Hi all. I'm having a hard time figuring out what's going on with my car (recently purchased 95 Turbo wagon w/80K). When I first start the car in the morning and the engine is cold, it will run like the preverbial bat out of hell. After 2-3 minutes, the car has noticeably less power, eventually when the car is fully warmed up I am not getting very good acceleration at all, a touch better than a non-turbo car but not even close to the performance when it is relatively cold.

I've checked the vacuum and turbo hoses and have not found any leaks thus far, I have also done the plugs/wires/rotor/cap bit as it appeared they were all original and the wires were visibly arcing when viewed in the dark. The car runs smooth as silk with no major issues, just the diminishing power as it gets warm.

Could this be the catalytic converter, fuel pump??? I'm hoping someone else has gone down this road before...

Side note, sometimes when accelerating at a constant rate, I feel a bit of surging, like it wants to go, then lags, wants to go, then lags, etc... Fuel economy is fair, 18mpg in town, 28 on the highway.

fuel filter

Second the fuel filter

Thanks guys, I'll replace the fuel filter (the original one appears to be in place and the car has 85k, so it's time anyhow). I'll repost if the problem persists!!!

Hi TH,

Have you checked the on board diagnostic box and got any codes? Is your check engine light on?

Hey Steve, I'm not getting a check engine light and there are no codes through the OBD port. Is there a possibility that there are other codes that could be read through the test ports under-hood?

This problem really seems temperature related, I just can't figure out if there is a corresponding sensor that could be out, clogged fuel filter or defective pump, leaking hose (only problematic under load), or other, maybe even a blocked catalytic converter. I'm kind of stumped.

Hi TH,

Yes, I mean the black box under the hood in the front passenger side. The one that has the lead you plug into the differnet A and B ports.
You said it is a '95. The '95 also has the OBD plug in the center console but I think that some one said that you still get the codes from under the hood for that year.

Steve, thanks for the reply. I'll see what my Haynes has to say about the diagnostics. I figured the OBD would let me know what was going on but perhaps the diagnostic ports will have further info for me to work from...

I'm having the same problem with my '94 n/a 850. It actually started months ago with an intermittant starting problem. It got more severe and other weird things started happening. Since then I have changed:

Fuel Filter
Spark Plugs
Spark Wires
Distributer Cap
Distributer Rotor
CMP Sensor
RPM Sensor
Flame Trap Assembly

and thouroughly cleaned every sensor/etc. along the way. The lagging while driving came just after a total no start and the CMP sensor replacement. Then, magically, it went away completely for a few days of in-city driving. Just last weekend I drove 80 or so miles to a cabin and about half way there, the problem came back worse than ever. I already have a fuel pressure regulator on hand and plan on replacing that this week along with brake rotors/pads. I thought the list here might help at least narrow it down as it seems we have the same problem, though it doesn't really help with the CAT as suspect. After driving, does it smell like somethings not burning right, maybe a little like sulfer?