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Car barely running, NO spark in front 2 cylinders

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 6:57 pm
by KC0514
Car is barely running, will not go over 15mph, no power. It almost appears to be running on 2 cyclinders.

*****(More info in later posts)

Background- 91 EJ22T transplanted into a 93 Impreza. Harness done by ECS. Had a rough idle when i got it back from them, but pulled hard and ran okay. Went to paint shop, then sat 3 weeks and problem started.

I just pulled a plug and it is black and soaked with fuel.

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:30 pm
by biggreen96
hmm paintshop.. maybe an important ground isn't grounding anymore.

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:29 pm
by KC0514
I conected the black plugs and pulled the codes last night and this is what I got:

Code 17 Injector #4
Code 21 Water temp
Code 22 knock sensor
Code 52 park switch

How can I get all those codes at once? Is it a clue to a much larger problem? I'm going to do the "battery dance" now and reset the computer.

The car will run, but barely and the motor junps and shakes real violently.

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:04 pm
by Legacy777
Pull each spark plug wire while the engine's running, and see which ones don't change how the engine is running.

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:48 pm
by KC0514
Okay.

There is no spark in the front two cylinders.

I swapped out the coil, no change.

Plus, thsi car is a MANUAL, why would it have a "park switch" code?

Ideas?

Dopey me typo'd the car as an auto. BUT I meant NOT and AUTO.

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:28 pm
by Legacy777
Check or swap out the ignitor. It's either that, the ECU, or the wiring.

The auto cars have a park signal that comes from the inhibitor switch in the transmission.

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:11 pm
by KC0514
I swapped out the ignitor last night with no change.

I'm actually trying to get in touch with Matt at ECS since I can't find where he put the ECU when he wired the swap. I'm thinking it's the ECU, since my previous post meant to say, "the car is a manual, why would I get a park switch code?" My brain wasn't working.

I have an 92 Legacy SS Turbo here, but it's an auto. Will the computer work enough to just test it in the manual 91 car?

I'm ruling out wiring for now, since the car ran decent (not great) after the swap.

I also can not do the "battery dance" to reset the ECU, since the car will not run at idle.

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:43 pm
by Legacy777
What ECU are you using?

If they're using a turbo legacy ECU, then the AT/MT ident switch is probably wired incorrectly.

You can do the battery dance.....you don't need to let it idle.

You can use your 91 ECU.

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:55 pm
by KC0514
The original 91 Legacy MT computer was used.

I tried another AT legacy SS computer and same exact condition.

So to recap.
Tried 2 coils- no change
tried ignitor- no change
tried AT computer- no change

I'm really baffled at this point.

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:56 pm
by Legacy777
Is the 91 MT computer a turbo legacy ECU or non turbo ECU?

I guess you need to find out what exactly the shop that did the swap did....I've helped out other friends that had a shop do their swap.....and come to find out....the shop did not do things correctly.....and had very little documentation.

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:24 pm
by KC0514
The computer in the car is the original 91 Legacy turbo Mt computer that was with the doner car.

East Coast Swappers merged the harness with the Impreza.

The car ran pretty good when I got it back from them. Maybe I'll have it towed back to them.

Thanks for your help.

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 2:42 pm
by Legacy777
It's possible one of their wiring crimps got undone.....

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 5:39 pm
by legacymax
check for a bad ecu pin for those two cylinders. My car was down for 5 months because of a bad ecu pin. I wasn't getting spark to two cylinders.
-Max

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 6:52 pm
by KC0514
I just checked the ECU pins, they look fine.

Looks like it has to be a wiring issue, so I give up. I'll have to get a trailer and haul it back to ECS. Ugh.

Thanks for all the ideas guys.

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 9:34 pm
by asc_up
any update?