Misifire Issue after Plugs change.

[Perkul8r]

Ok so here is the story. I have a 04 Legacy with the EJ251 SOHC. It has around 104,000 miles. I decided to do some tune up work to it to try and make it last longer.

So, last night I changed the plugs out with NGK plugs that are listed in the Chiltons manual as being compatible. I also was trying to get the timing belt changed too. But we didn't have the right tool to hold the crankshaft pulley, and it accidently got turned counter clockwise a little bit.

I gave up after that and I finished putting the plugs in. And once that was done I fired the car up. And now it spits and sputters like crazy. I did the plugs on at a time so as not to mess up plugs wires. So i know the firing order is fine.

Now, I did suspect that Cylinder #2 was not firing. I pulled the plug on it and it was gas soaked. I swapped the plug with an old one and the same affect. I than swapped plugs wires from 2 to 4 and than it seemed like it was doing the gas soaked plug on cylinder #4. So than I swapped wires again back to #2 and put an old plug in the wire aand attempted to start it to see if I had spark. And it did. I tried both the new plug and the old one. Both had the same results.

Now I am lost. The car was running fine before this, I just wanted to do a tune up. My questions are:
1. Could the timing had possibly jumped when the crank pulley accidently got turned counter clockwise,
2. Is there anything else that I could check before jumping in and pulling everything apart to check the timing.

Any help would be great. My family and I are supposed to go back home tomorrow, so I am trying to get this fixed asap.

Thanks.

[Perkul8r]

Got it fixed. Had to take it all the way down and redo the timing. While i was in there I replaced the belt itself and some other things.

[Huffer]

Sorry no-one else chimed in here but my first thought reading the original post was "timing belt!". Sometimes it's best to do one maintenance item at a time. Glad you got it solved though! :)

[Perkul8r]

Ya, I was not surprised it was the timing belt. I was gonna hold off on changing it, but now that I had a chance to look at it I am glad I did. The ribs themselves looked amazing. But there were a couple spots where the belt itself was cracking from side to side. I dont think it would have lasted long.

I was just hoping that someone had run into the same issues. I just decided to tear into and do it all. Which worked out for the best.

But now the car is running like a champ. I took it for a drive and it seems like a whole different car. lol

Still, a big thanks to SLI for the FSM's for the car. I had a chiltons, but it wasn't all that clear.

[ouch1011]

Is your car an auto? The manual trans ej engines (most of them anyway) have belt guides that go over the top of the belt and keep it from skipping if the engine is turned backwards (such as if you put the trans in 1st and let the car roll backwards).

[Perkul8r]

Ya, its an auto. So no guard on there. I read that in the manuals too. Oh well. Lesson learned, and now I know how to change it.