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Changing spark plugs on my 95 Legacy EJ22


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I bought a upull junk yard 2.2 one time that had 89k on it. It should low compression, Turned out the belt slipped 2 teeth and it was enough to show low compression. Changed the belt, put the engine in and it ran great with 175 psi in all cylinders.

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Thanks I will check that out. I've never done anything with the timing belt. It seems like you have to get a lot of stuff off to get at it.

 

Do I have to take the alternator belt off and then pull the radiator out to look at it?

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Should there be a belt on that other pulley there on the right?

That is just the A/C belt only needed if you want your A/C to work. Check out videos on You tube for the timing belt job. Probably one the easiest cars in the world to do timing belts on. 

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I don't even bother to take the fans out, much less the radiator, but if you've never done a timing job before it makes it much easier to get to things and see what you're doing.

 

Beergarage.com also has a good writeup for the timing belt.

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hard for me to guess how the ECU would respond. It may be dumping fuel into the cylinders in reaction to exhaust diluted with fresh air from incompletely closed valves....?

 

If you could the fuel trims from FreexeFrame data (or better, live data) we might know more but, it's an easy, important thing to double check the valve timing. It also gives you a chance to see if there's any cam or crank seal leakage, if the belt looks old or chewed-up, etc.

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The fuel does not detonate properly leaving unburnt gas fouling the plugs. This will also kill your catalytic converter which can get real expensive.

This reminds me that I noticed some soot coming out of my tailpipe. There have been a lot of things popping up lately and I'm having trouble remembering all the symptoms. I've been taking a lot of pictures to help me out

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hard for me to guess how the ECU would respond. It may be dumping fuel into the cylinders in reaction to exhaust diluted with fresh air from incompletely closed valves....?

 

If you could the fuel trims from FreexeFrame data (or better, live data) we might know more but, it's an easy, important thing to double check the valve timing. It also gives you a chance to see if there's any cam or crank seal leakage, if the belt looks old or chewed-up, etc.

 

Sorry I'm not familar with FreexeFrame?

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sorry, FreezeFrame.

 

it's a limited amount of data some OBDII readers can get when reading codes.

 

fuel trims and temperatures etc from some sensors at the time the CEL was set. My old Innova 3100 can read FreezeFrame data.

 

not as good as live data from FreeSSM or maybe that torque app for smartphones.

 

if you have a smartphone, check into an elm327 BT adapter and the Torque app.

 

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The fuel does not detonate properly leaving unburnt gas fouling the plugs. This will also kill your catalytic converter which can get real expensive.

 

Here are some before and after pics of my plugs. the before is driving on the for about 3 hours, i pulled them this am to check them out.

 

the after is after trying to start the car this AM, the idle was rough, liquid came out of the exhaust and it shut off before it warmed up fully and wouldnt start again.

 

I was hoping to bring it to a mechanic I know to help me look at the timing, but probably not going anywhere today.

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No guarantee that it's the timing, but that's easy enough to check. (And free)

 

 

Could have a dead coolant temp sensor telling the ECU that its -40° so its flooding it with fuel.

Fuel washed piston rings will also cause the compression to be very low.

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No guarantee that it's the timing, but that's easy enough to check. (And free)

 

 

Could have a dead coolant temp sensor telling the ECU that its -40° so its flooding it with fuel.

Fuel washed piston rings will also cause the compression to be very low.

timing parts seemed fine. also found some records that the timing was replaced about 30,000 miles ago.

 

I replaced the coolant temp sensor, and found a broken vacuum line in the process. it was going into this part, is that the fuel pressure regulator?

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You'll get that if the engine is only running for a short time. Especially if there is alot of soot in the exhaust from running too rich.

 

With no vacuum line on the FPR it will be running full fuel pressure at idle, which will make it run rich.

 

The question now is, why is it still stalling.

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If I give it gas it will stay on. When the foot comes off the pedal, it dies shortly after.

 

maybe IAC or EGR? maybe another vacuum line is cracked? the PCV valve hose seemed pretty loose where it connects on the bottom (into the block).

 

I cleaned the egr valve and it seemed to be working ok. lines going in and out of it seemed clear.

New plugs, new wires, new coolant temperature sensor, timing components seem ok.

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