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Help!

I own a 2002 WRX wagon. Love the car - but the engine light has been working overtime. Originally, I had it serviced and was told cylinder 1 had misfired. They (sub. service techs) re-set the computer...but, every 250-300 miles it likes to come on again. This has been ongoing ... at least a half dozen times - over the past 6 months. I am starting to get really irritated :-\ - never sure if the light means really serious problems - or, just the darn cylinder again. Is this car a lemon? Why do the techs keep re-setting it...only to have the light re-appear? They told me last time (this past friday) that it was too soon to replace spark plugs. As you may have guessed I am a relative Subaru rookie - so, I need to know how to speak knowledgably to the service people (sometime I feel like they are just doing the minimum to get a stupid woman out of they service area). Anyone else having these problems with their WRX? Looking for some advice...with only about 6000 miles left on my warrenty - I am concerned this could be an indicator of bigger problems. Any help would be appreciated...

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I doubt the car is a lemon but having it in for the same problem 6 times may qualify. It probably has a minor problem and should be repaired under warranty. Make sure your service requests are documented.

 

It could be electrical or a lean misfire causes by an injector or something else altogether.

Every 250 to 300 miles? How often do you fill it up? It may be something as simple as a loose gas cap.

 

If Subaru can't fix it, ask them for the code and we'll try to help.

Who's the dealer?

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You are only 6,000 miles from your warranty being up? The 36k or the 60k? The plugs are due at 60k in any event, and in all honesty I would change them out every 30k. If you are 6,000 miles from your 60k, it's not too soon to change them. To be even more honest, I'd change them out for coppers, as platinum plugs are for low maintenance, not high conductivity. You have to change them more often, but you get a better conducting plug that costs that $2 each instead of $13. That will hopefully help the misfires. WRX's misfire more often than the CEL will show, as the ECU is desensitized to them. Ask the dealership to see if your car falls under a reprogram VIN range.

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Hi! I have been taking the car into Bill Gray - a huge dealership in Pittsburgh. The guys are nice - but, I always get the impression they are way too busy to put alot of thought into unusual problems. I am pretty particular about filling up the gas tank - usually when it hits a quarter tank - I fill'er up. I am aware of the gas cap connection, but, is there a correlation between the tank being full (or not)? The cap is still pretty tight, so I am guessing that is not the problem. Plus, the guys at the shop check it every time & it has never shown up in the diagnostics.

 

Thanks for the coaching about the spark plugs - I definitely will have that conversation about changing them. Also, got some additional advice about requesting an updated ECM - plan to look into that too. Again, appreciate the help - I'll let you know how it goes.

 

I doubt the car is a lemon but having it in for the same problem 6 times may qualify. It probably has a minor problem and should be repaired under warranty. Make sure your service requests are documented.

 

It could be electrical or a lean misfire causes by an injector or something else altogether.

Every 250 to 300 miles? How often do you fill it up? It may be something as simple as a loose gas cap.

 

If Subaru can't fix it, ask them for the code and we'll try to help.

Who's the dealer?

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My 97 OBW had a similar problem that the codes identified as a misfire on cylinder # 3. Everything checked out, plugs, wires, coil. I told the service manager to start replacing parts one at a time and bingo......the first part they replaced....the COIL....corrected the code and and the misfire. Maybe its worth a try? Good luck!

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gbhrps, on your car, it's often the case (sometimes, it can even be a bad knock sensor causing the issue). On CherylP's car, each plug has a coil sitting on top of it (four in total whereas you have one). While one of the coils could[/b] be bad, I'm hoping the first thing the shop did was try swapping coils from one plug to another to see if the misfire moved.

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