dballs

I had a 96 2.2 and ran it from 120,000 to 318,000 miles, It was an awesome car. This make model and year happens to be exempt from state emissions OBDII inspection if they plug it in at inspection time in your state. The computer completely clears its self when you shut the key off every time so the Monitors are never "Ready". Just something to keep in mind when you have a light on at inspection time, just clear it and pull it in the shop.

I'll have to try changing the injectors out. The timing advance shows 40° on the scan tool which seems abnormal but I'm not sure what a normal reading is.

Things looked good in the ports. Put a set of OEM wires on and set the plug gap and it runs perfect now. Fuel trim still around negative 30 but it seems to run great. Checked the compression while i was there and 3 were at 205 and one was at 210. Thx for the help

Not yet, wont be able to until sometime this weekend, working double shifts. I think you are on the right track about the valves sticking though, good call.

Nick B- I am definitely going to change the wires, they look like aftermarket with mismatched cylinder numbers on them. Fairtax- I will check the vacuum and intake this weekend. I will take a look at the timing belt alignment but im certain its good especially after what I found last night. I believe I have a Ho2s, thats what it says on the hood emissions sticker and it is a 4 wire unit. I dont have time to change the oil to synthetic until at least the weekend so I decided to throw one of those bottles of "oil treatment" that are the consistancy of honey in. I figured for $2.50 why not try, I also filled up with 93 instead of 87 and After about 20 mins of drive time the problem was 90% gone. Accelerates very strong with a slight hesitation in the midrange. I pulled a local hill at 80+ no problem, before I would be lucky to make it past 45 up the same hill. Fuel trim reading about negative 25 now. New question: On my scan tool, for the oxygen sensor, should I be looking at the reading from the Oxygen Sensor bank 1 (Reading 2-5v) or the "equivelance ratio (lambda)" Which is reading 0.8 - 1.0 Thx for all the help and replies

i thought that seemed high but didn't want to blow $150 on an o2 sensor without knowing for sure

Plug oil seals were replaced with head gasket. I will check the fuel pressure. I will check wiring harness and grounds and probably replace wires for the heck of it. Thx for the info. Will report back

Now that you mention it, it got a lot worse after I changed the oil last. Had semi synthetic in and went with conventional. My last Subaru had a similar problem. Would run like DeaTh unless I ran full synthetic... It had sticking valves too. I'll also change back to full syn oil and see what happens

The valves were adjusted exactly to spec in order . Ran fine since job until recently. I'll pull the header and look at the guides but I don't know if they were inspected. Had a Subaru shop do the job. The for the info

I am trying to diagnose a misfire/bogging/backfire problem with my 03 Legacy GT 2.5 with 125,000 miles. It runs better when cold but not perfect but when it gets warmed up the condition gets real bad. It has trouble climbing hills and accelerating, it backfires, pops, shakes and runs horrible. Plugs are only 10,000 miles old and were gapped to spec, wires look to be in good condition, fuel filter is 3000 miles old. valves were adjusted 10,000 miles ago along with new head gaskets, timing belt and all that good stuff. If I run 93 octane the condition gets better but is not gone completely. My scan tool shows the following on a long drive: SHRTFT1=0.8 LONGFT1=0.0 SHRTFT3= (-28.1) LONGFT3= (-28.1) Front oxygen sensor is reading 2-5 volts, fluctuating but averaging about 4v Had a flashing check engine light once, shut car off and restarted and it never came back. Showed misfire on cyl3. After that No codes ever returned. If i feather the throttle VERY lightly it will drive ok but anymore than 5-10% it runs bad. I tried unplugging the front o2 sensor and running it and it had no change. There is no exhaust leaks, no vacuum leaks. Stumped and do not want to start throwing unnecessary parts at it unless I run out of options. According to what I have read, it is running rich or the computer thinks it is and it could be, coil pack, front o2 sensor, stuck open injector, bad wires, bad fuel pressure regulator. The fact that it runs a little better cold makes me think o2 sensor or coil. Any thoughts???

I asked him but he replied with "we don't use shop towels when we do head-gaskets" and I got nowhere. I think I am going to send the oil sample out to blackstone and have them take a look to see how much metal is in it.

Update: Still holding strong pressure, 80 psi on startup. 40psi cruising. Hopefully the internals hold up for the long haul.

If your worried about the cel and inspection test, the 96 is exempt from the laws. Every time the car is shut down, it clears the computer and the readiness monitors are never ready. Clear the light, pull it into shop for inspection.

Thanks for the replies, they both make sense and to be honest I don't know exactly where the crack was before. It was cracked all over the bottom. I will be there when they put the next one in to inspect the pinchweld and also for anything that it may rest on if it were to slide down.

I have had 3 windshields put in my 03 Legacy GT in the past year. Every time a new one gets installed it cracks as soon as I hit the heated Windshield button for the wipers. Any thoughts?? I haven't paid a nickle for any of them but its getting annoying. I guess I could stop pushing the button.