Cylinder misfire CEL

[deltasierrahotel]

How's it going over there? Do you have a running car or a kid yet?

[xt2005bonbon]

Doing good. We have a beautiful baby boy (9.65 lbs--21.1 inches). He was born on the 3rd of April. We feel blessed to have him.

 

As for the car, it is still stuck at the garage . I believe it'll be done this week. He had to order new valve lifters as the clearances were too tight. He gave me a loaner. I'll let you know once I get my car back. I CAN'T wait.

 

How's yours so far?

[deltasierrahotel]

Congratulations! That's more important by far than anything going on with your LGT. Everybody's healthy?

 

My car is running really well. 700 miles since the reinstall. I'm trying to find a used v2 AccessPort for around $400. Then we'll really be cruisin'.

[xt2005bonbon]

Congratulations! That's more important by far than anything going on with your LGT. Everybody's healthy?

 

My car is running really well. 700 miles since the reinstall. I'm trying to find a used v2 AccessPort for around $400. Then we'll really be cruisin'.

 

Thanks man. Yeah, baby and mommy are doing well. We are adjusting to our new lifestyle but we are enjoying it. It's fun to be a daddy. I love it. Can't wait to rebuild Subaru engines with my boy(s) in the future!

 

Glad to hear your car runs well. Careful, once you get that AccessPort you'll slowly get bit by the mod bug .

[deltasierrahotel]

Thanks man. Yeah, baby and mommy are doing well. We are adjusting to our new lifestyle but we are enjoying it. It's fun to be a daddy. I love it. Can't wait to rebuild Subaru engines with my boy(s) in the future!

 

Glad to hear your car runs well. Careful, once you get that AccessPort you'll slowly get bit by the mod bug .

 

Yeah, well if we keep driving this generation LGT, we may both have plenty of opportunities to rebuild engines with existing and future progeny.

 

I hear what you're saying about the mods, but I'm trying to keep mine deceptively docile. I don't want to be walking out to the parking garage with my boss's boss and have him see me getting in a car that looks and sounds like I belong on Jersey Shore.

[xt2005bonbon]

I don't want to be walking out to the parking garage with my boss's boss and have him see me getting in a car that looks and sounds like I belong on Jersey Shore.

 

[deltasierrahotel]

This morning my car was hesitant to start (took a few tries) and idled around 2k for about 20 seconds before I pulled out of the drive. Drove fine on the way to work and there were no codes showing on the scanner when I got here. So I'm not sure what happened there.

[xt2005bonbon]

It may be nothing to worry about. What was the outside temperature?

 

On another note, you should buy a VAG-com cable so you can check your engine's health on the fly using a program called learningview. The cable is real cheap on eBay (10-15 bucks). I got one and it took me 5mn to get it set up on a windows laptop. Installed the program, hooked it up to the car and voila, I could check some basic yet important parameters (running rich vs lean, knocking etc..). Just an FYI.

 

see this post: http://www.romraider.com/forum/topic2772.html

 

It is really piece of cake to set up, especially compared to what you have done.

[Dirtboxer]

This may sound drastic but I would probably just get a compression test done on all four cylinders to start there if they can't figure it out after the coil packs or the spark plugs it's very rare that injector would be bad it's possibly the a VCS system seeing as they are hydraulic lifters is a possibility that the valve guide might've moved. I only noticed because cylinder for misfired on mine compression was done and now the left side of the head has to get pulled off

[deltasierrahotel]

Thanks, man. No problems in the few starts since. It wasn't very cold out, high 40s, maybe. (That's according to the nonsensical Fahrenheit scale you'll remember from back home.)

 

I'm actively looking for a used V2 Accessport, otherwise I would probably get the cable. As I understand, AP does a lot of data display/logging that's probably similar.

[deltasierrahotel]

This may sound drastic but I would probably just get a compression test done on all four cylinders to start there if they can't figure it out after the coil packs or the spark plugs it's very rare that injector would be bad it's possibly the a VCS system seeing as they are hydraulic lifters is a possibility that the valve guide might've moved. I only noticed because cylinder for misfired on mine compression was done and now the left side of the head has to get pulled off

 

Thanks. I actually just went through all that, pulled the engine and sent both heads to a machine shop for a valve job. (This thread will tell you the history.) Good luck with yours!

[BigTDogg MA]

I have searched this entire thread, but haven't read every post. A misfire can also be caused by 16624-AA020. That's the plastic-topped fuel dampener on the DS fuel rail. They fail with heat and age. National backorder AFAIK now, but I'll be replacing mine ASAP. It won't show on a compression, leak-down, or boost leak test. But if it's failed, and leaking fuel vapor/pressure, you can bet that's your culprit.

 

I'm trying to find a used v2 AccessPort for around $400. Then we'll really be cruisin'.

 

You have an 05, why not just go with a VAG-COM cable and a laptop? Works like a charm

[deltasierrahotel]

You have an 05, why not just go with a VAG-COM cable and a laptop? Works like a charm

 

The biggest problem there is that I don't have a suitable laptop. My wife has a Macbook. I have a work PC notebook, but I'm not allowed to install unapproved software.

 

Plus my buddy the Subaru mechanic recommended AP as the safest tuning option.

[BigTDogg MA]

You can run Boot camp or another Windows emulator on Macs, that's what I do on my work Macbook. I honestly don't know about their software policy, but I never access the program while on the Intranet and I've got admin rights. Software is free and cable is cheap, check out the thread in the tuning forum.

 

Could also get a cheap laptop for $250ish, the cable for $20 from eBay and $100 for an e-tune. Just my two cents.

[xt2005bonbon]

I have searched this entire thread, but haven't read every post. A misfire can also be caused by 16624-AA020.

 

So were you getting a misfire on only one cylinder or on both? Thanks for sharing this info btw.

[BigTDogg MA]

So were you getting a misfire on only one cylinder or on both? Thanks for sharing this info btw.

 

I was getting:

 

P0301 - Misfire cyl 1

and

P0000 - Pass code (misfire detected)

 

I haven't replaced the part yet, but my mechanic determined it to be failed, and if it was failed, it could definitely cause the misfire. All other tests (vac, boost, compression, leakdown) were great.

[xt2005bonbon]

I was getting:

 

P0301 - Misfire cyl 1

and

P0000 - Pass code (misfire detected)

 

I haven't replaced the part yet, but my mechanic determined it to be failed, and if it was failed, it could definitely cause the misfire. All other tests (vac, boost, compression, leakdown) were great.

 

That's very interesting..Did they swap coils, injectors to the adjacent cylinder as well?

[BigTDogg MA]

Coils and plugs are good, plugs just changed recently and coils inspected. Was also happening before plug install.

 

Only other thing could be a dying injector, 143K on OEM units. Though I have had injectors in other cars last 271K+ miles.

[xt2005bonbon]

Coils and plugs are good, plugs just changed recently and coils inspected. Was also happening before plug install.

 

Only other thing could be a dying injector, 143K on OEM units. Though I have had injectors in other cars last 271K+ miles.

 

So they have not swapped injectors then to see if the CEL would follow. I would have done that as well to rule this out for sure.

[BigTDogg MA]

So they have not swapped injectors then to see if the CEL would follow. I would have done that as well to rule this out for sure.

 

I might try that as well, but he's seen this failure mode before, and this same code, so he's relatively certain it's the cause. I agree a power balance type test makes sense, but I'd have to drive a good amount of time to get it to happen again.

[xt2005bonbon]

but I'd have to drive a good amount of time to get it to happen again.

 

I doubt it IMHO. I had a misfire on #4. Swapped coilpacks. Stayed on #4. When I changed the injector on #4, CEL came back on after the first drive, still on #4 .

[deltasierrahotel]

bonbon, is yours back yet? Fixed, I hope?

 

I got Accessport a couple weeks ago for $400 on Craiglist. Great decision. The power curve is so much smoother, not to mention the power gains.

[BigTDogg MA]

I doubt it IMHO. I had a misfire on #4. Swapped coilpacks. Stayed on #4. When I changed the injector on #4, CEL came back on after the first drive, still on #4 .

 

I was thinking if I cleared the code it takes time for it to come back. But if I don't clear it, the code will show up for a different cylinder. Gotcha.

 

Ordered my used rail and dampener assy over the weekend. Will install this weekend hopefully.

[xt2005bonbon]

bonbon, is yours back yet? Fixed, I hope?

 

I got Accessport a couple weeks ago for $400 on Craiglist. Great decision. The power curve is so much smoother, not to mention the power gains.

 

eeeeeh nope . Well, basically they've almost put everything back together but they're waiting for an exhaust cam pulley. They told me two weeks ago that they could not take it off. They've tried everything . So I told them I'll get a new one with a new bolt. I should receive it tomorrow or Thursday (Wednesday is a day off here ). Once they install it, it should be done. btw, they had to replace 8 valve lifters (buckets).

So yeah, patience, patience, patience. Meanwhile, I've been driving a loaner from the garage (an 18 year old Citroen). In any case, the most important is that mommy and baby are healthy and doing well . Though I am SO itching to drive my car again!

 

Congrats on the Accessport. Can you elaborate a bit more on how the car drives different? Can you really tell the extra power?

 

I was thinking if I cleared the code it takes time for it to come back. But if I don't clear it, the code will show up for a different cylinder. Gotcha.

 

Ordered my used rail and dampener assy over the weekend. Will install this weekend hopefully.

 

Let us know how it goes. I am curious to see if that will really fix it.

[deltasierrahotel]

Congrats on the Accessport. Can you elaborate a bit more on how the car drives different? Can you really tell the extra power?

 

So my biggest complaint about the car (until I had to rebuild my engine for no good reason at 95,000 miles) has always been a lack of power at low RPMs when accelerating from a stop and the "lumpy" power curve. It always seemed to me that this was a car that was easy to drive hard and aggressively, but trying to accelerate slowly and drive smoothly in rush hour traffic, or with my boss or grandmother in the passenger seat, was challenging. This is partly due to the clutch action--it tends to grab all at once, but even when the clutch is fully let out, if I pressed the accelerator smoothly and slowly, the car would give a couple little mini surges in low gear as the engine moved through 2-3k RPM. This actually got a little worse when I installed the catless uppipe as the turbo came on at lower RPMs. In general, with the stock map, it seems that the turbo wants to come on all at once, which results in a spike in the power curve.

 

With Accessport, using the Stage 1 93 map, there is considerably more power and throttle responsiveness at low RPMs, and the power curve is much flatter. It's much easier to drive the car smoothly and you don't have as much of a sense of "now the turbo is off and now it is OOOOOOOOOON!" My wife definitely notices a difference, too. Before the tune, she almost refused to drive the car because it just wasn't pleasant to drive unless you were pushing it a little, and she tends not to do that.

 

The same results could probably be achieved through laptop tuning, but since I know nothing about tuning, the peace of mind Accessport brought to me was definitely worth the $400 I paid for it.