fishbone Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 Hi, all. Great forum you got here... This is my first post....I found SOME info on this, but still can't figure this out.... I have an '01 Impreza 2.5 RS with 45K miles. CE light came on, pulled a code PO170 Fuel trim error, also got a misfire code for each cylinder. Aaaand, it whistles when I accelerate....pretty loud, too. So I changed the fuel filter, plugs, wires, and searched for a vaccum leak, but I can't seem to find any. I can't get it to whistle while it's in my garage, but as soon as I take it for a ride, it whistles if I go anywhere past half throttle. Other symptoms include, horrible idle (almost won't run, sputters and wants to shut off), and I have to punch it to go anywhere. Pulling out from a stop, it falls flat on its face unless I tromp on it. I've never had a subaru leave me stranded before, what the HELL is wrong with my soobie? So my question is: What do I check next? What else can I TEST? I'm sick of blindly throwing money at the problem and hoping for the best.... Thanks for the help. --Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 Sounds like a vacuum leak, and more then likely would be intake gasket. Pull the plugs, and see if you have one plug that looks different from the others. If so, then the leak is more then likely at that cylinder. With the engine running, try spraying starter fluid around the intake gasket at that cylinder and see if rpms rise. If they do, you confirmed your problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 Back to the top..... I checked the plugs, and they all look the same. I went over the whole motor, and I sprayed starting fluid everywhere, there doesn't seem to be a vacuum leak. The whistling sound that I thought was coming from the engine, is coming out of the exhaust. I'm starting to think that this whistling noise has more to do with my problem than I had thought. When I give it gas, it whistles rather loudly out the tailpipe......what the heck could that be??????? What else can I test, check, whatever? I'm stumped!! Thanks for the help, guys/gals. --Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Have you tried opening/removing the air intake system. Maybe your air filter isn't mounted right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferret Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 If you have a vacuum gauge, or access to one, check the vacuum, first at an idle, then pull the throttle up to about 2500 RPM and hold it there. If the vacuum at a constant 2500RPM starts to drop, you probably have an exhaust restriction. Probably a bad, damaged (broken internal honeycomb), or clogged CAT. Not uncommon. More common on Domestic vehicles. The whistle, misfire and overall poor performance are symptoms of a restricted exhaust...The Whistle, or 'speewing sound' from the exhaust are a good giveaway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 I had a different whistling problem, which turned out to be a leak in the muffler. So that is possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 11, 2005 Author Share Posted June 11, 2005 Have you tried opening/removing the air intake system. Maybe your air filter isn't mounted right? Yeah, the air filter WAS pretty dirty, thought I had it, but changed it, and it still runs bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 11, 2005 Author Share Posted June 11, 2005 If you have a vacuum gauge, or access to one, check the vacuum, first at an idle, then pull the throttle up to about 2500 RPM and hold it there. If the vacuum at a constant 2500RPM starts to drop, you probably have an exhaust restriction. Probably a bad, damaged (broken internal honeycomb), or clogged CAT. Not uncommon. More common on Domestic vehicles. The whistle, misfire and overall poor performance are symptoms of a restricted exhaust...The Whistle, or 'speewing sound' from the exhaust are a good giveaway. I'm pretty sure I do have a vacuum gauge, I'll have to check, but where should I hook up the gauge? If it turns out to be a bad cat, how much does a new one cost? I'm assuming that's a dealer only item? --Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 11, 2005 Author Share Posted June 11, 2005 I had a different whistling problem, which turned out to be a leak in the muffler. So that is possible. I'll put it on the lift tomorrow, and check over the exhaust real good....thanks all for the help. --Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferret Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 Scott, Put in vacuum gauge on one of the vacuum lines on the intake manifold AFTER the throttle body. Use one of the lines toward the front of the car from the throttle body. Be sure to use a 'T' so the line you disconnect to monitor will still have the proper vacuum to run the engine properly and not induce another problem while testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalliTEK.com Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 Did you fix that clogged muffler? -Sean S. RalliTEK Subaru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumby Boy Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 If you have a vacuum gauge, or access to one, check the vacuum, first at an idle, then pull the throttle up to about 2500 RPM and hold it there. If the vacuum at a constant 2500RPM starts to drop, you probably have an exhaust restriction. Probably a bad, damaged (broken internal honeycomb), or clogged CAT. Not uncommon. More common on Domestic vehicles. The whistle, misfire and overall poor performance are symptoms of a restricted exhaust...The Whistle, or 'speewing sound' from the exhaust are a good giveaway. I agree it could well be a cloged cat, but have you replaced your fuel filter? if thats cloged it could cause it to loose power, i had a hyandi excel thad wouldnt pull 100km/h or 60mph in top gear and take forever to get there, so my recomendation would be to replace this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 13, 2005 Author Share Posted June 13, 2005 Fuel filter was changed. That was the very first thing I tried. Sorry, forgot to put that in the first post. And I didn't get a chance to look at it, maybe in the morning....I'll post back aftr I get the exhaust ripped off. --Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 13, 2005 Author Share Posted June 13, 2005 Scott, Put in vacuum gauge on one of the vacuum lines on the intake manifold AFTER the throttle body. Use one of the lines toward the front of the car from the throttle body. Be sure to use a 'T' so the line you disconnect to monitor will still have the proper vacuum to run the engine properly and not induce another problem while testing. K, guys, here's the latest. I put the vacuum gauge on it, and at 2500 rpm, the vacuum is steady. I'm reluctant to pull the exhaust off, because the car only has 45K on it, and with the vacuum test checking out OK, I don't think that's it. But I could be wrong-- it's happened before : ) But check this out. I put a timing light on each of the wires. The two front cylinders are firing fine. The drivers side rear one (#4, I think) is firing twice as fast as the others, and kinda irregular. The back one on the pass side is not firing steadlily at all, noticible misfire. Could I have a bad coil? Aaaand how can I test the coil to see if it's bad?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 13, 2005 Author Share Posted June 13, 2005 Oh, and how in the heck am I supossed to see if the cat is clogged? It's the cat and another resonator or something, but they are in a bend in the pipe, so even if I do get it off, I won't be able to see through it to tell if the cat is clogged?!?!?! Know what I'm sayin' here? --Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 14, 2005 Author Share Posted June 14, 2005 BUMP for more answers/ info!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 You could try swapping the ignitors to see if that changes things on the spark. I think shops can test the exhaust system by pressuring it and checking the back pressure. Welcome to the forum BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 15, 2005 Author Share Posted June 15, 2005 You could try swapping the ignitors to see if that changes things on the spark. I think shops can test the exhaust system by pressuring it and checking the back pressure. Welcome to the forum BTW. Thanks Glen, this is my first post, well first problem with the Impreza, and I got 10 different guys trying to help me. So, looks like I'll be here for a while. Ignitors? Where are these at? --Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 The ignitors are tied to the sparkplugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 21, 2005 Author Share Posted June 21, 2005 The ignitors are tied to the sparkplugs. Huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 They supply the high voltage to the plugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 21, 2005 Author Share Posted June 21, 2005 OK, I tested the coil. I have the DIAMOND coil Between plugs 1 & 2 I read 12.4K and...............3&4 I read 12.2K I was told it should be between 17.9 and 24.5K, Sooooooo, my coil is bad????? Is that how a bad coil behaves? --Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 21, 2005 Author Share Posted June 21, 2005 Also, on the connector that plugs into the connector, I get no resistance readings at all between any of the terminals on the coil itself, and the only thing I got on the plug end was a dead short between pins 2&3. So what does this all mean? --Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 here's the scan from the factory manual on the test procedure. http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8080/subaru_manual_scans/FSM_Scans/coilpacktest.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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