jnashusarmy Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 when car is under load its popping back at the throttle body and loses power. then the tranny tries to compensate for the power loss and wants to shift back and forth out of over drive. no check engine light or smoke. any advice would be helpful...its a 95 impreza l non turbo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoupedUpSubie Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Here is a list of things to check: Timing Timing belt condition Spark plugs Also clean the MAF sensor(buy the cleaner made for it) and the throttle body(there is a cleaner made for this also) and while cleaning the throttle body look for anything foreign in there with a flash light. Also make sure your check engine light hasn't been disabled. There are two wires under the dash with a green connector I believe. Plug them together and see if the check engine light comes on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnashusarmy Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 I replaced the plugs yesterday with NGK plugs and the check engine light comes on and goes off with the ignition switch. I cleaned the MAF and the throttle body also, helped but not fixed. Can anybody please tell me how to adjust the timing? This is my first subie...Oh, and by the way today when I put the car in Park, it doesnt want to come out of park. Its done this a few times now..maybe inhibitor switch? Thats what ive been told but local parts store cant even get them...Any help is greatly appreciated..:confused Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 The timing is not really adjustable, it's either dead on or off a tooth (or more). I've had the 'won't come out of park' thing on a few of my soobs. Usually I just jam a pen in the override slot and leave it that way. It can be the little solenoid is sticky for the release, or like you said the inhibitor switch, since I think it fires that solenoid only in park and maybe neutral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoupedUpSubie Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Could the popping be something other then the throttle body? Where your having shifting problems it tells me something is funny with the transmission. I'm not familiar with automatics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Popping out the intake means the timing belt has skipped a tooth. Otherwise, it means you have a burned valve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnashusarmy Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 the tranny is acting fine, im thinking maybe the timing has slipped. do you think maybe the plug wires or coil is going bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnashusarmy Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 if i have a burnt valve can i use some kind of cleaner to clean it or is that a tear down fix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoupedUpSubie Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 If a valve is burnt it needs to be removed. Depending on severity you may be able to lap it back into shape but a better choice is to replace it, along with all the others. Check the timing first. On the front of the engine there are 3 covers. Remove them and make sure the marks line up. There should be a guide somewhere you can look at. If the timing is good then its tear down time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnashusarmy Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 that sucks....is the 1.8 a descent motor? like i said, ive never owned one before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoupedUpSubie Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 The 1.8 is a tough engine. It is an under bored 2.2 so the cylinder walls are extra thick. It's rated at 110 bhp and about 70-80 whp. Very few have head gasket issues. Also they are non-interference so if you break a timing belt you still have a good engine. Many people ask how to get more power out of it. You don't. Just swap a earlier 2.2 in as it is plug and play. I get 28-33 mpg depending on the season and how I drive. Your probably wonder if rebuilding it is worth it. How many miles are on it? Is the body of the car in good condition? Do you want more power or think you need more due to hills? If you do then consider a 2.2 swap as you will need to pull the engine to do the repairs anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnashusarmy Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 well, honestly i got the car cheap due to me parking my audi a4 to work on it. i'm experiencing some issues with it as well. dont suppose you know anything about the 1.8t engines do you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoupedUpSubie Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Well my german car knowledge is very biased. How cheap did you get it? Miles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 if i have a burnt valve can i use some kind of cleaner to clean it or is that a tear down fix? Pull the inspection covers and verify the timing belt first. burned valve would be an all the time thing, not occassional unless it's just starting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 the ej18 is a great engine, it just has limited horse power. they take a lot of abuse and they don't usually have issue with head gaskets or burnt valves. they have HLAs which means you don't have to adjust the valves, ever. and they get good fuel economy. and they are non-interference. it may be a better fit with a manual trans where you can wind it out if you want, i don't really know. in europe in the early 90s the legacy came with an ej18 but in the US only it only came in the imprezas. it is a great engine. fix the timing , change the oil and drive it 150k more miles. or just until your other car is back on the road and then either sell it to a college student or keep it for winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoupedUpSubie Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 My car is a 1.8 fwd impreza 5 speed. It moves right along if you drive it right. Being fwd its more like driving a civic. It will do a one wheel peel around corners. Pretty sure it would get both going also. If you do a swap I recommend going with 4.11 or 4.44 gears as you will get better response. You can go with 3.9 gears if you want a bit better gas mileage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 well, honestly i got the car cheap due to me parking my audi a4 to work on it. i'm experiencing some issues with it as well. dont suppose you know anything about the 1.8t engines do you? I'll say this about Audi, mechanics don't call them job security for no reason. Several friend of mine have owned/driven Audis and they all had major problems. The 1.8 is a solidly built engine, and will reach 200k+ miles if properly cared for, but the rest of the car will fall apart on the way there. Turbos always need more care than a normal engine, though all too often won't get it, and when things go south it makes them that much more complicated to repair. Backfiring in the intake is most likely jumped timing. Not a difficult fix on these. A belt kit with all the idlers and water pump runs about $125 shipped on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rverdoold Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 What is with the audi 1.8t I can have a look on german or dutch car fora to see if there might be a solution? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 The 1.8T was used in the US market A3 and A4 models. Not sure on exact years but they stopped using the 1.8 and bumped them up to the 2.0T about 4-5 years ago. Actually they may not have offered the 1.8 in the A3 here. I think that hit the market about the same time they quit using the 1.8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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