Just bought my second (currently owned) subaru, few problems.. was in a minor accident, front and rear bumber both damaged about the same amount. Spun on black ice apparantly, which caused the seat heater in the passenger seat caught fire torching the seat and making the interior smell... bad. Nothing a  junkyard cant fix though. THe main issue im having is tht it seems to run super rich (small amount of black smoke on start up and when revved, spark plugs are black and sooty, wont hold an idle at all really. Check Engine light is on, havnt gotten the codes yet. Can you do it from home? and the fuel gauge is broken, reads 3/4 or full at all times.

 

 

new 95 sitting next to my 92.

 

Edited January 26, 201412 yr by Razorthirty

I would suggest a bad engine temp sensor or bad front o2, or the combination of both

well S***! i took the air filter box apart to check the condition of the air filter... and there ISN'T ONE! im obviously not gonna drive it till i get one, and it does not look like it was driven too far without a filter.. (no dust build up on the post filter side of the housing but it is winter, no dust.) is the engine likely just scrap or should i just tune it up and if it runs good its good? compression test maybe..?

Edited January 26, 201412 yr by Razorthirty

Bad ECT sensor telling the ECU the engine temp is -40° all the time.

 

Or could be a plugged fuel pressure regulator.

 

Codes have to be pulled with a scanner. Limp it to a parts store, most will read codes for free. Post up the code numbers here if you need help figuring out what to fix.

Or since it has been ran without an air filter it could be a bad or dirty Mass air flow sensor

Or since it has been ran without an air filter it could be a bad or dirty Mass air flow sensor

 

Good call..

 

Well i limped it the 15 miles to the local parts store and got  2 codes, p100, p101 both MAF related from what i can tell. I reset them and they came right back as soon as i started the car... anyone got a spare i could purchase for a modest sum when i next get paid? or should i try just cleaning it?

Edited January 26, 201412 yr by Razorthirty

If you do decide to clean it get a can of Mass air flow cleaner and follow the directions on the can 

Looks like my local junkyard has a MAF for a 97 legacy 2.5.. the MAF will plug right in and work on a  2.2 though right?

If the part number on the side is the same then it'll work.

IIRC it ends with AA260

will be the same 95-98 for ej22 and ej25d legacy, iprezaa, forester, and most likely 90-94 legacy as well

 SO i just called the PO and asked him if he knew he was running with no air filter, apparently he had no clue which means that it had no filter the ENTIRE time he owned it. (less then 6 months), the real question now is, with no boroscope at my disposal to inspect cylinder walls, how do i check the integrity of this motor? Would the MAF have died soon enough to prevent significant engine damage? I mean i know ej22's are tough but.. Only drove it to work and back supposedly.

Do a compression test. If the numbers come up even across all 4 cylinders then just keep on running it. With a new filter of course. New NGK copper plugs should be in order since they all need to come out to check compression anyway.

 

If one or two are significantly low that could be causing some of the running problem.

I would definitely clean the MAF, clean out the whole intake tube. Clean the TB and IAC. And if you feel ambitious remove the intake manifold and clean it out with some intake cleaner and a bottle brush. If you don't feel that ambitious run a half bottle of Seafoam through the vacuum port on top of the manifold. Do that twice and it should clean the manifold and heads out pretty well.

Change the oil and filter... people don't realize that the oil collects the dirt and impurities that are introduced into the engine.... And I would just run some Sea Foam through the engine and spray some carb cleaner in the throttle body, Then change the oil 

Edited January 30, 201412 yr by luko