar mount is a part of the crossmember/engine cradle. So I'd try to fix or re-tap those holes somehow. I think the missing screw went missing prior to it breaking and caused the other side to weaken rather than vice versa...? It's the only way I can figure it would have broken. I can't find anyone else mentioning this happening outside of a car wreck.
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Oct 17, 2011 02:02
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My 2003 WRX with 99,000 or so miles just started exhibing what almost certainly seems like idler pulley whine. I would normally take this in to be fixed immediately, but I'm currently in the middle of a road trip which has about 500-600 more miles to go before I'm home. Is this something I need to fix immediately and grab a rental car, or can I safely finish the trip in the WRX?
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Dec 29, 2011 04:57
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Cat Terrist posted:Should be fine. And I was. In the course of the last 1200 miles needed to cross the 100,000 mile mark in my 03 WRX, I developed the cold-weather fuel leak (being fixed for free by the dealership presently along with the front control arm recall), a nail through my tire after taking a snowy dirt/mud/gravel/rock road for a total of 80-100 miles, and the pulley whine described earlier. Fortunately, my subie never left me stranded and was a champ on the snowy/icy dirt roads despite having hilariously inappropriate summer atuocross tires on it.  Panorama, which is kind of screwy because my friend taking the panorama was in a hurry so we could avoid blocking the single-lane road. http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=7ccb947e-894a-4d94-ac6d-ea7670f159bf Chaco Canyon is pretty: http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=1316a762-d070-4506-bcd4-2d018ada8cd0 (A friend's pictures, reposted with permission)
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Jan 4, 2012 00:37
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 Subaru.jpg This is after carpooling people across a snow-covered dirt road on summer autocross tires.
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Jan 20, 2012 05:42
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But my picture is from a national park, so it counts for bonus subaru points.
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Jan 20, 2012 23:38
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So the suspension on my 03 WRX is in desperate need of some work, and I'm looking to get new struts/springs/tophats. I daily drive the car, every now and then have some need to hit dirt roads for work, and also autocross. It looks like I can reasonably do 1 or 2 types of builds. The first would be tame, using Eibach pro-kit springs, KYB AGX struts, and new tophats putting the cost of parts around $800ish. Alternately, the TiC package deal would cost more like 13-1500, but seems to be all around better gear. Is the difference drastic? Would buying the cheaper gear be completely not worth it, or is the more expensive set really only necessary for serious competition? What worries me most about the Eibach springs is that they are a pretty significant drop of 1.2ish inches, but perhaps without the spring rate to back that up. Is there an option 3 I have totally overlooked?
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May 7, 2012 14:40
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Eh, we just swapped the GTI over to harder springs and struts, and I quite like it. The WRX is just frankly loose as all hell right now with mountains of bodyroll, and I really should have replaced various suspension bits a while ago. I also don't care about comfort as much because I have no kids to ferry around and almost never have passengers except my wife, whose car is stiffer than mine right now.
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May 7, 2012 14:55
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Sockington posted:Konis are better than the AGXs. Ok. What type of springs go well with the Konis?
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May 7, 2012 15:12
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Ok, so if I go Koni inserts and some springs, do I need new tophats? I'm still on stock 2003 WRX tophats with 102K miles on them.
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May 8, 2012 02:35
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Amandyke posted:Do you have the sedan or wagon? Sedan.
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May 8, 2012 13:38
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jamal posted:here's why you don't go racing with a 5-speed: What mods did that car have?
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May 12, 2012 22:55
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jamal posted:It was the turn in concepts RS. I think a GT30R at 21psi and diffs and an upgraded gear set. So instead of shearing off the gear teeth the case cracks. Oh, that makes more sense then.
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May 13, 2012 14:14
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 02:30 |
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The WRX felt really sluggish yesterday. Today I hooked up my accessport and found it making half its usual boost. Boost leaks are irritating.
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Jun 2, 2012 23:25
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