Terpodion Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 '03 Impreza 2.5 liter. Long story - short: I put my spark tester on all four wires. The two rear cylinders have very weak current coming off the coil. I'm not real familiar with this car. It's my 6th Subaru but the first of this generation. The other five were the old GL and DL pushrod engined cars. Should I just go ahead and replace the coil or might it be something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Replace the coil GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terpodion Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 I found this on an Outback forum: " i had this similar issue for a year and I solved it so. it was merely a poor ground issue. i removed the ground wires that were connected to the manifold and screwed to the firewall and near the fender. they were corroded and i sand papered all these areas and also reinforced those grounds with thicker wires and problem was solved immediately. i spent over 800 dollars in coils until I really had to sit down and think." Grounds are really important in cars. I once had a Pontiac that was almost impossible to shift out of park because the transmission cable was trying to weld itself to the housing. The ground strap to the transmission had broken and it was grounding through the cable / cable housing. I'm going to try cleaning up the ground strap. It may take me a few days because I'm busy with a charity construction project for a little old lady whose house got flooded and my foot got run over by one of those big steel carts in a home improvement store while buying flooring materials. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 The coil pack has two coils in it along with transistors (ignitor) to fire the coils. The front two cylinders share the same coil and the two rear cylinders share the same coil, so two plugs fire at the same time. (wasted spark) Get a coil and plug wires from a scrap yard. You don't want an aftermarket coil. If you buy plug wires or spark plugs, get NGK. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terpodion Posted August 24, 2020 Author Share Posted August 24, 2020 21 hours ago, Rampage said: The coil pack has two coils in it along with transistors (ignitor) to fire the coils. The front two cylinders share the same coil and the two rear cylinders share the same coil, so two plugs fire at the same time. (wasted spark) Get a coil and plug wires from a scrap yard. You don't want an aftermarket coil. If you buy plug wires or spark plugs, get NGK. That makes perfect sense why it's acting this way. But ok, I'll bite; what's wrong with aftermarket coils? Rock Auto sells eight different brands other than the OEM Hitachi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 2 hours ago, Terpodion said: That makes perfect sense why it's acting this way. But ok, I'll bite; what's wrong with aftermarket coils? Rock Auto sells eight different brands other than the OEM Hitachi. They are garbage. What more do you need than the experience of this board? We wouldn't confidently say these things if we didn't have the experience to back it up. Some of us do this for a living. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terpodion Posted August 25, 2020 Author Share Posted August 25, 2020 10 minutes ago, GeneralDisorder said: They are garbage. What more do you need than the experience of this board? We wouldn't confidently say these things if we didn't have the experience to back it up. Some of us do this for a living. GD How about the OEM Hitachi? I don't want to deal with the junkyards around here right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 OEM is typically Diamond. Hitachi is one of many "OEM manufacturers" - means they make parts for Subaru. Alternators for one. Not sure about coil packs. The good one's are typically Diamond. Try eBay. Or yards where they pull the parts for you. Or - here's an idea - buy a new one from the Subaru parts department! GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terpodion Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 I bought a Duralast from Autozone. So shoot me. The car actually runs on all 4 now and the part is so easy to change out, it's ridiculous. If it lasts 6 months, I'm good. $104.67 and I'll just buy another one - I think it may have a lifetime warranty. Quite frankly, I don't care. I intend to sell the car and find an older model - a GL or DL - one with the pushrod engine. We are not talking daily driver here. I have three SAABS for that. True highway cars that have leather seats with butt warmers, rain sensing windshield wipers and automatic napkin folders. I want an old Soob with dual range 4 wheel dive that I can drive into the New Jersey Pine Barrens on weekend adventures, look for abandoned villages and treasure buried by Pine Robbers and not have to worry about getting stuck in 2 foot deep sugar sand. Ideally it has a lift kit and a winch on the front bumper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 I am truly sorry that you are so incredibly misguided as to own anything from SAAB. That is really unfortunate. Don't bother with anything from the GL/DL series. They are dead platforms with no parts availability. If you want old school, reliable, and cheap to maintain, move over to the Small Block Chevy world. GD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terpodion Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 "I am truly sorry that you are so incredibly misguided as to own anything from SAAB." But no one else makes a car with an automatic napkin folder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 6 hours ago, Terpodion said: But no one else makes a car with an automatic napkin folder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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