Running On 2 Cylinders :(

[lowandy]

Hey guys

Just spent yesterday at Hampton Downs skid pad where my car was running good. Then suddenly i drove over the water sprinklers and im pretty sure i now have water in the electrics :-\ The car only runs on the 2 drivers side cylinders and 2 passenger ones are not firing. They are getting fuel because it backfires and smells of fuel, and when leads are plugged on spark plugs i can hear it arcing, once i remove the plugs off the injectors from that side then the arcing stops. Ive put electrical tape on the leads but still does it. N/A EJ25D

Any ideas?

[lowandy]

So apparently might be bent valve or blown headgasket. Blown headgasket would make sense since its a EJ25D which are prone to blowing the gaskets but still doesnt make sense why only the passenger side pistons arent working. Ill be doing a compression test tomorrow or this weekend and hopefully that will let me know if i can rule out those two.

[B4_685]

Sounds odd...quick lead check - try pulling plug lead out of suspect cylinders and putting them near a ground point (stick a screwdriver in boot where plug head goes on and check for spark near a good ground by holding screwdriver shaft near (1-2mm) an engine bolt.) make sure theres no raw fuel/fumes around before you try tho.

Also, dont touch anything on body if you hold lead or screwdriver or you\'ll get a jolt lol - done this a few times - not a nice feeling!

B4_685 via Tapatalk HD

[boon]

 lowandy said:

So apparently might be bent valve or blown headgasket. Blown headgasket would make sense since its a EJ25D which are prone to blowing the gaskets but still doesnt make sense why only the passenger side pistons arent working. Ill be doing a compression test tomorrow or this weekend and hopefully that will let me know if i can rule out those two.

Wouldn\'t that make perfect sense? 2 head gaskets, if the passenger side one is really lunched then both pistons on that side would suck. Particularly if the gasket failed between the bores.

[lowandy]

 B4_685 said:

Sounds odd...quick lead check - try pulling plug lead out of suspect cylinders and putting them near a ground point (stick a screwdriver in boot where plug head goes on and check for spark near a good ground by holding screwdriver shaft near (1-2mm) an engine bolt.) make sure theres no raw fuel/fumes around before you try tho.

Also, dont touch anything on body if you hold lead or screwdriver or you\'ll get a jolt lol - done this a few times - not a nice feeling!

B4_685 via Tapatalk HD

Yup ive done this and the lead sparks to the ground, put spark plug in the lead and touch spark plug to ground and it sparks where its meant to on the plug but wont work when i put it back inside the block

Im not completely sure about blown headgasket because ive always thought they right right but overheat or whatever but maybe it is headgasket you reckon Boon? I will have conpression test done eiter tonight or tomorrow to confirm. Fingers crossed its not time for a new engine

[funkytown]

just FYI

running on two btw will be lumpy as all hell and i bet it would barely run.

picking its running on three. still sounds pretty lumpy from xp.

HG testing seems reasonable as an approach. the 25d with factory HG\'s are weak as.

[lowandy]

 funkytown said:

just FYI

running on two btw will be lumpy as all hell and i bet it would barely run.

picking its running on three. still sounds pretty lumpy from xp.

HG testing seems reasonable as an approach. the 25d with factory HG\'s are weak as.

Yea thats true but for some reason it still runs, like i can start it and run it without having plugs on injectors or leads on te spark plug and it will still run the same. From what i know my engine is a replacement and done 150000kms on what i pressume are factory HGs.

My next thought was maybe the cambelt has slipped a tooth or few on the passenger side but the belt is in good condition but i might pull the covera off and have a look at the marks on the cams and belt to rule this out

[shore_boy]

Odd that it can run on only two?! Should just stall out the engine. Let us know how you go with testing

[lowandy]

Couldnt get around to comp testing in the weekend as was busy with work. Fiddled with it abit today, swapped drivers side spark plugs onto passengers side to rule out spark plugs somehow both failing at same time but wasnt spark plugs. Something i noticed is at idle (900RPM) the engine is very shaky like the mounts are stuff but once i rev it to 1100-1600RPM then the engine because steady, then from 1600-2500RPM it becomes shaky again and the whole car shakes like a dam earthquake but after 2500RPM it seems to steady out again. Seems weird to me. I took it for a drive up and down my road and obvious lack of power, backfires when under load (i live on a hilly street). No CELs or anything have popped up. Will take off cambelt cover on passengers side to view timing marks just to be sure. Also assuming its a headgasket gone, i found a headgasket kit on trademe for $300 which includes MLS Head gasket and all other gaskets needed for the head, intake, exhaust, rocker cover, valve etc. The thing is that they arent genuine from subaru and im not really keen to fork out heaps on genuine so was wondering if the MLS headgasket will be fine and im not too fussed about the other gaskets as my rocker cover ones have gone long ago so might aswell replace them while im there. Cheers

[jost]

Aftermarket gaskets are fine, just get heads skimmed and torque to factory specs. I have rebuilt 50+ motors using ebay gasket sets and have not had one failure.

[lowandy]

Ok okok seems we have quite the interesting situation.... Borrowed a mates compression tester after work today and heres the results:

Drivers side

193psi

189psi

Passengers side

201psi

180psi

So in my books that rules out HG blown. Took cam cover off and the cams and belt are still timed correctly so not that either.

Im out of ideas so feel free to suggest something if you have an idea

Cheers

[Guest]

When my coil (wasted spark) blew in v5 it shook like a mofo. Is spark weaker on one cyl? You know you have spark but try pulling leads to pin it down if theres a change.

[lowandy]

 evowrx said:

When my coil (wasted spark) blew in v5 it shook like a mofo. Is spark weaker on one cyl? You know you have spark but try pulling leads to pin it down if theres a change.

Possibly weaker spark somewhere but how would i check that and fix that? New leads and spark plugs? While the cars running i can pull out the passengers side leads and nothing will happen but if i try do it to the drivers side then the rpm drop and car stalls.

[Guest]

What style spark setup on these?

[lowandy]

Im not too sure, i know that it isnt coilpacks like what turbo motors have and mines non turbo

[Kiwi_Fozze]

yeah, compression like that, i\'d be looking at plugs / leads / coil pack and condition of loom to the coils.

[lowandy]

Ok so i borrowed a tester that goes into the injector plugs, when the plug get power the light flashes. Tested all plugs and all of them flashed so electricity is getting to the injectors.

Took injectors off the fuel rail and put key on ACC, fuel is pumping thru so the rail isnt blocked.

Might just go to pickapart and grab some cheap injectors and see if that fixes the problem.

Apparent symtoms of faulty injectors

"Running excessively rich, cylinder misfires, plug fouling, poor fuel economy, low power, CEL. These would be symptoms of a faulty injector although a "dirty" injector can cause similar problems. Run some injector cleaner though your tank and that should clean it up a little. If your not having any problems they are probably just fine.

A dirty injector causes issues mostly by poor atomization of fuel. I had an injector with a cracked seat that causing issues in my truck, the fuel was sprayed so poorly that it wasn\'t igniting at all."

[Guest]

Pic of the coil pack?

[lowandy]

I dont have a direct photo of the coil pack at the moment but this is the only pic of my engine bay. Coil pack is on the back lefthand side of intake manifold and red leads running to heads.

[tebbyj]

I would (if you have access to tools) check the resistance of the leads, the quality of the spark with a spark tester, the ignitor (which triggers the coil pack) and output of cam/crank sensors. Possibly the resistance of the injectors but usually this would throw a CEL anyway (usually being the key word in that sentence).

Also seeing as your going to the effort of pulling them out change the spark plugs with fresh ones.

[Guest]

Im calling spark. See if you can borrow bits and swap em out till you track it down. DOnt be buying bits just to try them tho.

Got vids of the skids?

[lowandy]

 tebbyj']

I would (if you have access to tools) check the resistance of the leads, the quality of the spark with a spark tester, the ignitor (which triggers the coil pack) and output of cam/crank sensors. Possibly the resistance of the injectors but usually this would throw a CEL anyway (usually being the key word in that sentence).

Also seeing as your going to the effort of pulling them out change the spark plugs with fresh ones.

I have access to a multimeter which can test resistance, voltage etc so will try what you have said. Thanks for the input and yes i will be changing spark plugs soon.

[quote name='evowrx said:

Im calling spark. See if you can borrow bits and swap em out till you track it down. DOnt be buying bits just to try them tho.

Got vids of the skids?

Yep im possible going to try borrow my mates coilpack and leads out of his Brighton if the igniter plug is the same.

No videos at the moment as my mate hasnt gotten them off his gopro. There will be videos and pictures when its back up and running.

[Guest]

Try ignitor as well tbh I have no idea how these run but hopefully swapping out coil pack or ignitor fixes your issue. Common car at pickapart too lol.

[Eight_dollar]

its a waste spark system - so failed ignitor / coil would kill a pair of cyl\'s on opposite banks

arcing noise makes it sound like leads is your problem

are you 100% the cam and pass side inlet cam timing is perfect , a tooth out and the cam/crank phasing goes out the window

[lowandy]

Havent tried replacing coil/ignitor to solve the problem just yet but will get around to it.

I checked my cam markings and they are all the same as when i replaced my waterpump ages ago.

Still runs like a bag of shit and backfires alot. Had it running on the driveway on idle and kept stabbing the gas abit to 2k revs then drop and repeat and kept backfiring. Pop the hood and the Cat converter is red hot hahah