'95 Legacy missing out

[JOEGIL]

95 Legacy missing out after engine warms for 2-3 minutes.  Idles smooth for that length of time, then a cylinder stops firing.  Will sporatically fire at around 2, 000 rpm.  Installed new timing kit about 1, ooo mls ago.  Ran fine for a month.  My first thought is that the timing jumped, but the smooth running at first start throws me off.  Thank you for any input.

[1 Lucky Texan]

miles on car? 2.2l engine? new to you? well maintained?

how old are the plugs? which cyl is missing?

 

[JOEGIL]

270,000.  2.2. new to me. Typical 250,000 + mile wear n tear.  Previous owner maintained well for 6 years, (friend of mine)  Plugs are clean and fairly new appearing.  Not sure which cylinder at this point.  I was driving when it suddenly lost power.  No backfiring.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

95 is probably OBDII, part store should be able to read codes, if possible, ask for 'freezeframe' data too.

 

or consider an OBD app for a smartphone (like Torque) with a cheap ELM327 BT adapter (bafx, veepeak - check Amazon)

 

if missing is confined to one cylinder - swap its plug wire with another cylinder and see if problem follows. OEM plug wires GREATLY preferred if they need changing.

[JOEGIL]

thanks, again.  I'll start into it this weekend.  Is there a chance the timing has jumped, since I did replace timing components?

[1 Lucky Texan]

backfiring or very poor running in all conditions could indicate slipped timing I guess.

if you get to a point where you want to check, pull the covers, align the marks, find the tooth count for your engine and check for slipped timing. (belt marks are only good for installation.)

knock sensors go bad often with no CEL. and will kill power., easy/cheap to replace

Edited August 3, 2018 by 1 Lucky Texan

[heartless]

ok, there is no "probably an OBDII" - a 1995 Legacy IS OBDII - I should know, I had one... wish I still did in some respects.

Code readers can be picked up fairly cheaply, and if you really can not afford one, most chain auto parts stores (Advance, Autozone, etc) will read them for free - they will not clear them for you, but at least you will know what you are dealing with. It is important to note the order the codes appear in, and the P-number.. example: P0301 (cylinder 1 misfire)

The reason for noting the order is that one issue can set off a bunch of codes.. kind of like a domino effect. Fix the first one on the list, clear the codes and see what (if any) comes back.

for 95 especially - Plain old copper core NGK plugs - you do NOT need anything else - it is just a waste of money in a bone stock 2.2 of that age. New plugs at the proper gap are in order.. don't guess, make it so

Plug wires - either OEM or NGK ONLY. Parts store wires WILL cause problems - been there, done that. If they are anything but Subaru or NGK - plan on replacing those as well.

Knock Sensor - this car can use the cheap one, so plan on replacing it, just because.. one bolt, fairly easy to do. 

Chances are the timing did not jump - easy starting and smooth initial idle would bear this out. My money is on something else.

[mikec03]

I have had a lot of experience with the 95's and 2.2 engines.   The MAF is a likely suspect.  On one car, it caused random stalls without a code.  Don't clean it, just get a used one from the junk yard.  Another car had a stall from a bad TPS, although that set a code so it was an easy fix.

And +1 to replacing the spark plugs with NGK copper.  Old spark plugs with cause hesitation and stalls.  Just be sure to replace at less then 30K intervals. 

Edited August 4, 2018 by mikec03