suprunner Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Hi all. In a pinch. Currently stranded in Golden/Denver Colorado. Vehicle: 1998 Outback engine: ej251/25D hybrid Story: swapped a great running motor from my rusty '96 to this '98. In the process I put a NEW timing kit, NEW oem plugs, new oil pump, new clutch-kit/slave cyl., new oil pressure sender... ran beautifully all the way here from South Dakota, with many trips up and down the canyons from Hwy 119 to the Front Range. Two days ago, CEL came on and I stopped at an auto parts store. Got two misfire codes, and not having noticed any symptoms I cleared it. It coincided with using the a/c, so I moved the a/c harness off of/away from the spark plug wire. I figured something may have arced. No issues until trying to climb out of Denver up I-70 yesterday. CEL came on and flashed a few times. Pulled the car immediately to the side of the road and was turned off. Oil light did NOT come on. Symptoms came. Horribly shaky idle, no power. I checked all spark plugs (on the side of the road), and they were tight, and looked in okay condition. Idles like it is missing cylinders. While idling I pulled off/on all spark plug wires and injectors. No difference (except VERY minor idle-up for 1 second) with cylindees 1/3. Motor dies when 2/4 are pulled. Got towed to a local dealership and they were nice enough tp read the codes. P0261, and P0267 I believe this is Low/No voltage to cylinders 1 & 3 injectors. (In my frenzy I installed a new coil, and new spark plug wires) I took a volt meter to the yellow wire of each injector plug, with ignition switched to ON. 2 & 4 get 12v, 1 & 3 are dead. I tried directly wiring the yellow wires to the battery, and there was no difference in engine performance. Where/what should be my next step? Is it true that the injectors get constant power, but the ECU/ECM adjusts the pulse timing via internal grounds? I'll be looking at diagrams today to try and get this going...any suggestions will help. I'm supposed to be getting towed back up to Gilpin County where I'll have a garage to sit in. Thank you in advance for any suggestions! Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 I have no help other than to suggest you are not far from Shawn at RetroRoo. Founder of this Forum where we are writing! https://www.retroroo.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suprunner Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 6 minutes ago, 1 Lucky Texan said: I have no help other than to suggest you are not far from Shawn at RetroRoo. Founder of this Forum where we are writing! https://www.retroroo.com/ I completely forgot about them. I'll give them a call. thank you 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 I think the power to the injectors is provided through the Main Relay, along with other engine circuits. They are all tied to a supply line from the relay. I suggest you look for a bad splice connection, possibly in the harness, for the two injectors having trouble. Also, you are correct in thinking the ECU turning on the injectors by completing the ground connection to them and power is supplied to them whenever the Main Relay is ON. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suprunner Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 2 hours ago, Cougar said: I think the power to the injectors is provided through the Main Relay, along with other engine circuits. They are all tied to a supply line from the relay. I suggest you look for a bad splice connection, possibly in the harness, for the two injectors having trouble. Also, you are correct in thinking the ECU turning on the injectors by completing the ground connection to them and power is supplied to them whenever the Main Relay is ON. I just rewired the injectors from a hot-wire that I attempted. Sprayed QD cleaner in all connections of the engine harness. I now had 12v at every injector, with key in ON. Started the motor. Sounds mildly better, maybe more balanced, but got P-codes for every injector getting low voltage. Tested the alternator while idling (no lights), got 13.4v. Turned lights on, and got 13.2 with falling numbers. Took the alternator out to get tested. Could this be a contributor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suprunner Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 1 minute ago, suprunner said: I just rewired the injectors from a hot-wire that I attempted. Sprayed QD cleaner in all connections of the engine harness. I now had 12v at every injector, with key in ON. Started the motor. Sounds mildly better, maybe more balanced, but got P-codes for every injector getting low voltage. Tested the alternator while idling (no lights), got 13.4v. Turned lights on, and got 13.2 with falling numbers. Took the alternator out to get tested. Could this be a contributor? A-zone tested the alternator out of vehicle and it passed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Alternator is not the problem. You need good voltage to the injectors. Sounds like you didn't pull a good source. You need to test the circuit loaded. Unloaded 12v could drop to nothing or at least lower than the injectors need when they fire. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suprunner Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 53 minutes ago, GeneralDisorder said: Alternator is not the problem. You need good voltage to the injectors. Sounds like you didn't pull a good source. You need to test the circuit loaded. Unloaded 12v could drop to nothing or at least lower than the injectors need when they fire. GD GD, do I idle the engine and test voltage at the injectors? Just did NOID test and there is a pulse light on all four injectors, yet I'm still getting low voltage codes for all injectors. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suprunner Posted June 26, 2019 Author Share Posted June 26, 2019 Pulled timing covers off. Passenger side cams off by three or four teeth. what did I do wrong? I'm bummed this motor is trashed. I really liked the hybrid setup. I won't have time to fix valves. Grad school starts next Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 I doubt there’s damage at three or four teeth out of time. So you may have dodged a bullet there. I reckon GD will give a difinitive answer about that cam timing. Reset the cam belt, check the tensioner and all the idlers - replace it rumbly when spun or if the bearing has already collapsed. Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suprunner Posted June 26, 2019 Author Share Posted June 26, 2019 7 hours ago, el_freddo said: I doubt there’s damage at three or four teeth out of time. So you may have dodged a bullet there. I reckon GD will give a difinitive answer about that cam timing. Reset the cam belt, check the tensioner and all the idlers - replace it rumbly when spun or if the bearing has already collapsed. Cheers Bennie Thanks Bennie. There's a definite tick coming from that side of the engine now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.