KnifeyMcShanker Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 So, the last few days my baby has been acting up... and it's getting worse. It started as a little shuddering on the freeway, going about 60-65 mph on cruise control the car would lose speed, get louder, and vibrate pretty violently. These would last for 2-3 second and then the car would return to normal. Well, it's escalated now and it now not only does it on the freeway but during normal street driving. I keep stalling it because as I'm slipping the clutch from a stop the engine hesitates and has no power, and it does it through all gears when I have a light to medium load on the pedal. I should mention that it seems a lot less pronounced when I floor it... Finally, today the car started getting downright undrivable. I was driving around in Sacramento traffic when the CEL started blinking and I lost a LOT of power but with no shuddering. We're talking floored in second gear and no accelleration whatsoever. I pulled it over and plugged my scan tool in, Misfire on cyl 1 and 2 (previously it had thrown no codes). I'm a bit worried because I live 20 miles from work and I'll be in a lot of trouble if my car decides to kick the bucket alltogether, and it's really embarassing driving around always stalling and jerking around... So, does anyone have any idea what is going on? My first thought would be something ignition related because of the misfire on opposing cylinders and the way Subaru coils work, but I did the MSD swap less than 10k miles ago so the coil is new... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Racing Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Piston rings all day man. Had a Nissan do that to me, she would run on all four then drop down on three, then pop back up on 4 again. It started off on the freeway only, then all the time. After a little while she stopped firing on cylinder 1 all together and only ran on 3. Drove it like this for probably 1,000 miles and she started dropping down from 3 cylinders to two. She went from sounding like a ricer on 4 cylinders, to a Subaru when it ran on 3 cylinders, then to a Briggs And Stratton lawn mower on 2 cylinders. I raced a 49CC moped when she still ran on 3 cylinders and it was DEAD EVEN till 35 MPH when I slowly pulled away (Moped reached top speed). When the engine drops a cylinder expect AT LEAST a 20-35% decrease in power, depending on pressure in the cylinder that has failed, drag from the dead weight, and the fact that all the other functional cylinders must carry the load of the accesories (AC, alternator, waterpump, power steering pump). I'd make a totally conservative guess and say my 1.6L Nissan (115HP from the factory) probably had about 80 - 90 HP on 4 cylinders, 60 on 3 cylinders, and about 25 on 2 cylinders... No joke. I was on the highway and SOMEHOW got to 80 MPH on 3 cylinders... It took me FOREVER. I stomped on the gas, the car downshifted, and I slowed down to 55 MPH. First time I ever saw something that sad in my entire life. She finally started to stall on all cylinders. I somehow magicly got it home and she quit. Next day I pulled the head and there were NO piston rings on cylinder 1, and cylinder 2 (The strongest running cylinder in the engine even at the time of it's demise) had the side of it's piston worn down from piston lash in the cylinder. Not a pretty sight. To test the rings without taking it apart, try putting in some Engine Restore W/ CSL from AutoZone. Everytime I put this into the Nissan it would start to run on 4 cylinders (Within 25 miles or so after pouring it in) for about 100 miles or so, then drop back down on 2 or 3. That's why I swear by that stuff as the only oil additive that actually work... I've seen it first hand. By the way, I had an MSD ignition on the Nissan as well. A Blaster 3 with ballast resistor to be precise. How many miles on this engine? There may still be some hope though, it could also be spark plug wires or a coilpack. If the plug wires are coming off or the boots are letting moisture in then you could be dropping down on 2 or 3 cylinders. Same if the coilpack is going. What's the weather like when this happens? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slickfast Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 She went from sounding like a ricer on 4 cylinders, to a Subaru when it ran on 3 cylinders, then to a Briggs And Stratton lawn mower on 2 cylinders. I raced a 49CC moped when she still ran on 3 cylinders and it was DEAD EVEN till 35 MPH when I slowly pulled away (Moped reached top speed). This whole thing is hilarious. I lol'ed at work, haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 The engine was rebuilt by a professional shop 30k miles ago. No warranty though because it was under a different owner. Weather when it happens is dry California heat... 95 degrees or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Racing Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 This whole thing is hilarious. I lol'ed at work, haha Glad I could be good for a chuckle. You really want to laugh, take a look at the car.... http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2957597 That's the old CarDomain page. Some guy had the audacity to say it's not the shell that matters, but the ponies.... To which I replied... "Yeah, all 48 of them anyway..." Here's the worn down cylinder. What's left of the ring is actually exposed to sunlight. http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n415/Wargrimes88/DSC06851.jpg As far as the car is concerned... Hmmm.... Check the ignition, see if you have a spark to all 4 cylinders. What I did to test which cylinders weren't firing in the Nissan was just pulled each injector plug. If the engine ran exactly the same when you unplug one of the unjectors, you've found which cylinder isn't firing. It might not be piston rings, might be ignition, but either way you can find out what's working and what isn't with this method. To take diagnosis even further, and possibly rule out piston rings, take a long flathead screwdriver with a hard plastic handle and place it as close to the block over each cylinder one at a time. If one sounds vastly different from another chances are it is piston lash, meaning the piston is twisting in the cylinder during combustion and scraping the cylinder the entire way down the stroke. This could be caused by worn cylinders or broken rings. If it is the rings I have a theory for why they went to soon after a rebuild... The engine COMPONENTS are new, but the block was worn and in need of an overbore. Whoever rebuilt the engine replaced all worn components, installed stock size pistons and honed the cylinder without boring it out. The cylinders were worn, and the mechanic simply honed the worn cylinders and installed new pistons. The cylinders are now too big for OEM pistons, but not big or true enough for oversize pistons. The hone just gave the engine a little bit more life by giving the overstretched piston rings something decent to seal. Not saying this is the problem, it could very well be ignition related, but this could be what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 It really seems too... Well precise I guess is the word to use to be a mechanical thing. It's hard to explain but when it loses power it's like someone flipped a switch. It has power, then it doesn't, then it does and these are sudden changes and not gradual. Someone at my work said there may be something wonky with cam angle or crank angle sensors because cam seals and crank seal are both leaking oil, potentially gumming it up. My car also has a history of throwing misfire codes sometimes when there is no misfires felt... The crank angle sensor would be the culprit there too. I plan on hooking it up to the snap on modis at work and seeing what the ignition advance while it's acting up. If there's a sudden change then it would be the crank angle sensor. But I'll try the screwdriver thing with one of my long breaker bars, never heard of that method but it sure makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Racing Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 It could be, but the only thing is the cam and crank sensors only send data that help the ECU determnine when to fire the ignition, and not much else. They should still be sending accurate enough data to make the ECU fire the coil pack. If they've never been replaced you could give them a try, but they should be alright, since the engine looses power all at once instead of gradually. A faulty cam or crank sensor would send consistently wrong results, rather than correct results followed by correct results, followed by incredibly wrong results resulting in cylinder misfire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 Makes sense... Either way I'm going to do my best to rule out mechanical issues before I buy parts and waste the money on a shot motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Racing Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 I agree. Tackle the simple things before going all out. It might be as simple as a faulty ground for all we know. Its really hard to say without the car sitting in front of us, you know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 Yeah I know exactly. Just posted hoping someone else had seen the same issue. Guess I'm not that lucky :-(. I'll let you guys know what I find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 Well I got fed up and bought a WRX.... anyone interested in buying a straight BD body with a perfectly fine transmission but that probably needs a motor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Racing Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Too bad you're in CA.... I'd be on that like poo on Velcro. How much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 Eh, whatever I can get... I think 1500-2000 is fair, I haven't checked kbb.com but I think it should be around double that, and all it really needs is $800 ish for a new motor and some elbow grease. It's got plenty of mods and lots of newer parts from my unsuccessful repair attempts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 damn I wish I could just get fed up when my car has problems and say the hell with it I just brought a STI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Racing Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 Hmm, that's a bit out of my price range. I was thinking about shelling out some dough for a project car since my truck is dead (Cracked frame). With shipping to MA and the cost of the car I'm afraid I'd have to pass. In any case, you should post up some pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryLitho Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 Yeah I know exactly. Just posted hoping someone else had seen the same issue. Guess I'm not that lucky :-(. I'll let you guys know what I find. I just had the same exact thing happen to me, and both on the left bank, 2&4, plugs caked in oil, the block should be pulled this weekend. Best thing I'd do is pull the plugs and check the condition, if that is peachy, knock out a compression test, that's just my .02 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Racing Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 This would be one way to determine the condition of the rings without totally dismantling the engine. Last night when I asked you how much for the Legacy I went to bed thinking about the things I would do with this car. I figured I'd pull the motor and rebuild it from the ground up, hopefully with Eagle conrods and a .010 overbore just to clean up the block. If I had to I would deck the block, polish the crank, do a 3 angle valve job, and put it all back together with a new water pump, timing belt, cam caps, main bearings, cam and crank seals, a full gasket kit, ect.... I figured I'd have head gaskets made by some company online, in hopes that they'd last more than 100K miles. Then I fell asleep. Man, I really need a new project car. If I don't find one soon I think I'll pull the 4.9L inline six out of my F150 with a cracked frame and rebuilt that, then toss it in some 60's era Mustang or something... Anyway, have fun with that WRX, just don't take off in favor of some WRX forum, we'll miss you far too much. Some might even stalk your online activities... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 Well the car is still not sold, just sitting there in the driveway taking up space.... No one wants it still? I'll let it go for a lot less than what I was originally asking because I just want it gone :-) And the whole WRX thing, I did have to take out a loan... It's not like I just up and bought one with cash. The car is an 03 and was 7800 so not exactly a huge loan on top of what I already had saved up. Anyway I'd love to see the legacy go into a home where something cool will be done with it. I just don't have the time... have to balance work and school right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 Oh, forgot to mention it does have a new water pump, timing belt, and pulleys/tensioners. Like, <250 miles new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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