KnifeyMcShanker Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Hey, I've had a CEL on for a while, it's a P0302 - Misfire on Cyl 3. The car seems to run fine, but sometimes vibrates randomly when idling, then stops. When I listen and rev it while in neutral, I THINK I can hear some irregularities, but whatever is going on doesn't seem to effect performance. I just wanna get that pesky light off, it's bothering me. I don't really have any cash so I really hope it's something I can do myself... I can't think of any other symptoms and that's the only code that's being thrown. I reser it and it came back on like 5-10 miles later. Any idea what this could be? I'm thinking mis adjusted lifter, and that looks like it's going to be a bitch to get at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdubs Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 The plug wires may not be on all the way or they are bad. Or it could be a bad spark plug, or possibly some oil in the tube. Those are cheap and simple fixes, start there and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted April 3, 2008 Author Share Posted April 3, 2008 oil in the tube. The combustion chamber? That doesn't sound too easy to me, I'm still a novice mechanic. But the general consensus is bad plugs or wires, I've confirmed it's not the MAF or Ignition Coil, since that's what the mechanic said it was, tested it with new parts and still did the same. I'll grab a set of NGK plugs as soon as I can and give it a shot, any recommendations on wires or should I just try and get an OEM set? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Soze Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 I had 301 and 302. New plugs and wires fixed them but I didn't have to time to check which one (plugs or wires) actually did the trick. I'm thinking it was the plugs. Good luck. Oh and if some money and time doesn't fix it, pull the light from the dash. then you wont' be bothered. That's what my car's previous owner did . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dplacen Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 It was probably the wires that did the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdubs Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 The combustion chamber? That doesn't sound too easy to me, I'm still a novice mechanic. But the general consensus is bad plugs or wires, I've confirmed it's not the MAF or Ignition Coil, since that's what the mechanic said it was, tested it with new parts and still did the same. Well, oil in the spark plug tubes caused by leaking gaskets. I doubt that is your problem. I've always just went to Autozone and got a set of Duralast wires, and they have worked just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted April 5, 2008 Author Share Posted April 5, 2008 I just replaced the plugs, engine started and no more CEL. Looks like that was the problem. Kinda weird though, I thought you had to clear the codes but it turned right off. I ordered wires and they aren't here yet, guess I'll just keep them for when my current ones go bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Soze Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 It is weird that the light just went off like that b/c I was told that only one code cleared itself. Can't remember which one it was, but it wasn't any of the misfire codes. Doesn't matter though, the light went off! Cool. You made sure the bulb didn't happen to burn out right? It would have been a amazing coincidence but anythings possible I guess. I checked mine this morning after fighting with it so long, it felt weird that it wasn't popping back on. The good news is that the bulb isn't burnt out, it just doesn't have any trouble codes any more. It's always nice when it's a cheap fix. And what's up with mechanic's always saying that it's an expensive part? I was told $1200 to fix all of my codes and it took $130.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted April 6, 2008 Author Share Posted April 6, 2008 Yeah, I was almost SURE codes have to be cleared... I've heard on some cars they clear after 20 starts or something, may have just been a coincidence. But the good thing is I've driven it around all day today and the light isn't back on. Last time I cleared it, it came back on within 10 minutes. It's also idling a bit higher now and a LOT smoother. I dunno what happened with the CEL but I'm about 90% sure the new plugs did the trick. The old plugs only had like 1000 miles on them, the shop that did this engine rebuild is terrible (wouldn't be surprised if they were used plugs), I'm finding so much crap they skimped or did wrong... I broke a ratchet extension (yes, a metal rod made for taking bolts out) getting the #1 plug out, was definitely in there WAY too tight, and had no anti-cease. Needless to say I put the new ones in at 15 ft-lbs and used anticease. Anyway let this be a lesson to people, if you can possibly do it yourself, do it instead of a shop. Guess you can't trust people to do their jobs these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Soze Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 Glad you got it fixed. I always thought the plug would break long before an extension would. Jeez. I had a heck of a time even changing my plugs when they were correctly installed. If it's idling too high the CEL will come back on for that.... code P0507. Mine was idling about 1000 and I had to drop it back to 750 or so. I'm not sure what spec is but my CEL doesn't come back on now. If yours pops up with 507, I can tell you how to fix that. I only know a tad about these motors so far (I'm on day 7 of Subaru ownership) but I do know how to fix that. Ahhhh, nice smooth running motor. Sweetness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted April 7, 2008 Author Share Posted April 7, 2008 CEL just came back on today on the highway. Was blinking on and off a lot, sometimes would stay solid.... I'll pull codes asap. This is getting real annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Soze Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 You might want to check that the bulb is installed snugly. Sounds like it's losing power, bad connection somewhere. It was odd that it turned off on it's own. Blinking isn't normal at all. Is it the only thing in the gauge cluster that's blinking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted April 7, 2008 Author Share Posted April 7, 2008 It's the only thing that's blinking, and it's a regular blink, not like a loose wire. It always did this when it first comes on, it'll blink like 4 times and then stay on. Now it's on solid, was only blinking on the highway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Soze Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 I'm stumped. Sorry. Mine comes on and stays on. What model car do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted April 7, 2008 Author Share Posted April 7, 2008 It's a '99 Legacy GT. Pulled codes a few minutes ago, it's now a misfire on cylinder 1. Great... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Soze Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Hey mine too! The 99 part, not the misfire. Sounds like new wires maybe? My Suby tech friend said to buy parts from the dealership, not a parts store. I cannot testify to it's truth but he does not work for the dealership, he just hates fixing things twice I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdubs Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Did you replace all your plugs? Your issue may be bad plug wires. It may also be a bad coilpack...on the top of the engine where the plug wires plug into. Genuine subaru parts are always a good idea. But, I've found the life of their wires to be rather short compared to the auto parts stores and they are half the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Soze Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Yep, I was told that the process was plugs + wires, then if you are getting two misfire codes (like I was) that it was the IAC (I think) and if you're only getting one MF code, then the coil pack next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted April 8, 2008 Author Share Posted April 8, 2008 New wires will be here soon ish from autozone. Someone suggested the coil pack to me a while ago and I grabbed one off a wrecked 99 legacy with the same engine for pretty cheap, and the issue was exactly the same. I know junkyard parts aren't trustable, but since nothing changed between the two I'm guessing that's not the thing. I cleared the codes after I saw the Cyl 1 misfire, it hasn't come back on. I should be getting new wires tomorrow, I'll let you know how it turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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