Hey folks, this might be a dumb thread (please tell me if so) but my 04 Outback is running quite poorly and I cannot figure out what it might be. It's a 2.5i in 5MT, so ya know it's not the quickest thing out there but since some time after Xmas it just has zero power at higher revs, like 3000+. First and second gear are usually quite sprightly past 3000 but now it's decidedly sluggish. The needles barely move in fourth and fifth. At high revs it also sort of hiccups and has these very brief surges of power. Down at low revs it's all fairly normal though. I've checked all the **** that I can check without swapping bits around and there doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Coincidentally the spark plugs were stuffed and I have replaced them but the problem persists. I took it in the other day and the guy said it's not the vacuum sensor because they swapped that for a new one to no avail, it's still receiving the full amount of throttle, the fuel pressure and fuel flow are normal and resetting the ECU did nothing. There's no CEL either (although when the key is turned to the stage before starting the engine the malfunction indicator light, engine oil light and battery/generator light stay on but all go out when the engine is started).The k's are getting up there a bit, just over 194000. So, any thoughts lads?
e; should also mention the car starts normally, idles normally and doesn't appear to be making any unusual noises or giving off any weird smells.
Cheers