Fairtax4me Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 (edited) I've searched and the answers are as scattered as... well, you know. Anyway. I think I have an injector going bad on the wagon. (95 Ej22) It runs rough when it starts, clears up after a few seconds for the most part. Coolant and outside air temps don't affect it. Smells like my old truck when it does this. I've started thinking it must be an injector leaking as it is only a single cylinder misfire. Plus and wires just replaced and seemingly made no difference. It's intermittent. I can feel it fire once or twice on all four, then it will stumble again for a few seconds then clear up. Then it's fine until I start it again. Then it might misfire or it might run perfectly fine. I didn't check what kind of injectors my car had, actually still haven't, but I'm guessing they're the red ones. I got a few of those, but also grabbed a set of grey injectors out of a 94 EJ18 Impreza coupe, from the junkyard this weekend. I'm wondering if anyone knows for certain if there is a difference in flow rate between Ej18 and Ej22 injectors. The info I can find some say yes but they aren't sure of the exact difference, others say there is no difference. Anyone know for sure? Edited June 9, 2011 by Fairtax4me The wagon strikes again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Nobody knows? Eh well, I swapped them in anyway. Except for the first start after the swap (loads and loads of gas dumps into the intake when you pull the injectors out) it seems OK now. Need to start it a few more times to see how it acts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 9, 2011 Author Share Posted June 9, 2011 (edited) No dice with the "new" injectors in. Still runs rough, smokes a bit at startup. ~98° today and it was blowing steam on startup. Guess the disappearing coolant wasn't just a fluke. I think I'm dealing with... The "H-word". Shh!!! The wagon strikes again! Edited June 9, 2011 by Fairtax4me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Herniated something between the block and heads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 9, 2011 Author Share Posted June 9, 2011 Yeah, I have a love-hate relationship with this thing. It loves making me hate it. Gonna herniate my foot up it's tail-pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I thought all grey injectors are CA spec and red are for all other states.. at least that's what I found out when i thought I had to do injectors on my 95 every single place i searched the grey colored injectors were on CA bound cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eulogious Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Just thought I would share this link that might have some helpful info abut the injectors, or at least gives some background: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=117696&highlight=injectors I made the post while I was having injectors problems on my 1990 lego. Might or might not be of any use, but thought the background info might help... Good luck man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 so, is it the one you replaced already or the other one? or both this time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Are you sure the spark plugs and plug wires are good?? Old wires, or cheap after market wires will cause the problem you are having. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 9, 2011 Author Share Posted June 9, 2011 (edited) so, is it the one you replaced already or the other one? or both this time? I don't know yet. I need to pull the plugs to see which one isn't firing. NGK plugs and wires are brand new and helped with a damp weather issue, but not this one. This popped up shortly after the timing belt fiasco. Also have a couple of lifters making noise lately on the passenger head, the one I replaced the valve in. I never did do a compression check after replacing the valve. So I guess I'll do that this weekend when I have the plugs out. It runs great after the stumble clears up, no other symptoms besides rough running for a few seconds after starting. I noticed at the beginning of the week the fans seemed to be cycling a bit more than usual even though it was cooler outside than it had been last week. That's when I found out the coolant was low. Thanks for the link about the injectors. Edited June 9, 2011 by Fairtax4me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbennett2u Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 He said he already replaced plugs and wires. Plus the steam isnt a good sign EDIT: oops guess I am a post late Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 Compression readings 1: 196 psi 2: 177 3: 193 4: 180 The engine was mostly warm. It ran for about 5 minutes, and it was about 95°F outside temp this afternoon when I did the test. Temp needle was in the middle. Spark plugs 1,3,and 4 have normal greyish white deposits that you would expect from normal combustion. Deposits on number 4 were a bit "whiter" than the other two, possibly running a hair lean. Number 2 plug is fairly clean. Only a small amount of grey deposit on the ground electrode near the very tip, and the ceramic has some minor greyish coloring. The rest of the plug looks a little sooty but otherwise clean. Smoking gun? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 I've decided since both heads have to come off I'm going to put a set of Delta cams in. Just can't decide if I want the torque grind or the street grind. It isn't too happy going up the hills around here so I'm thinking it could use a little extra bottom end power. Anybody know which is better suited for an automagic? I'd still like to know exactly which side is leaking so I'm going to try a few more things to see if I can figure it out, but I'm thinking I'll just do both sides anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 Well, it's not the side I replaced. I never did find actual wet coolant on any of the plugs, and plug appearance didn't offer any immediate clues. So I did a leak-down test today after work. Put shop air on number 4 and the coolant in the radiator immediately pushed up and started bubbling over like a boiling kettle. Testing the other 3 cylinders got nothing more than a small whiff of oil fumes from the crankcase. Now I have to wonder just how long it has been like this, and could it have played a part in causing the burnt valve (overheating) that put it on the market for sale to begin with. I get the feeling the PO didn't know of any issues with it losing coolant. I may do an oil analysis on it to see if there is bearing wear from overheating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 so the bad valve you replaced was on the other head? could the kid driving it on 3 cylinders for so long have added to the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 Yes, the burnt valve was on number 1. I'm very inclined to think this must have been a contributor to the burnt valve. Thinking back, when I went to look at it the seller started it and I remember it ran funny for a few seconds then cleared up. (cleared up as well as an engine with a burnt valve could) After repairing the valve it was fine for a few days, then I started noticing it having this trouble when starting. When I looked at the car I remember finding some nasty dark brownish-greyish crud on the bottom of the radiator cap and all around the neck in the radiator, and I just brushed it off as needing a flush. I wiped all that out later when I was putting it back together after replacing the valve. The same crud has since returned. So now I'm thinking it must be combustion byproduct deposits making their way up to the top of the radiator. I'm pretty positive this must have been leaking before the burnt valve. The coolant got low and the engine got a little hot, if not overheated, with a college student behind the wheel driving up a mountain with a cracked knock sensor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbennett2u Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Can a cracked knock sensor actually do damage to the engine? I thought the ECU just kicked the timing back to a "safe" level when it failed and the only issue this caused was to lower performance some and trigger the CEL? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 i was reading this thread and saw your part on when removing the injector it poured gas into the intake. To prevent this from happening, prior to disassembly, please unplug the fuel pump connector, and let the car stall out, this depressurizes the system of fuel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 Can a cracked knock sensor actually do damage to the engine? I thought the ECU just kicked the timing back to a "safe" level when it failed and the only issue this caused was to lower performance some and trigger the CEL? Yes it can, depending on the type of failure. In some cases the sensor can fail and not set a code right away. If the sensor doesn't respond to spark knock, the ECU has no way of knowing it is happening. If the condition that is causing the knock continues (poor fuel, advanced timing, high engine temp, etc) it can crack the piston, damage the piston crown, break the ring lands, break the spark plug. Spark knock creates higher combustion chamber temps, which only worsens the problem, since high temps also cause spark knock. So theoretically, a bad knock sensor can lead to combustion conditions that can cause major engine damage. To prevent this from happening, prior to disassembly, please unplug the fuel pump connector, and let the car stall out, this depressurizes the system of fuel. That will relieve the pressure, but there will be still fuel in the rails. The better thing would have been to remove the feed line from the filter and blow the fuel out of the rails first with air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricearu Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 even if the sensor says its bad, the "safe" timing isn't that bulletproof. Mine still gets spark knock under load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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