pginter96 Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 (edited) Took my car for a drive today, I live in the buffalo area thats all over the news so the cars been sitting for a few days. I usually let the engine warm up before I drive it but today I was in a hurry so just started up and drove it. As Im driving it, since I pull out of the driveway and for a solid 10 minutes after it feels as if the engine is bogging down, almost stalling so it bucks if I accelerate from 25+ Holds in gear for a little bit (a few seconds at 3000 rpm), but might just be because Im putting my foot down, it always does that. After it bogs the revs jump up, like its bucking but speeding up. The surging feels almost like tranny slip. I know it has a bit of tranny slip, I live on a steep hill and really have to give it to 'er to make it up with any sort of speed. Any tranny slip ive experienced before occurs above 4500 and lasts half a second at most. Todays occurances were at 3000. The bogging feels like the timing isnt advancing. (As i put my foot further down it bogs harder) I dont think its a trans issue as it happens in all gears. It went away mostly as the engine warmed up though. Didnt go away, but got much much better. After the engine was warm when I got home, I revved it up under the hood, with my hand pushing the throttle linkage. The engine would stutter, feel like its about to shake itself out of the car, then rev normally. I cant rev it long at idle 'cause it overheats with its leaky head gaskets. Could the head gaskets be doing this? (Probably a stupid question) All of the ignition componants are origional to my knowledge, and its pushing 85k. I was just reading on another thread last night about how ignition coils go easily on these due to heatsoak issues. Also on the same thread how upstream O2 sensors could have a similar affect to my symptoms If this is an engine problem I couldnt care less as long as it runs, its almost swap time anyways. Im worried about trans issues. I have not had the trans serviced and there are no records. I was told not to have a flush done for the first time above 80k, as it could loosen debris and cause failure sooner. Help! Please and thank you! Edited November 23, 2014 by pginter96 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKFlight Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 02 sensor could easily be the culprit. Ignition components you mean, plugs/wires? Could just be a misfire.How many times has the car overheated? If you neglected the HG issue for sometime, it is probably swap time like you said.Flushes are usually not recommended, drain and fills are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pginter96 Posted November 23, 2014 Author Share Posted November 23, 2014 (edited) yes, all spark plugs, wires, and coil are original. car has never overheated as boiling over, I always shut it down before then. The temp gauge has reached 3/4 of the way up 3 times in the past month or so, all after slightly revving (Under 3000) at idle. EDIT: also, no dummy light or codes, so i dont think its a misfire, or at least a consistant one Edited November 23, 2014 by pginter96 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 usual suspects are plug wires or a failing MAF. These motors are hard on plug wires. I'd start there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aluxes Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Clean your MAF sensor, or get a used one at a junk yard. But either way clean it. I just went through this exact same thing with my car. Got a replacement at a junkyard for 40 bucks. All better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pginter96 Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 It ran fine yesterday and today, so I can't duplicate the concern. There's no good way to test a MAFS so it'll just have to work until I can get to the junkyard Friday. I'll pick up a "new" MAFS and hope that works... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonInMontana Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 It ran fine yesterday and today, so I can't duplicate the concern. There's no good way to test a MAFS so it'll just have to work until I can get to the junkyard Friday. I'll pick up a "new" MAFS and hope that works... Had a similar problem recently with mine here in Montana. With the onset of Winter, I started getting misfire on 2 & 4, plus a knock sensor code. Replaced the knock sensor with one from a junkyard, code went away but problems persisted. Replaced the plug wires and everything has been fine since then. NOTE: there was no physical evidence that the plug wires were failing, they looked good on visual inspection. Don't trust your eyes when it comes to bad wires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Plugs and wires are a good start. Low rpm and part throttle stumbles are generally due to worn plugs or bad plug wires. Use NGK plugs and NGK or Subaru wires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pginter96 Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 I'll see what I can do... The EJ25 overheated on me again today and I'm still finishing the 2.2. I just don't want to put money into something that won't make it another thousand miles... A while back I pulled some plug wires off of an EJ22 in the junkyard, measured them and the resistance was in spec. Putting the intake/ignition system together on that tonight and was disappointed to find that the coil-end was a different size. A good lesson learned from the old plug wires from the 22, one wire had 5k ohms resistance (below spec) and the one right next to it had 21k ohms resistance (way above spec). I'm imagining that's what the 25's look like. Big question is though... Wouldn't I see a misfire? Or even a consistent fault? There's been no CEL and it's been driving no worse than normal... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Not necessarily. You can have a component that's right on the border show intermittent signs of failing for a long time before it finally does. Generally in order for a misfire to set a code it has to happen several times within a certain timeframe. Also not all "misfires" will be detected by the ECU. A partial misfire or multiple partial misfires may not be detected, but can often times be felt by an aware driver. Overheating throws a whole different set of issues into the grab-bag of problems that cause poor running. I'm inclined to agree, probably not worth doing anything with, though it may be necessary depending on how much longer you have to wait to do your swap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pginter96 Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 You raise a good point. Yeah, right now with the plethora of things wrong with my poor baby, I think that running slightly rough sometimes is the least of my worries... As long as it runs another month or so I'll be fine Well, it's still good to know. Knowledge is power, right? Thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bushwick Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Buy new plug wires for the EJ25. They are cheap, or rather buy the cheapest ones. USE the EJ25 coil and not the EJ22 if you are saying the tip on the coil the wire connects to is different. When the engine swap time is ready, you can just swap engines and reuse the wires. Plug wires are a wearable item. Get battery acid on them and it'll eat right through. Wires that have a ton of unknown mileage, can get loose under the silicon and at the crimps. I wouldn't stick used spark plugs with unknown mileage in a car I want to run correctly, nor would I use "used" plug wires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unibrook Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 On my 2001 Forester, when the front 02 sensor went, it would run fine when cold, but once it was warmed up I would get the bucking and hesitation. Seems to need a new front 02 sensor every 40k miles or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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