Major Engine Problems Rendering My Car Useless

[fl4t]

car: 1995 Legacy L. JDM EJ25DE, AWD4EAT

storyline:

1. start car - it takes a noticeably few extra cranks than it should from sitting a couple days in the snow
2. car idles while i brush snow from windows - from a start, it's fine.. it revvs waaay up for 3-5 seconds then goes back to normal
3. warm body in seat - notice a small amount of smoke coming from engine, i thought of it as nothing more than the current exhaust leak from my header
4. start to reverse - bald tires i give it a considerable amount of gas to overcome the mound of snow behind me, engine revs higher but car slllooowly increases speed.
5. 'Drive' - mobbing throught the snow i didnt notice anything wrong, i finally made it onto a clear main road at a light
6. From the light: i give it about 90% throttle and the car starts revving up and down as i accelerate like a turtle, the tach is slowly increasing though as normal - when the tach shows around 3-4krpms, something happens and i take off with heavy acceleration.. i was unaware i had vtec

thats been happening alot lately.

today after #7 i was at a red light after i'd driven a total of maybe 1 mile, and something happened that sounded like a backfire and my car slowly sputtered to its death, it started, ran, and idles forward albeit slowly but surely without problem but as soon as i hit the gas AT ALL it dies.. had to push it home in the snow.. seeing smoke from the engine.. it wasnt white or thick just exhaust type... and smelling metal type odor faintly as well

prior to this i ran a few weeks without a cone or any other filter attached to my maf sensor, it is on now.

i have a CEL from the engine swap (PO106) - havent yet checked if there were any others


im out of a car right now so info wanted!

thanks

[Legacy777]

I would check for any new codes. Not knowing what PO106 is, what code is that?

Has there been any other symptoms you noticed prior to this happening?

[fl4t]

the plugs, wires and coil came with the motor from tigerjapanese.com in nov/dec of 2008.. so those all no doubt need replacing

i had always had that code though since the swap from the old 2.2 to the current 2.5, i thought it was due to not tapping the EGR into the motor when i swapped it... its run fine with it on until recently so im not sure if thats it

some more info..
tonight when i turned it on, despite it taking 100000 turns to finally start, it idles for about 5 seconds then dies, upon turning it on, the 'AT Oil Temp' light blinks 16 times..

i noticed unusual smoking.. upon inspecting, it appeared to be coming from the front part of the motor as opposed to the heads..although still not overly thick or white.. also after the car died it ooked like it may have been coming from under the car as well, near the trans or cat

i'm also running on the stock ecu from the 2.2L

[fl4t]

tired unplugging the MAF to see how it ran in limp mode but it will not stay idling for more than a few seconds now

also right as it started sputtering before it died tonight, a 'pop' sounded like it came out of the cone filter.. i thought that was odd

[Legacy777]

Well the 16 blinks for the AT light indicates there's a code stored. You have to pull the codes to see what it is.

Do you have an OBD 2 scan tool? I'd suggest using one, even if you borrow/rent one from an autoparts store. You ideally want one that can also read engine parameters. You want to look at engine coolant temp and a few other things when the key is in the "ON" position, but engine not running. Sometimes a bad coolant temp sensor can cause a lot of issues with starting.

After cranking for such a long time, do you smell fuel? I'd also suggest pulling the spark plugs after cranking for a while to see if they are wet and smell like fuel. If they are not, then you may have an issue with the fuel pump or something else fuel related.

[fl4t]

i found a MAF at the junkyard from a bunch of 1st gen legacys... will that work?

[Legacy777]

I think the JDM Legacies used the black JECS MAF. If it did, you can give that a try. I would suggest looking at the part # on the JDM MAF and trying to match it to whatever you find in the junk yard.

If you post the part # of the JDM MAF I can probably tell you what to keep your eyes open for.

[fl4t]

i replaced it with just a different MAF from a 96 ej22 and it runs now for the 20 or so miles i drove it.. i pulled codes after driving for about a half hour (freeway) and found 5:

PO100 - Mass Air Flow (MAF) Circuit Malfunction
PO301 - Cylinder #1 Misfire Detected
PO302 - Cylinder #2 Misfire Detected
PO400 - MAP/Barometric Pressure Circuit Range/Performance Problem
PO106 - Exhaust Gas Recirculation Flow Malfunction

i cleared these codes and drove another 15 minute's home and so far they've not come back on...what next?

[Legacy777]

So you cleared the codes and they haven't come back, and the engine runs fine?

[fl4t]

light came back on this morning, it felt like i was towing something, very weighted down and was very hard to get above 55 and uphills i was afraid of it failing completely

i havent got a chance to pull codes again but im sure its still the misfires

[Legacy777]

Did you end up pulling the codes?

[fl4t]

pulled the codes last night actually, besides the expected PO400, i had a cylinder 3 & 4 misfire only, checked the oil and there was barely any on the dipstick which blew my mind, i added 2 qts and drove around 25 miles after clearing codes...CEL on again

[Legacy777]

Have you replaced the plugs & wires yet? If not, I'd do that.