car loses some power when cold? any ideas

[alphabet8686]

hey pretty much what post says but once warm it runs sweet. just something I want to sort out

[lachlan]

as in the engine is cold ? or the weather is cold ?

what car is it

how do you know its losing power

[Kiwi_Fozze]

Car engine cold? If so, don\'t boot it. You\'ll bugger it.

[Stodart]

 kwi_fozze said:

Car engine cold? If so, don\'t boot it. You\'ll bugger it.

Absolutely engine doesn\'t run efficiently ie develop full power until it has warmed up, ie most of engine wear occurs when cold so need to take it easy. eg l don\'t exceed 3000rpm until car has warmed up usually sit on 2500rpm (subaru engines develop a reasonable amout of torque at 2500rpm)

If its running cold / slow to warm up the thermostat may be jammed open or may have been removed to cover up overheating issues, if this is the case the heater doesn\'t work / heat very well.

[alphabet8686]

yeah when engine is cold acceleration drops off then picks up again and when it is warm it runs like normal its a 97 legacy wagon twin turbo

[alphabet8686]

any help greatly appreciated I just got it and they replaced the air flow meter and coils on the spark plugs because it was doing it even when it was warm. weird, runs sweet warm and like it did before cold so it must be another problem

[Stodart]

sorry can\'t help with modern stuff ie sensors / electronic engine management etc as very much old school as most recent car (01 Outback) is this 1st i\'ve owned with this, and have had no issues with it in this issue

[Guest]

Factory tune is set so it cant be driven hard when not up to temp. Its a safety thing for people um like you obviously. Well thats the way I figure it anwyay as my V5 and foz had the same issue till warm. Just feels detuned till comes up to temp.

[nickmcgill]

I\'m not sure if it\'s an ECU controlled thing or if it\'s just the way it is.

Regardless you shouldn\'t be loading the car when its cold unless there is a tsunami or something similar behind you.

I try and even avoid going above 0psi until it\'s warmed up properly.

[Guest]

Well it references the ECT on the warm up cycle...

[Kiwi_Fozze]

I try to never go above 0psi until at least 70degrees oil temp. Takes about 15 mins longer than water temp

[Marky]

Are you saying it just feels poor, or it surges unevenly?

All engines are a bit poor when cold - that\'s a given - but a lot of people seem to accept that Subarus will surge and run like crap when cold. They shouldn\'t, it\'s more just a lot of aging parts all playing their part - mine ran terribly cold when I got it but a decent once over of the thing and you wouldn\'t pick a cold motor apart from high idle and no heater haha

Look at afm, O2 sensor age and vacuum leaks primarily

[alphabet8686]

nah starts good then when you accelerate out of the driveway theres no power there then kicks into gear and goes like normal again

[D-Style]

Temp sensor

[alphabet8686]

thanks bro

[lachlan]

 kwi_fozze said:

I try to never go above 0psi until at least 70degrees oil temp. Takes about 15 mins longer than water temp

something is seriously wrong if your oil takes longer to warm up then your water

[loganrasti]

 lachlan']

[quote name='kwi_fozze said:

I try to never go above 0psi until at least 70degrees oil temp. Takes about 15 mins longer than water temp

/quote]

something is seriously wrong if your oil takes longer to warm up then your water

+1 something is not right if your oil takes 15 mins to warm up to 70 degrees after water has

[Kiwi_Fozze]

Erm... no, as the water temp sensor reads water temp at the block, but *my* oil temp sensor is in the sump.

[Swindog]

Temp sensor, o2 or afm.

If its fine when its warm id narrow that to o2 or temp sensor. So start with the temp sensor.

[Marky]

Fozze - I dare you to go out, let the car idle (just idle) for ten mins, then dump the sump oil onto your hand and tell me it\'s cold

We can judge the temperature of it by the degree of burn you get

[nickmcgill]

Whats the estimated life of an O2 sensor these days ?

[94 Leone]

(price you pay for them* how bad your luck is)/K\'s your car has done + number of cylinders your car has=

length of time (in years, months or days(depending on how bad your luck is)) of how long yor O2 sensor will last.

In all seriousness, they should last for quite a while (between 70,000km- 90,000km), some may crap out prematurely due to random/unlucky issues.

[pedro]

"Water/coolant warms up in just a few minutes but oil takes up to 30 minutes to get up to normal operating temperature of 200 degrees F ...

Quote...Bob is the oil guy..

...Motor oil university #108 ..