SR power seems laggy

[DataXUnknown]

I have an s13 with a blacktop SR and I just drove another SR the other day and noticed a significant difference.

My SR starts to loose power around 3,700rpm. We have the same setup basically stock, but his you can feel it pull all the way up to 7,000rpm. Mine stops pulling as hard at 3,700rpm and the tone of the exhaust sounds a bit different too, sorta more Subaru-like.

I'm thinking it could be something to do with timing and/or valves. There is loud ticking underneath the valve cover starting from 2,000rpm all the way to 3,000rpm.

Can anyone shine the light on this laggy SR? It's really bugging me. I did the timing myself with the help of a very respectable guy on these forums.

[Homer_Simpson]

Sounds like your timing is being pulled. Have you checked your knock sensor? Search on here and google for ways to diagnose the knock sensor, it will not throw a code when bad.

[jing]

Whenever my engines misfired they started sounding Subaru-like.. might want to look into that?

[godsmack]

possible boost leak with exhaust leak combo. Cheap things to look at. But do you have a 14 black top or just the 13 black top? if it's a 14 sometimes the vtc gets fucked up and you'll have similar sounds.

[DataXUnknown]

I have the s13 blacktop. And I know what it sounds like when it misfires or runs on 3 cylinders, it doesn't sound that much like a Subaru, that's like full Subaru sound. This just has a small pitch to it that kinda gives it a distinct sound.

I don't know where the boost leak could possibly be if there was one. The hoses are pretty new. But I will look into that. Exhaust leak, it leaks a bit by the catalyc converter but thats it.

Now that I think of it, I think maybe I did the timing wrong? I did it with a timing gun and set it to the 2nd mark from the right. Although I read something about you have to set your CAS to 0 first? That I did not do and I'm not sure how to do that.

Still working on checking the knock sensor, probably gonna go ahead and pull codes from the ECU tomorrow.

[GSXRJJordan]

I have the s13 blacktop. And I know what it sounds like when it misfires or runs on 3 cylinders, it doesn't sound that much like a Subaru, that's like full Subaru sound. This just has a small pitch to it that kinda gives it a distinct sound.

I don't know where the boost leak could possibly be if there was one. The hoses are pretty new. But I will look into that. Exhaust leak, it leaks a bit by the catalyc converter but thats it.

Now that I think of it, I think maybe I did the timing wrong? I did it with a timing gun and set it to the 2nd mark from the right. Although I read something about you have to set your CAS to 0 first? That I did not do and I'm not sure how to do that.

Still working on checking the knock sensor, probably gonna go ahead and pull codes from the ECU tomorrow.

Knock sensor seems like a more realistic problem. Your timing is still set from when we did it right? You can't set the CAS to 0, since that's what you set timing with on an SR. Pull codes!

[DataXUnknown]

decided to pull the codes right now after seeing jeffs post. I came out with 55 (no malfunction) and 45 which is apparently an injector leak which would explain my bad gas mileage and i've had problems with them when i first did my sr swap but ran injector cleaner through them and everything was good. so i guess i should start checking for boost leaks after i change my injectors.

stock sr uses the same injectors as a q45 right?

oh and yes the timing is still the same from when we did it^

(ECU is a 63, which from what I remember is a redtop ECU. I'm supposed to have an E5, could that make a difference?)

[GSXRJJordan]

decided to pull the codes right now after seeing jeffs post. I came out with 55 (no malfunction) and 45 which is apparently an injector leak which would explain my bad gas mileage and i've had problems with them when i first did my sr swap but ran injector cleaner through them and everything was good. so i guess i should start checking for boost leaks after i change my injectors.

stock sr uses the same injectors as a q45 right?

oh and yes the timing is still the same from when we did it^

(ECU is a 63, which from what I remember is a redtop ECU. I'm supposed to have an E5, could that make a difference?)

Usually when you pull codes, 55 shows up by itself. If you got two codes, one of em's probably NOT 55. Double check!

It appears that 93-96 VH45DE injectors are drop-in 370cc replacements.

E5 -> 63 isn't a big difference. Fan pinout's different, I believe that's it.

[godsmack]

another thing to think about is the actuator. since it seems you're loosing power once the boost starts in the actuator might be opening up and causing this. do you have a boost controler?

[DataXUnknown]

no boost controller. i think i may just close this thread because last night i believe i got rod knock... :\ so much for laggy sr...

[clark]

to clear things up, a 63 ECU is an automatic redtop S13 SR.

62 is manual redtop.

shit sorry to hear about rod knock. is your oilpan dented? what's your oil PSI?

[Jadeskyline]

Shitty man.....rod knock for sure?