My 97 Outback has been experiencing drivability issues and I have not been able to pinpoint the source of the problem. The car has about 250k on it now. It now has a 2.2 from a 97 Impreza Outback Sport with comparable mileage and questionable maintenance history. It has been around 20k miles since the swap and I am now experiencing drivability  and power problems. For lack of better description, it is just severely down on power, to the point it doesn't seem like it would even make it up a steep hill any more. Recent repairs include fuel pump replacement after total failure and fuel filter replacement. The catalytic converter has been checked with a pressure gauge to check for blockage. It does not seem to have a "dead miss" or any type of miss for that matter. It is currently at my mechanic's shop and he is baffled. Normally I do my own work, but a recent injury has me catching up on so many other things I have not had the time to work on it myself.

 

My son has been driving this car as his college car most recently. I am unaware of any events leading up to the poor performance.

 

The symptoms seem as if either the engine is not getting the proper air/fuel mixture, or possibly the timing is being retarded for some reason when it should not be.

 

I have also tried swapping out the airflow sensor with a known good one with no help in running condition.

 

Anyone have any ideas on what else to check? The car ran ok for 20k after the swap (which I personally did) with no major issues..

Knock Sensor can go bad without codes which will retard the timing.

oil in the plug wells/weak wires can make it gutless and eventually misfire. I'm replacing the grommets on our 2000 for that reason.

 

How new are your plugs and wires?

consider checking the timing??

Knock sensor, also there are no spark plug grommets on the phase 1 ej22e so oil there is not an issue.

So should I just replace the knock sensor and see what happens? I don't think I have a known good one so I will need to purchase one. Are the non-oem ones ok or do I need to stick with genuine parts?

What is the best way to check/adjust the timing?

Buy one of the cheap knock sensors on eBay, and search for "knock sensor 101" on this forum for a great write up on installation.