running rough...sounds like wrx

[chilnviln]

this is the first time ive come across this problem and it just started happening while driving home. one minute im stopped on the highway because of construction and when its finally time to move its running real rough and my exhaust is making it sound like a subaru. the power is way down but itll stumble all the way up to redline. when stopped it steadily idles around 600-650 rpms. i took a quick look but couldnt find loose vacuum hoses or disconnected wires, plus being almost 11pm i gots to get to bed. KA24DE with 213K miles. passed CA smog like a brand new car a month ago and im stumped. any ideas on where to start?i know this is vague information but its all i have to give.
Modified by chilnviln at 7:48 PM 8/15/2006

[figment521]

I sound like a misfire on only one cyl. look to see if a plug wire fell off.

[chilnviln]

all the plug wires there so i discounted that as a suspect but im going to tear into that now and see how the plugs are and maybe compression test

[chilnviln]

cap, rotor, plugs, wires all fine. no sounds of air leak. coolant and oil are fine, no signs of mixage. any other ideas?

[chilnviln]

checked ECU and two codes popped up:14 - vehicle speed sensor and 32- EGR function.I reset the ecu so it is cleared but still running like sheit. any help on where to go from here is appreciated. thanks

[figment521]

how did the plugs look? is the compression even for all the cyl? what about the injectors? are they firing? It really sound like one cylinders is not runing on all 4 cyl. to find out which one is dead; start the car up and let it idle and using a pair of insulated pliers pull wire off the plug for cyl #1 if the engine run worse or cut out cylinder one is firing. replace the wire and go on to the next one. if the engine run the same with the wire off as it does with it on than that cylinder is not firing.
Modified by figment521 at 5:37 AM 8/5/2006

[HKSdrift3r]

well unfortunately for me, i had a similar problem like that, and it turned out to be my one of my valves were bent. I would check to see if your timing chain is set correctly. Those tensiors seem to always go at the wrong times. g/l!!

[chilnviln]

didnt get a chance to look at it today but ill be tearing into the head tomorrow morning.

[chilnviln]

did a compression test and all cylinders 180+psi. only went as far as taking valve cover off but everything looked good. could a bad egr valve cause these problems?

[figment521]

If you have good compression there is no need to pull the head. You need three thing to make a engine run fuel, spark, and compression. If it run badly (but is still running) you have lost fuel and/or spark to one or two cylinders. Find out what cylinder it is missing on then check for spark at the plug. If you have spark at the plug end of the wire change the plug and try it. If it still does not run right, see if the injector is firing.

With it running fine one minute and like sh** the next if is most often some this simple. aka a bad connection.

[torque2go]

that exact same thing happened to me alil while ago, check the injector plugs and wires. my number 1 plug had a bad connection and got that fixed, runs perfect again.

[chilnviln]

ive got a bad injector. the plugs and wires are good and when i take the wire off the #4 plug it still runs the same. even if i unplug the injector it runs the same. the online FSM says i have to remove the whole injector tube assembly first but will the injector come out without doing this?

[chilnviln]

ok, now my car seems fuct. ive put in brand new cap, rotor, plugs and #4 injector. still runs like crap but better running crap. like ive said the compression is 180+, but now its like its not getting spark. plug wire is good cause ive swapped wires around, put a screwdriver in it and also put a spark plug onto it and its getting spark. after letting it run for a few seconds, i shut it off and take out the plug and the cylinder is full of fuel but there is no evidence that the plug ever got spark. only the #4 cylinder is affected. any ideas? ECU?

[BadMojo]

When you replaced that injector, did you get new O-Rings? If so, when you replaced the injector are you sure the o-ring didn't get mangled and is leaking large amounts of fuel in to the cylinder?

[chilnviln]

it turned out to be the injector oring on this one. i was sure it had new ones on the injector when i bought it but it didnt. and of course the store was closed by the time i was changing it so i had no choice but to use the old ones. thanks