When you ruin your daily driver to the point you need to get another one...

[shp4man]

Why do you think it's a bad head gasket when the coolant level is still full and the coolant and oil aren't contaminated? (genuinely asking)

Is there any way to tell if the plug has shorted out? Will it just look too clean or something?

Common issue with subies. Does the car stop misfiring after awhile?

[Cookie Monster]

Common issue with subies. Does the car stop misfiring after awhile?

Head gasket isn't a common issue on EJ22's, though.

I haven't turned the car back on since it started misfiring. I didn't even touch the gas, just turned it on, felt it misfiring, saw the CEL, and then turned it back off.

Not to mention, I haven't seen any of the telltale signs of headgasket or even oil consumption issues. No smoke out of the tail pipe, no over heating (even on hotter days with A/C on), no contaminated oil/coolant, etc.

Cheap copper plugs go out every 20-30k miles, right?

[shp4man]

Did the car misfire on cold startup? Go start it now, see if it misfires. Let it run 4 or 5 minutes, it won't hurt it. If it starts making a loud knocking noise, turn it off.   

[Cookie Monster]

Did the car misfire on cold startup? Go start it now, see if it misfires. Let it run 4 or 5 minutes, it won't hurt it. If it starts making a loud knocking noise, turn it off.   

Yes, misfiring on cold startup. I haven't driven it at all, been using my dad's car or the Miata to get to work.

I'd rather it doesn't get to the loud knocking noise part.

[CaminoRacer]

Have you pulled the plugs?

I'd just wait till the stuff comes in the mail and see if that fixes it. It's possible that the coil is going out - my mom's Mazda6 had a bad coil that caused a misfire in one cylinder. But I'd try the plug wires first.

[Cookie Monster]

I'll probably pull the plugs tonight if there's still some light out when I get home. Replacing the plugs and wires will be a bigger job though since I want to replace the valve cover gaskets at the same time.

If the plugs look bad I'll try and clean them this weekend and see if I can get some more life out of them before replacing everything next weekend. Unfortunately all of the new parts are only coming next week.

[AutobahnSHO]

Yes, misfiring on cold startup. I haven't driven it at all, been using my dad's car or the Miata to get to work.

I'd rather it doesn't get to the loud knocking noise part.

I drove mine like that and paid for a new engine in 2012. Mechanic said those used to be cheap but prices were going up at that point.

[Cookie Monster]

Mine's not knocking, though. It just sounds like it has unequal length headers. Sounds pretty good actually.

[AutobahnSHO]

Mine's not knocking, though. It just sounds like it has unequal length headers. Sounds pretty good actually.

I got a CEL then kept driving it some, then it did start knocking.

[Cookie Monster]

Code shows it's a bad fuel injector. I'm going to get all 4 injectors and rails out of a junkyard car this weekend.

The o rings needed are the pricey part. I think it's like $20/injector for the o rings, since there are 2 on each. There is only 1 on the end of each rail, though, so I'll just sack up and pay the $18 at the dealership for the two needed (hopefully they have them ).

Since I already bought spark plugs and wires and valve cover gaskets, I'll do those this weekend too, along with a new air filter. The car should be running pretty nicely after this.

[AutobahnSHO]

Sweet!

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Code shows it's a bad fuel injector. I'm going to get all 4 injectors and rails out of a junkyard car this weekend.

The o rings needed are the pricey part. I think it's like $20/injector for the o rings, since there are 2 on each. There is only 1 on the end of each rail, though, so I'll just sack up and pay the $18 at the dealership for the two needed (hopefully they have them ).

Since I already bought spark plugs and wires and valve cover gaskets, I'll do those this weekend too, along with a new air filter. The car should be running pretty nicely after this.

If I were you I'd get new injectors. They're cheap on Ebay! Got one for the Vette for $25! I'm pretty sure yours are as cheap or cheaper.....

[CaminoRacer]

[Cookie Monster]

LOL!

That was basically the Miata.

If I were you I'd get new injectors. They're cheap on Ebay! Got one for the Vette for $25! I'm pretty sure yours are as cheap or cheaper.....

Nah it's like $100 for a used set on eBay.

Remanufactured non OEM ones are $45+. New Subaru ones are $110 each.

Then again, your pooprod probably doesn't need the vast amount of flow my EJ22 does.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Nah it's like $100 for a used set on eBay.

Remanufactured non OEM ones are $45+. New Subaru ones are $110 each.

Then again, your pooprod probably doesn't need the vast amount of flow my EJ22 does.

[Cookie Monster]

Welp, what was supposed to be an injector replacement turned out to me replacing the spark plugs, wires, air filter, passenger side fuel rail, fuel filter and valve cover gaskets.

I got the wrong injectors at the junkyard yesterday. I thought all EJ22/25s used the same injectors so I grabbed some off of a 2.5L car at the junkyard. Turns out that's not the case, so I had to go back today again. Also, the aftermarket injector o ring kits I bought on amazon weren't what I needed, so I just bought an entire rail today so I wouldn't have to replace the o rings (just needed to replace one o ring instead).

Plugs and wires I did because they were right there after removing so much other stuff to get to the valve covers, which I did because they leaked so much. Same with the air filter. Since it had to come out anyway, I figured I'd just replace it. I replaced the fuel filter in case the old one was bad and caused the injector to fail. I also had to replace some fuel tubing since it was so old and crusty.

The car runs so much smoother now. I feel like it has more power, and hopefully my MPGs go up as well. I still need to replace the PCV hoses since they are pretty crusty, but that wasn't as pressing as the other stuff so I've left that for another day.

Hopefully the car doesn't blow up after all my driveway mechanics.

[AutobahnSHO]

CEL gone?

[Cookie Monster]

Yep, no more CEL. Just waiting to burn through this tank of gas so I can put in the fuel injector cleaner stuff. It might be snake oil, but I'm hoping it'll help.

[Cookie Monster]

Just bought tie rods. I want to make sure the front end is good to go before I put coilovers on and get this thing aligned.

Also bought a master cylinder brace just for the blings.

[Cookie Monster]

Went camping the last two days. The Subaru took 4 people + all their stuff (+we took way too much stuff ).



Who said the top box is useless?

[FoMoJo]

Went camping the last two days. The Subaru took 4 people + all their stuff (+we took way too much stuff ).



Who said the top box is useless?

Always handy to fit an extra passenger .

[AutobahnSHO]

Nice!


(Odyssey camping fits even more stuff)

[Cookie Monster]

Pfft, Odyssey doesn't even have AWD or sweet coilovers to rip around corners.

Speaking of coilovers, I wanted to see if the car would rub anywhere at this height loaded down with stuff. It was fine. My new coilovers will be a bit stiffer (but hopefully ride better thanks to better dampers) so I can run this height while going skiing.

[Cookie Monster]

New tires, coilovers and alignment done! The car handles so much better now and all the clunks and suspension issues I had before are gone.

I also painted the hood scoop.



The car is an absolute blast on downhill twisty roads.

[68_427]

Still on the old tires?

[Cookie Monster]

Still on the old tires?

lol

New tires, ...

I got Federal 595RS-RRs again. They are cheap.

[68_427]

Ayee.... it's early LOL

[Cookie Monster]

The stock seats sucked on this car... Too flat, no supports, etc. I found a pair of WRX seats on a Facebook group for a decent price and drove 135 miles each way to get them.



I need to pull the seat heaters out of the stock seats and somehow put them in the WRX seats and sew up a small tear on the driver's side bolster but otherwise I'm super happy with them.

[SVT_Power]

The stock seats sucked on this car... Too flat, no supports, etc. I found a pair of WRX seats on a Facebook group for a decent price and drove 135 miles each way to get them.

I need to pull the seat heaters out of the stock seats and somehow put them in the WRX seats and sew up a small tear on the driver's side bolster but otherwise I'm super happy with them.

Did you drive 135 miles each way for each seat?

[Cookie Monster]

24.7 mpg from that last tank.