'96 EJ25D Cyl. 2 Misfire

[Numbchux]

'96 Legacy Outback Wagon, 4EAT, DOHC EJ25D, 126k miles.

mysterious rough-running, stumbling, etc. only while under load (not necessarily driving, but never does it in park or neutral). noticeably aggravated by the A/C compressor (symptoms come and go as the compressor cycles on and off), although sometimes the symptoms appear independent of the A/C.

occasionally the CEL will flash for a minute (indicating misfire....), plug in the code reader, and it's always cyl. 2.

quick visual inspection of the engine bay doesn't reveal any noticeable problems.


Thoughts?!

[Sarra]

Do a tune up?

[decke48]

its plugs and wires or maybe the injector? unlikely though

[jey]

I'd check the following in this order:

- Vacuum hoses
- Spark plug
- Plug wire
- Injector
- Compression Test

[Sarra]

I'd add "coil pack" to that list. If you run bad spark plugs too long, the wires will go bad, then the coil pack goes bad. Then, you replace just the plugs and wires, and still have a bad coil pack, and still get mis-fires and blinkey MIL light.

[Airgne]

I'd add "coil pack" to that list. If you run bad spark plugs too long, the wires will go bad, then the coil pack goes bad. Then, you replace just the plugs and wires, and still have a bad coil pack, and still get mis-fires and blinkey MIL light.
+1

[Numbchux]

well, this condition developed pretty suddenly and recently, so hopefully it hasn't damaged anything else.

I'm going to go over and try swapping the #2 and #4 plug wires to see if it follows or not....

[Numbchux]

today I swapped #2 and #4 plug wires. and pumped some SeaFoam through it. with zero change. I bought some new NGK plugs, and have another coil and igniter (although I'm hesitant to suspect either, as I bet the wasted spark design would cause a misfire on #4 as well) to try tomorrow. I will also try to get my hands on a compression tester while I'm in there (god I hope it's not a burnt valve :( ).