I'd heard that Gary knows a little about these Mitsubishi thingies so I reckoned he ought to give it a once over before I blow it up. On the road, it feels quite lively and responsive but with no guages to show what's happening I thought it best to stick it on the rollers and see.
Very impressed with the APT setup. I've been to a few Subaru 'specialists' and the premises range from super slick to downright grubby. APT gives the impression of the right balance of clean, tidy and efficient so the work and costs should also be nicely balanced. Super clean worries me that it'll be super expensive. Ultra grubby means the time the guy is working on your car is extended while he looks for the right tool or bit of equipment that's been left where it was last used or buried under a pile of crap. So, first impressions when I walked in was that everyone was gainfully employed in a neat, clean environment. A good start.
Had a quick chat with Christian about what I thought was wanted. He booked it in and as soon as a ramp was clear, in came my car looking a little ordinary compared to the other rally car and big power jobbies.
All I really thought I wanted was a check of the AYC system, gear box and diff oils with a cursory glance at what might be about to break or fall off underneath. The engine wasn't very happy idling and sometimes cuts out when coming to a stop. It didn't like hard acceleration but I changed the plugs the day before and that had it improved no end but still not right.
Gary stuck his head under the bonnet and after a few sucks of breath through his teeth, a shake or two of the head and at least one "Oh Dear" decided that the idle was due to a faulty crank sensor. A glance at the waste gate actuator and he decided, with confirmation from a small vacuum pump that it was knackered.
So, with no more ado, Chris got on with sorting the AYC fluid change and the transmission fluids, That quickly done, it was on to the rollers and the dreaded power run. Despite my, now unconvincing, claims that it felt quick, Gary dashed all hopes that my arse dyno was anything like accurate. 297bhp and an awful trace on the screen. No further dyno run was attempted and will have to await remedial work to be done first.
But.....despite being up to their eyes in work and knowing I have a day at Cadwell next week, they created a space in their work schedule and it's booked in on Friday to sort those few problems. It will mean Gary working a couple of night shifts but I'm sure he's used to that
From there, it'll hopefully be running OK and can manage a dyno run that resembles something other than a broken saw blade.Crank sensor needs the timing belt to be removed, so a new belt to go on, new waste gate actuator on the 'small' TD05, sling the SAS pipework and carbon canister system and see what transpires. And get shot of the awful dump valve that sees the thing jerking on throttle lift.
Still feels good on the road though or maybe I'm comparing it with the V40 2.0 auto
Next update after Friday.
