Forty percent power loss, with clicking noise

STIMAN16

MEMBER
2011 SUBARU WRX
2.5L
4 CYL
TURBO
4WD
MANUAL
122,000 MILES

The car is actually an STI. I was driving it and when I floored it I felt a huge power loss and when I accelerate there is a clicking noise. When I came to a stop light the car stalled. My first thought was timing belt but it was not ripped because my cam was still turning and the car would still turn over but it idles really bad and the rpm's are hard to keep up. I also didn’t get any engine codes and my oil was low when I checked it was at the bottom of the dip stick.

5 Replies

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Hi STIman,

There are a number of things that could cause low power. Here are a couple of guides that go over the most common.

However, the fact that you said it was low on oil and it stalled make me think of low compression.

Have you checked your compression? If not, I would start there and make sure you have an engine that is able to seal and allow the piston to compress the air fuel mixture. If not, then there is no sense in going any further until that is fixed. Let me know what you find with the compression and we can go from there. Thanks

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/symptoms-of-low-engine-power

https://youtu.be/U1RoG3I-Oww

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

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Friday, May 31st, 2019 AT 7:06 PM

STIMAN16

MEMBER
3 POSTS

There is engine compression but to be honest I believe it is my turbo because it was also burning a ridiculous amount of oil and almost no power but I have it in the shop having a diag. Done on it so I will let you know when I find out what it is.

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Saturday, June 1st, 2019 AT 11:32 PM

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Turbo definitely makes sense for the loss of power. I thought of this but figured it would have set a code because the boost desired (commanded) vs actual is monitored. When they are not within a specified parameter it sets a code.

However, I have seen weirder things so that can explain it all. Let me know because now I am really curious. Thanks

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Sunday, June 2nd, 2019 AT 1:19 PM

STIMAN16

MEMBER
3 POSTS

The mechanic figures it is my active valve control system (AVCS) and we are replacing that and if that does not fix it, it will be a full engine rebuild. Because those failing can cause early engine failure.

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Thursday, June 6th, 2019 AT 8:01 AM

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

This system a variable valve system. I imagine he found metal on the screen in the oil control valve (#3/4). If so, then yes the metal is most likely coming from the bearings. This will "clog" your phasers which is what moves the cam properly. When this happens you do lose power but I didn't think of it because it normally is not the drastic that quickly. Normally it gets a little worse until the point that the check engine light comes on and this is what brings you in, not the loss of power complaint.

It is a little odd but if that is what he found, then he is correct about this being a precursor to an engine failure because the metal doesn't "regrow."

Hopefully he didn't find too much metal and replacing this will get you squared away without an engine replacement. Let me know if you need anything else. Thanks

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