twisty Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 I was wondering if you knew anything about Grimmspeeds phenolic intake manifold spacer? It doesn't say specifically it's for our car but I feel like the 2.2 8mm one would work. Your thoughts? ive used them in high heat applications, like on motorcycles that have a single split intake and short tubes to the carbs. keeps the fuel from getting too hot in the bowls. ive also used them on some old big blocks for the same reason, but that was always for a carburetor vehicle, not sure if it would work the same with multiport efi. as for our cars, im not really sure whether it would make a difference or not. theoretically, it would keep the air a bit more cool going in, but ive never used one in this type of car. not sure there would be enough of a gain for it to matter much. but, now im kind of curious on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudewerx Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Me too and Grimmspeeds measured a 40 degree difference in intake manifold temperature with the 8mm spacer but what I need to know is if the intake runner opening are the same on the 1999 2.2 vs my 96 2.2. If it is I'm gonna put the thing on cause I have to take the manifold off anyways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 its been a really frustrating couple of weeks. the purplepower is still sitting in the shop waiting to go in, smokey is in the shop waiting on a new master cylinder since the FWD cars dont use the same one as the AWD cars do and no one locally seems to be able to find one. and i picked up a new toy, a 1996 outback with 5mt trans. on the drive home the cable snapped, and the force of that knocked the fork off of the TB so i think ill have to separate the trans just to put the clips back on. i cant see a way to do it without having my hands in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 the GT is on the road, ive put about 250 miles since the reinstall. it runs smooth as silk so far, a lot more torque than before as well. its really a shock going from the outback with an old 2.2 to the gt with the fresh 2.5 in it. oh ya, i picked up a 96 outback as a parts car, but ended up getting it running instead. wasnt too hard, the guy didnt know what he needed is all. the body has a ton of miles (almost 300k) but the motor was replaced about 30k ago with a low mileage used motor. so, i should be good for a few miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 im not sure anyone even bothers reading this thread anymore, but i hope some still do. i have a question icant seem to answer with the outback, hoping someone has some input on what im missing. got the TB changed out and new clutch cable in, car was running great for about a month or so. did some trail runs init, no real issues other than being really under powered on hills. daughter borrowed the car, complained about it bucking on occasion and stalling out on her at a stop light. i had never had that issue, neither has my friend that drives it as well so we kind of attributed it to my daughter being hyper sensitive to every little damn noise her car makes, as well as her need to complain and worry about every little item that isnt fixed on the cars she drives. now, down to the issue. it has started doing exactly what she said it did, got worse over time. randomly it will stutter and drop power, and sometimes just die for no apparent reason. there are no engine codes being set, and no pending codes waiting to trigger. now, being at a mechanics shop allows me the benefit of a few different opinions, which usually helps out getting things fixed. this time everyone had differing opinions on where to start, but we eventually went through everyones ideas. first thing was checking the fuel filter. had some chunks so we pulled it, the fuel pump and the injectors. the fuel pump sock was pretty clogged, so it got replaced. fuel filter got replaced. all the injector O rings are new, and each injector was checked and cleaned. car ran well for a day, then same exact issues. i not only checked the plugs/wires/ coil for spec, the plugs were new and not fouled. the coil is a bit lower than spec, and the wires are damn good. just to eliminate them all, i traded out the coil, wires and cam sensor with my GT. GT still runs fine, and the outback still stumbles. not very often, but when it is under load (like being driven) it does it more often. put a fuel pressure meter on it, it runs at about 24psi, and if you pull the vacuum line off the regulator it jumps up to about 33 or so. this is a bit low for what the manual says is spec, but i really dont know how low is too low. i let it idle for a while to see what the pressure does when it stumbles, and was surprised at the outcome. when stumbles, the pressure actually goes up a few psi, then settles out again. when it does die, the pressure didnt drop before it died like i was expecting. now, i really dont know whereto go next. do i replace the fuel pump and get it up to 36 like prodemand says it should be? the manual says itshould run at 30psi at idle, and 38 with the regulator vacuum line off. what do you guys think? am i missing something easy in this diagnosis? did i leave out any important details? did anyone read this at all? will pauline peril ever stay out of danger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brackets Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Your problem sounds very much like an issue i had with my gt soon after i bought it. When you cleaned your fuel sock how did the inside of the tank look? When it dies does it feel as though you're out of gas? (No throttle pedal) I cleaned my sock once and then had the same trouble so i emptied the fuel tank and cleaned it from above then added a new sock, returned the replacement fuel pump i had bought and haven't had any trouble since. My tank had some dirt and a fair bit of water rolling around in the bottom. I'd take another look at that new sock as that's a pretty easy thing to do on these Soobs. Gotta love those access panels, i wish all the car makers had as much foresight. Good luck, i hope I'm not sending you down the wrong path but it sure sounds the same as mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 i thought the same thing, but there wasnt floaties in the tank. the sock was clogged with silt-like debris, but not the chunksi had seen in the filter. that is why i flushed the fuel lines between the tank and filter. i even put a clear inline filter between the fuel filter and rail to see if i was getting chunks. it totally feels like fuel starvation, but when it stumbles the filter stays full, pressure either spikes a few psi or stays the same. only thing i have seen is at idle it sits at 22-24 psi instead of 30ish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 i have a clear filter between the fuel pressure gauge and the rail, it is still clean as can be, no chunks or silt in the system so far. i did unplug the ECT switch, and the issue stopped. i think i will replace the switch tonight to see if that was definitely the issue, but i ran it for over an hour last night and it didnt stumble once. there is a CeL for the switch, but thats about it. it still runs at about 23-24 psi tho, not sure about that one. it doesnt bounce around much at all, pretty steady at idle, and jumps up to about 32 with bumps to the throttle. i knew i wouldnt get much feedback in here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brackets Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 I guess you could ohm resistance test your current ect but I'm not sure what the parameters are for the Soob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyRuu Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 whats the up date twist? and how did you find chunks in your fuel filter? drip it out into a clear bottle? or cut it open? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 shook it up a bit, dripped it into a paint filter is how i got chunks out of it. i was really confused when the tank didnt have chunks tho, as well as how the clear filter inline still hasnt gotten even silt in it yet. and ya, i looked for the ohm value for the switch but didnt find anything definite for it, so i think i will just replace it. didnt have time to work on it last night, spent some time with family instead. the GT is running solid tho, oil change at the 1000 mile mark after the rebuild, was about a half quart down, but no real leaks to speak of. some seeping from valve cover, tightened everything up a bit and let it go. this weekend i will put the k sports on and see how that does. i have both cars at my friends shop right now, his ford truck spun a bearing so he has been driving the outback and the GT until we can get his blazer back on the road. that one is easy tho, tires and a muffler delete is all he needs. found out the kid he hired as a noob mechanic filled the crankcase with transmission fluid instead of the transmission, so its a good thing it hasnt been driven since then anyway. we pulled 9.5 quarts of fluid out of the motor this past week. what a tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 so the car had been running well for a week or so, idont DD it at all, but i had taken it for 15+ mile trips and it worked well. until i took it to the primus/ tool concert saturday night. after sitting in traffic for about 30 min it did its sputter thing and died once. on the way out, same thing but more than once. after out of the crowds it seemed to act fine, but almost sputtered out on the freeway at 3000rpm and about 70ish. i have no idea what could be wrong at this point. im gonna pull the O2 sensors and check the cat to see if something in that part of the tune is bad but not bad enough for a code. anyone have any ideas im missing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 the GT is running beautifully, spent some time in it this past week. losing a bit of oil between changes, but not too much to worry about. the only issue it had was the alternator was a bit weak. my son was taking it up north for the weekend so i checked everything out for his trip, decided to trade it out with the alternator in the outback (hank). the alternator that is starting to show signs of failure was originally in the GT, then went into smokey (the L wagon) while i figured out a higher output alt to support the stereo and such. not too surprised it is failing now tho, knowing it was working so hard with that stereo and lighting. smokey runs great, but is starting to show signs of wear and tear. i need some time with him (my son has driven it for the past almost year) to work out his suspension issues, window alignment issues, exhaust upgrades and seeing how bad the front end is after the accident my daughter got in. i drove smokey while the kids were up north, i really miss that car. hank (the outback) is still parked at the shop, when i traded the alts i decided to clean up the block a bit, the sensors and stuff were caked bad. when i wiped the cpk sensor, it spun in my hands, so i replaced it. not sure if that was any improvement in the intermittent stutter the engine has been doing, but ill take him out this week and run it for testing and see how well he does. the engine in that sucker runs great, hard to imagine it intermittently stutters and dies on occasion without any codes at all. doesnt make sense to me. and since no one even clicks on this thread, heres a cat gif that makes me giggle. salem, you crazy goofball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 still havent worked out the issue with hank, but it happens much less now, since hollowing out the cats. i am letting my friend that owns a shop drive it while he figures out which of his trucks to fix first, so he is throwing parts at it on occasion to see if it clears up the issue. its really weird, it will run fine for 3 days, then die at an intersection and not start for like 10 or 12 minutes. during that time, you will smell fuel really strongly, then it runs fine until the next time. i picked up a 99 forester for the oldest daughter, she is done with the civic and i dont wanna put too much more cash into it if she isnt going to do anything with it. the forester is in decent shape, really needs a deep cleaning and the idle is a bit rough. i got a really good price because the PO thought he had busted a ring in cylinder 2. cold starts supposedly smoke a bunch, but yesterday after a pretty long wait there was very minimal smoke out the pipe. it does have a flashing ECU, and 301 and 302 codes. gonna start the diag this week i think, see if im rebuilding another 2.5l or not soon hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 almost forgot the cat gif... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudewerx Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 is hank a 2.2 or 2.5? Either way, hows it do with hollowed cats and does it throw codes because of it? i know these cars are severely restricted from factory so i imagine it would help a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 hank is a 2.2 with 5mt. when i first hollowed out the cats, it popped a code but it was already gone by the time i got the scanner hooked up to se which one it was. i put the spacer on the rear O2 sensor, no codes so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudewerx Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Nice! What is this O2 spacer you speak of and what is its purpose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cale Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Nice! What is this O2 spacer you speak of and what is its purpose? Not sure if he's done something else but alot of people use spark plug bungs to move the sensor out of the exhaust flow more to truck the sensor into thinking the exhaust is cleaner. Usually people do this when they want to run either a high flow cat or not cat at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudewerx Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Interesting. This stops it from throwing a code? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyRuu Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 how did you hollow your cats out? cut into two pieces remove the precious metals from the filter and re weld it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudewerx Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 I'd be interested to know how you did the angled one.... The straight one is easy, run a piece of pipe through it till you've broken it all up. Done that quite a few times with great results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyRuu Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 Nice! What is this O2 spacer you speak of and what is its purpose? it would probably come up in a search if you refer to it as an O2 bung or exhaust bung. it just takes the sensor out of the direct flow of the exhaust making it throw no codes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 sorry for the lack of response, was working in flagstaff all last week, surveying three plants for comms and hardware. fun stuff. ya, its just the spark plug bung spacers, i will get a pic of the spares when i get to the shop this afternoon. as for how i did the cats, i went all old school on them. pulled both off, sat down on an old milk crate with the cat between my feet, jammed a long wrecker bar in there and hammered it all out. wasnt much left in there worth a damn, it was almost solid in there. took about 1.5hrs to get both cleared out, the angled one was especially a pain in the ass to get finished. the length of extender i used was about the same length of the o2 sensor, it tightened up against the tip of it. no codes at all after the first blip, and it seems to run decently since then. also, while i was out of town my buddy that owns the shop threw some parts at it to see what would happen to that stutter issue ive been dealing with for a while. he put a new MAF, cpk and cam sensor in it and the issue went away. after looking at the parts he took out, my money is on the MAF sensor. i told him to do one at a time so i know which fixed it, but he wanted to drive the car so did all at the same time lol. now, on to the new forester. pulled the plugs, checked compression and timing. 3 cylinders are at 180psi, the #2 doesnt even tickle the needle on the gauge. took a peek into the cylinder, no oil at all. plug came out covered in fuel from driving it to the bay, but no oil at all. i will most likely pull that head in the next few weeks and either replace the head (or just a valve, hopefully) or end up getting a used motor for the car. my daughter (the one who will drive the forester) has named her Sally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 forester: shoved my new borescope down the cylinder and verified there is no oil leakage or bad rings. pushed some compressed air in, turned the motor by hand and felt a breeze at the exhaust pipe the whole time. i think its safe to say the head needs to come off for repair. smokey: one of the kids (or one of their friends) ran over a curb, rock or something equally unforgiving, ruined the passenger side rocker panel under the doors almost the length of the car. i dont know if it is even worth trying to repair and keep building the car at that point, i may be looking for a new smokey. ive been keeping my eyes peeled for a flat roof (BK) legacy postal, but i doubt id ever find one i can get to or afford at this point. very disappointed, and very bummed. that car is my favorite car, and it really does run well. too bad he keeps getting beat up when my kids have him. hank: after the sensors got replaced, its been a pleasure to drive. of course, my buddy is borrowing him so he gets to drive him daily. but, it runs so smooth and with no codes that i am willing to invest in the new clutch, linkage parts and a set of new tires and keep him on the road. should be a good time up at the lake and camping. Lefty: oldest daughter is driving lefty right meow, her civic is parked for a while until i finish her forester. lefty is running great, but has developed a bit of an oil leak at the RH valve cover gasket. gotta fix that soon, its building up and burning on the exhaust. bonus! dodge truck: my son bought a dodge 5.9L engine for his dodge truck, felt motivated and pulled the 5.2L on friday. i ended up helping him, but it went way better than i thought it would. he is trading the intakes and will likely drop the motor in next week after a few more checks and new seals. best part of this update is i get smokey back and i can start the survey on whether i want to keep on fixing him or start over. http://www.doggifpage.com/gifs/125.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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