itzik93

All u had to do is to dry off the ingition components with compressed air and you'r car should've run like new. I cleaned my engine 2 monthes ago with no misfires problems at all. Itzik

Well, i had some time to do a small fuel economy test after relocating the knock-sensor. On mixed driving i've got 26MPG. I'd says its pretty damn good. Probably on highways it can get more. I'll do some tests in urban driving to see whats the diffrence before and after, especially on heavy traffic and stop&go traffic. Itzik

Update: A friend of mine, from work, done the same relocating on his car, impreza 2003 AWD GX (2.0L), and he confirmed good results about performance (car "pulls" m-u-c-h better). Itzik

Exactly. Because of that i asked if someone has already expirienced this procedure and can tell us more. Itzik

Well, I read this thread few days ago and decided to relocate my knock sensor. My KS has been replaced few monthes ago (the old one was cracked) bcoz he threw CEL while going uphill with the gas pedal on the floor. Anyway, since relocating the KS (as shown in the first post) the car pulls amazingly and it _seems_ to be more economical in fuel consumption. I guess i will finish the "fuel consuption test" in about 1-2 weeks - but I would have like to know if there's anybody who tried this thing and had success with better fuel consumption and performace. 10x Itzik

Before replacing any bulb's or headlight's - check voltage on the bulb's and search for power/current-flow drops (cause of age and sometime bad grounding or a bad bulb's plug). Volage of 12.5/12.8V instead of 14.V on the bulb's plug is not fair acceptable to get the best out of you'r bulb's/headlights. A "good" drop of voltage should be maximum 0.5V (its also a good idea to check the voltage on the fuel pump). Itzik.

The "Power" mode engaged when you press the accelerator pedal quickly. You dont have to floor it or smash it (!), just press is quickly and the power light will stay on till you'll release the pedal. Had the same model and the same car like your - but with an 1.6 engine (EJ16). It was a bullet proff car. bought the car in 1998 when it was 5 y/o from an old nice man (1st hand) that drove the car only 29,500km. Had it 6 years and drove it almost 100,000KM with 1 small problem: Engine temp sensor (check engine light was coming up somtimes - scanner says its the temp sensor. replaced it and the problem solved). Besides that - regular maintenance. Take care of the front CV boots. replace them with original boots (last for many years !). If you drive most of the time "city", replace the transmission fluid every 40,000km or 2 years if you use synthetic fluid. If you use mineral oil - change it more frequently. All the other fluids as the manual says. I've changed every 2 years all the fluids (brake, transmission, differential, radiator). Have fun Itzik

Good morning :-) On "new" subaru's in general (lets say impreza & legacy - all since 1995 and on), where's the location of the ground connection of the engine ECU ? (is it somewhere on the body frame near the passenger ? or is it on the engine ?) I searched on wiring-diagrams but it doesnt describes if its the body gorund or engine ground. Thanks alot, Itzik

Both have white connector. the "old" one has a smaller white connector, the "new" one has a bigger white connector. I had to cut the wires and solder them. Itzik.

It started 4 monthes ago. i was climbing uphill with the gas pedal on the floor for at least 1/2 a minute. It was the first time since i have the car that the "check engine" light was ON during driving. Since that time till this week, it never came back. But last week i drove uphill's with the gas peda on the floor - and it came back AGAIN. This time i pulled the code, and it said 22. check my manual and it seems to be the knock sensor. The car is legacy MY96, automatic, FWD, EJ20 with almost 173K k"m (thats around 105-110K miles). As usuall, i came to this forum to search for information. many of you said that the sensor might be cracked (a common age "problem"). I found (easly) the sensor on the motor and i saw it has only 1 wire. i thought it would be a good idea to start with cleaning the contact between the sensor and the engine - might be dirty of corrosion. As soon as i took out the sensor, i saw 3 cracks in different direction ! A good friend of mine gave me a good knock sensor that came off from another engine, i checked that it have no cracks, and installed it. enjoy the pictures :-) Itzik

Also check fuel pressure and validate that the intake manifold and throttle body are clean without vacum leaks. itzik

As i said before, i already changed the injectors (with injectors i bought from a "wrack-yard"). After everything was set on the car (and the car was starting and driving *great*) i passed them an "on-car" cleaning procedure with BG products - and thats it For now, the car is driving excellent and starting great in all situations. Itzik

Last update: I replaced few days ago the injectors (all 4 of them); problem solved. Next time you think about taking out the injectors for a clean, think twice and clean them on the car. Itzik.

Told you so :-) In my legacy both connectors has been replaced in the past few years. The right side was much before when the previous onwer had the car, the left side was 6 monthes ago (i own the car for more then 2 years). I used aftermarket connector from local parts store, so far so good. You have to cut the old connector and solder the new one. Cut the wires one by one and connect the same side wire from the new connector. after that solder the connections and isolate them. Izik

Had EXACTLY the same thing on my legacy, the problem was a BURNT FUSE that blowed because of short circuit at one of the headlight connectors. I replaced the headlight connector (the one with the 3 pin's inside that connects to the bulb) and replaced the fuse (15A, blue). To locate the exact fuse - pull out the fuse and inspect it visual. do not use a check bulb. The fuse is in the fuses/relays box (color: black) near the engine. Dont forget to update us... Itzik

Thanks, Carl. Another update from today's tests: Took out (carfully) 2 screws that holds the right fuel rail to the engine. Dryed everything with papertowl and pressurized the system (moved the key to "ON" position few times, hearing the fuel pump work for 2 seconds each time). By using a small mirror i checked the down side of the rail - and i could see fuel leaking slowly over the plastic cap around the nozzle of the injectors. For now, the main suspects are the O-rings. I must find as soon as possible new o-rings (only 4 needed) and see if the problem exists.... Otherwise, i will have to replace the injectors. More updates will come...

Update: The vehicle tested with a scanner today. The coolant temp sensor is working perfectly and all the other sensor are working perfectly according to the FSM (meaning that the injection time is correct, TPS well adjusted and also the ISC valve is well adjusted - there's nothing to touch). Except that we also tested the fuel pressure of all the system and made another few test's for specific sections (from the fuel pump till fuel filter _and_ from the fuel filter till the end of the system - exactly after the fuel pressure regulator - which is the injectors section). The second test made with the fuel return-line clogged. The results shows that the section from the fuel pump till the fuel filter is perfect and it almost doesnt losing any pressure. The second test (injector section) shows a pretty fast depressurize, meaning that there is a leak in this section. Now there are 2 possiable ways to leak; 1st is from the o-rings, 2nd is the injector(s). Any suggestion's or idea's will be thankful. More updates will come as soon as will be any...

The problem 1st occurred after the injector's soaked in the small bath of carb cleaner. The injector's connected to a special desinged machine that activates the injectors like they were on the car. The ultrasonic cleaning was tried after the problem occured and solution was necessary. The ultrasonic cleaning did not solve the problem. As i see the problem now, unfortunately i almost sure that one of the injectors, or even more, are leaking. When the problem will be solved i promise to update the exact reason and solution. For now, i'll be glad to hear some advices for more checks. BTW: I would like to make a little correction for this theard title, it should be "hard start after injector cleaning". Thanks.

So, are there any advices what to do in that case ?

Already done that few days ago - didnt help. The problem started the day the injector's been cleaned and the suspects are the injectors or their o-rings. Right now, after the injector's has been ultrasonicly cleaned - the only suspects are the o-rings. There is a very, but very (!), small possibility that the problem is in one of the sensors or somthing else. I will keep updating you untill the problem solved. Right now there is a small problem of getting new o-rings in my area so tomorrow i'm going to try to replace my o-rings with other o-rings that are in better shape. In about a week i'll get *new* o-rings, hopefully sooner.

Forgot to mention, neither cold starts are OK. And an update: cleaned the injectors ultrasonicly today. After that, for about 1-2 times, startup was perfect - and from that point - worse again. Next step: replacing the O-rings of the injectors, especially the bottom o-rings (the upper o-rings are not leaking).

Hi everybody, I expirience hot-start problems after injector cleaning i made few days ago. The cleanig method was DIY with carb cleaner. I soaked the injectors in a small bath of carb cleaner and ran them with a special injector machine that opens them without damaging them (give them short pulses). After that the car run perfect and i feel the torque increased. The problem is that after the car sit's for more then 10-15 minutes, it has difficults on starting (long starter). O-rings are in a fine shape, no leaks outside. Before the cleaning everything was 100% perfect with no hot-start problems, that why i know that the problem is the injectors. I suspect the at least one injector stays alittle bit open and floods the engine. I disassemble the injectors rail and i feel that from the bottom of the rail there is a little bit of fuel. I cant see exactly if the o-rings are leaking or the injectors are leaking, although i know that the o-rings are in a-fine shape. Few days before the cleaning I disassemble the injectors and assembled again with no leaks or hot-start problems. At all the times i've used silicone spray on the o-rings to fit them perfectly. Few days later i made a 2nd clean with mixture of 50% gas and 50% carb cleaner, All that through a small tank with external fuel pump (like dialysis or fuel injector cleaning with a special machine). The 2nd clean made a huge diffrence and the car starts alot faster, but still not like before. I'd like to hear from you'r expirience and knowledge how to clean them perfectly to solve this little problem. Thanks.

Why going downgrade to an SOHC engine (and pay more for it) if you'r DOHC is repairable (and even cheaper) ? The DOHC's are better then the SOHC's (more hp's, more torque...) - I cant see any logical reason to downgrade a DOHC to SOHC. Itzik.

From my expirience, if ther heater core is clogged - no trapped air in the cooling system will be bleed by itself (as it should be). All you have to do is to clean the heater core and fill up the system again (i had the same situation with an Impreza... the Engine overheat, New thermostat and liquid was in - but no success -> untill the heater core was fixed/unclogged). Itzik

I disassembled both units (left and right) and flushed them this way: Pour some water and alittle bit soap OR bleach (whitening) liquid, shake the mixture inside the unit and then pour the mixture out. after that flush again the unit few times only with water, until the mixture that pour's out is clean as water, without soap or any other liquid you've used. I've done it many times with 100% success. I used bleach/whitening liquid all the time. After the flush i used hair drier to dry the units (inside) and also put the units infront of the sun-light for about an hour or two (the hair drier is not enough, after u'll put the units in front of the sun-light you will see that there is still humidity inside, but it will dry out very fast because the units are open from the back side because the bulb's are disassembled). Only after the units are perfectly dry, install the units on the car and attach the bulb's. If you'll not perfectly dry the units inside, after installing the bulb's there will be sign's of humidity inside (not good...) and its very hard to dry out that kind of humidity while the unit is almost 100% sealed. Itzik