'96 impreza, 2.2liter

intermitant rough firing, check engine light comes on, computer code is always missfire in cylinder 3 (had it read a couple of times). local service has tried to cause the problem, jiggle this, jiggle that, spray water on engine. nothing. ferried it to the juneau subbie dealer. their report ruled out plugs and wires. notice minor out of spec resistance across the ignition coil. recommended replacement. just did that today and during the test run i was getting the old misfiring again.

 

(sound of scratching head)

 

suggestions?

 

joe

petersburg

Asuming that ignition and compression are OK . I would look at the fuel injector . Try swaping #1 and #3 injectors and see if the code follows

 

SEA#3

#1 REPLACE spark plug

 

#2 REPLACE wire

 

#3 See if someone will let you borrow their coil pack to try and see if yours is bad. When my dad worked at the dealership they would usually "borrow" one off of another car, and if that fixed it, then they would tell the customer that is what it needed.

 

#4 It also could be a mechanical misfire, if there is excessive carbon on the valve it can stick causing misfire. But when I have seen this the car looses power and then dies, because of the lifter being stuck open.

 

#5 It is possible an injector, it would have to be mechanically failing (an electrical failure will kick on #3 injector code) Switching the injectors will rule that out, but I would try a coil pack first.

replaced the coil pack, problem came back

 

replaced plugs and wires, problem came back

 

now to the injector..............sigh.

 

joe

petersburg, ak