EJ22 Misfiring!

[Zac]

98 legacy with EJ22 has been misfiring, have been trying to fix it for 3 weeks but too no luck :(

replaced wires, plugs twice, got another MAF, got another coil pack replaced those but still no luck :(

I have no codes either!

I'm running out of ideas :(

[jey]

What about the fuel filter or even the air filter?

[Zac]

What about the fuel filter or even the air filter?

They are new, I even checked fuel pressure before and after the filter.

[green97gt]

Injector or accompanying O-ring, clogged filter on the injector. i had one of those O rings go and cause issues for a while. i cleaned all the injector filters while i was there. made a difference on the butt-dyno.

just a guess.

exhaust have fuel smell? if your getting a misfire and not smelling fuel in exhaust, its most likely a fuel delivery issue.

if you want to test an injector, switch two of them, if the misfire code moves, you win.

CEL other than misfire code?

EDIT: just reread...no codes. DER.

are subarus misfires detected by the variation in speed of the crankshaft sensor like other brands?

[klix]

You should check your crank pulley.
The bolt can unscrew under the right conditions resulting in the crank pulley spinning freely around the key, after awhile it will 'mill' some of the material away and allow the crank to spin seperate from the pulley... causing misfires in any and all cylinders since the timing is now way off.

[Grafton]

You should check your crank pulley.
The bolt can unscrew under the right conditions resulting in the crank pulley spinning freely around the key, after awhile it will 'mill' some of the material away and allow the crank to spin seperate from the pulley... causing misfires in any and all cylinders since the timing is now way off.
the timing wouldn't get messed up unless the timing belt sprocket starts spinning on the crank, the center of my stock pulley was ground out by the key... i did get misfire codes however but i believe that was from the funny rattling that the crank pulley caused as it was being ground out....

[jey]

are subarus misfires detected by the variation in speed of the crankshaft sensor like other brands?

Yes. So that leads to the next question - how is your gas mileage? If your car seems to be running fine but the ECU still thinks it's misfiring maybe your crank/cam sensors are worn out.

[green97gt]

well, hes got no misifire code...so how does he know its misfiring? the feel of the motor?

maybe you have a hole in your piston the size of...the piston and there is no compression resistance so the crankshaft doesnt slow down?...no, it really doesnt work that way.

i know the wifes legacy misfired heavily after overheating, you could feel it, lack of power/ shitty mileage/ sound of missing.. but after resetting the ECU the code never came back, and i put about 300 miles on that crappy motor before i yanked it, we will see what happens when i put it into the outback.

[Zac]

car does not start at all now. I have spark and fuel. I tried cleaning my plugs but they are finished so I will have to go buy some new ones.

There is a white solenoid on my intake manifold thats humming like crazy? its right by the thrtottle body, what is it?

[green97gt]

the only thing i can think of you might be referring to is the idle air control(IAC), mines gray

and i cant imagine a bad idle air control not allowind a car to start...might be wrong.

tried starting it with your foot on the gas a bit? anything?

if you have spark and fuel making it ALL the way into the cylinders, and your cams and crank are turning in time, you should get a cough/sputter at least.

[Zac]

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu80/Zac86/DSC00054.jpg

Thats it with the huge vaccum line on it.

[green97gt]

that is your IAC

[ouch1011]

Have you checked engine compression? Does it sound normal when cranking?

[Zac]

compression and timing is spot on, checked it yesterday.

my MAF was a used one from a forester.

so I threw in new plugs and it ran ok for like 5min, I even drove it around the block and did a couple of WOT pulls in 2nd gear. Parked it back and it started sputtering and died, started it again and it died, started again and still it died. so I started it once more and kept the revs up but it was misfiring like crazy.

Pulled out the plug for cyl #1 and heres what it looks like.
http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu80/Zac86/DSC00060.jpg


Also saw a little coolant here, my coolant resevoir hasnt gone down and its nowhere near the headgasket so i'm guessing its not causing any problems?

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu80/Zac86/DSC00056.jpg

[klix]

Grafton, that is my point :) ...it wouldn't spin on the crank (unless there are bigger issues :lol:), but the real problem is the opportunity it now provides the sprocket to walk on rapid changes in engine speed.

Zac, I'm not all that good at reading plugs... but kinda looks to me like it is heading the direction of gas fouled, which is puzzling because your issue reminds me of corroded MAF wiring or some leak letting unmetered air in... or bad MAF, but looks like you may have ruled that out.
If it is fuel, maybe it's time to recon your injectors? Have you checked the spray and for leaks anyway?

There is some dried coolant near your head gasket, but all the coolant could also have easily come from the coolant tube that runs over the engine. An entry point is actually where the coolant is pooled in the photo... the gasket is rubber and does wear over time, but the only time I ever saw one leak, I just snugged up the bolts (1 or 2 were a little bit loose) and it stopped.

[Zac]

my gas is fouled,

Poored a can of seafoam and a bottle of methyl alcohol into my tank and it actually runs now. Slight misses on idle but I can drive it around town and at WOT it feels fine.

I cannot drive on the highway though, about 15min at constant RPM/speed it fouls my plugs. I'm guessing i'll need to get my whole fuel system cleaned somehow?

[klix]

Sorry green97gt, wasn't trying to steal your thunder (just noticing your post above).

Cleaning the whole fuel system would be hard really and probably more intense than you need to...

There are plenty of places you can send your injectors for re-con, I have done it a number of times and will see if I have any old receipts at home (the place I sent the last few sets to was the cheapest and probably the best go-figure) there are some that will even send you them based on a core exchange to limit downtime... but I have never done it out of fear they might somehow determine that one was garbage.

So other than that, all you really need to do is change the fuel filter and you've pretty much cleaned the system. You might as well change the FPR if your spending a few $$. This is the extreme approach. What was listed above by someone else is pretty cheap and you can get in a kit from NAPA, but will not return the injectr to like-new functioning... just solve some issues (which was correct in his situation, but may not be for everyone). The kits generally come with new gas safe o-rings, filters/screens, and spray tip covers.

I use a little bit of lube to install injectors without pinching the rings... I think I used PB-blast last time, which may or may not be a good idea, but worked without issues later. I have also used a little bit of motor oil on the tip of my finger and even die-electric grease... don't go crazy with whatever you use, you just need a little something to let the rubber ring slide in without gripping the metal.

[green97gt]

hey, no problem. good advice is good advice.


I use a little bit of lube to install injectors without pinching the rings...

i used ATF to keep them from tearing/pinching

but if your running seafoam and other "crap" thru your fuel system and the car runs, i would look at your injectors, especially if the previous owner, or whomever let the fuel filter get awfully bad, the next place gunk will catch is at the injector screens.

either way, to take them out and look/clean them is free, and at this point, is better than just throwing parts at it hoping.