So i have an 03 wrx and it never had a problem with it it would boost up all the way, my only engine mod is a type s BOV.... since i bought the car i knew theres was a little coolant leak and so brought it to a shop close to my house to test where it was leaking from.... Well looks like they did fix it, but after driving it home on the way when i would be on low rpm a step on it, it will studder... like it wasnt getting something, i parked it and yesterday i drove it back to them and asked nicely what was done because my car was acting up, he said they washed off the engine bay that maybe my coils got wet, gave me my money and said to never come back. when i drove it last it does get a little better but my CEL still flashes for a secs and goes away, i took it to Autozone and they said i have a missfire on cylinder 3, my stock engine has 125K im the second owner,the car was always treated nicely. would you guys tell me if this missfire problem could be the only thing? I could upload a video of it while it appens if it would help someone to have a better idea of what i mean. thank you guys
Narrow it down by testing the spark at cylinder 3. While you're in there test the compression on that side. If cylinder 3 is lower, wet test cylinder 3. If things check out then move on to testing fuel. If not, leak down test and have your valve clearances checked/adjusted. The bogging was maybe a wet maf and/or fuel filter. Also, your post is confusing as hell. When you say the "cel is sill flashing" do you mean you had a cel before you took it to the shop the first time?
sorry, I wrote my post through my phone. But no, the CEL was never on, It only goes on when i step on the gas HARD, if i slowly push on it is fine. But when i'm past second gear pushing it it starts to bogg and the CEL flashes but doesnt stay there, it goes away after the car is calmly driven. i read somewhere that cylinder 3 always has this problem of kinda killing the spark plug. idk.... but i might just change my spark plaugs and see if that does the trick, but if not thank you about the fuel test suggestion. i will for sure try it... good thing i only live 5 min from work and 15 min from college... I dont drive far anyways....
The advice to never come back. Sketchy, though without knowing what sort of exchange was had at shop. Did u ask for your money back? At any event, I'd be leary of any shop that would take it upon themselves and just decide to just toss water in engine bay. Sure you can do it if done correctly and carefully and if you stay away from sensitive electronics but...
When I went there i asked for the coolant leak test, but they went ahead and replaced the hose and charged me eventho i didnt ask for service, I was gonna do it myself once 1 knew where the leak was coming from. He claimed he made a mess when filling up the coolant and thn they washed it, So i asked nicely Was anything else done? and he flipped swearing and all and he said here is your money back and i dont wanna see you here again... Of course i grabbed my money and left. what a joke of a shop, Century Ave. Service in Woodbury\Oakdale.
this is the problem, You cant see the car jerking but it can be reaaally hard. i explained in this video what happened. Is my boost compromse because my cylender 3 is missfiring according to Autozone CEL test.
Seems like you're boost is being limited mechanically by the wastegate spring? At 10psi? I'm pretty new to all this, but from what I've read, is if your boost is controlled by the wastegate spring up till 10 psi, then its electronically controlled from 9-10 up to 14-15 psi? I had this issue and it was a bad vacume line running to what looks like a electronic solenoid on the left side of the engine bay. I dont know if I'm correct, but that seemed to be my issue, and a ECU reset after, got me back into normal boost range. Check all the vacume lines running from the turbo I'd say. Would the car be running rich since its not getting full boost, at WOT? Maybe thats causing the misfire? I'd check all the hoses and what not, I just got done going through my car, with only 90k miles, and they looked pretty bad, and dried up. Had to replace some, including the turbo inlet.
I don't get how a shop tells you not to come back. The shear act of the individual seems like he completely went on the defensive as in he knows what happened to your car but won't tell you and would rather just have you leave. The problem is you know nothing of what happened, and they aren't saying what happened. It's sketchy. If you took the car to a Subaru dealer at least you'd have SOA on your side if the shop was partaking in ill gotten activities with customers. A random shop, you have nothing, just a bunch of guys doing work and getting paid (often poorly). You could have a completely trashed cylinder and the turbo won't care. You could pull the spark plug out, have it open with zero cylinder pressure, and you can ask the turbo to make 21psi. It will make 21psi happily. I'm also not familiar with any way the system limits boost outside of a wastegate and boost solenoid problem. That is the device that makes the turbo function and if stuck or damaged or a vacuum hose off, you can have it not work. The jerking and hesitation can be many things unfortunately. The CEL, from my very limited knowledge, is more so a warning that a sensor is reading out of range. This again could be many things. For example, mine does it when the air filter is dirty. It's a little thing but will trigger the CEL and misfire codes. I clean the filter and all is happy with the world. The car may attempt to cut timing or fuel depending on certain situations, so it can act in a way that cuts power and creates jerking even if systems are working fine. For example, my older 02 Forester had a pretty corroded knock sensor connection with the engine. It started cutting power like I had bad spark, just weird stuff until you pinpoint the real problem. The CEL would read misfires but not specifically the knock sensor. Eventually it did come with a knock sensor malfunction code, but it wasn't right away. Check vacuum lines, hoses, wiring, etc. Something might just be pulled off, and that's it. It might also be helpful to do some data logging to see if any sensors are reading goofy. There are a number of members on this forum with a Tactrix cable and some free time during a weekend. Some are more knowledgeable and can check stuff in greater detail to really pinpoint the issue.
I did, the following day I calledo tell them that i wanted them to fix it and all he said was, sorry you took your money and left, we are done here. What a joke of an owner... So I replaced my spark plugs, It did a HELLLL of good, Now it only jerks a little bit only when pushing it super hard, I want to have this engine rebuilt at 180K fully rebuilt tho, So i might just put up with the fact of it just giving me a little more than 90% and just use it for the normal go to work and school, doesnt help that my daughter likes to go for rides tho..... Thank you by the way
I will look at the vaccum diagram and double check and also check the solenoid, Thank you for the advise...
Pull the tubes to make sure they arent split on the bottom, one of mine was. Couldnt see it till I slipped it off.
Did you do a dry and wet compression test while you had the plug out? 125k on an 03 wrx... I wouldn't be surprised if your valves need to be adjusted (or are burnt up already). I would also suggest swapping coil packs to see if the misfire stays at that cylinder.
haha, if it's not a vacuum leak, I don't know what it could be as that is the only problem I've seen on the board lately. Joking aside, if you're only getting it on high boost I would look to replace your aftermarket BOV with an OEM bypass valve. Anyone from nasioc will tell/yell at you that it's wrong to use an aftermarket BOV as your only modification on a stock tune. You'll run really rich from expending the metered air and it could choke out the cylinders with fuel. Maybe the engine wash got water into it and seized it or something technical like that.
You know i didnt wet test it but since i only drive it 20 minutes everyday close distances i will wait till summer, My CEL went on tonight after pushing it hard and so i am going to go to to get the CEL test tonight and if the code still the same, misfire cylinder 3, then i will replace all coils next month and if still then i will have to bring it somewhere...... BUT IF THERE IS SOMEONE AROUND THE WOODBURY AREA WHO KNOWS ABOUT SUBARUS AND WOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE A LOOK AT MY CAR, WOULD BE GREAT... IF ITS SOMEONE WHO OWNS A IPHONE 4 OR GALAXY SIII I HAVE SOMETHINGS TO TRADE. BUT JUST TO HELP A SCCOOBIE FELLOW WOULD BE AWESOME... thank you.....
If its still misfire on cyl 3, swap that coil pack with a different one, and see if the misfire code switches cylinders also. Easy test.
