Jump to content
LegacyGT.com

LGTMKE

Members
  • Posts

    45
  • Joined

About LGTMKE

  • Birthday 03/13/1991

Personal Information

  • Location
    South East WI
  • Car
    2011 Legacy GT
  • Interests
    Anything that goes fast, computers
  • Occupation
    Marketing

LGTMKE's Achievements

Explorer

Explorer (4/14)

  • First Post
  • Collaborator
  • Conversation Starter
  • Week One Done
  • One Month Later

Recent Badges

0

Reputation

  1. Essentially my valve clearances were tight, especially on cylinder 4. Valve adjustment, new valve seats, new head on cylinder 4, head gasket, timing belt, thermostat, ignition coil, new exhaust gaskets, new plugs and some related parts, etc. - Work came out to 4k. Screenshot of report from dealer > https://imgur.com/a/gdLllxB
  2. 1. Are these items for longevity or performance? 2. Either way, what are the benefits to these? 3. What's a typical price for these compared to replacing with OEM parts?
  3. Thanks for the replies guys. If I keep the car there's no way I'm not doing the valve adjustment (quoted at $2,200 dealership and $2,000 at a mechanic) since ignoring it is a ticking time bomb. If I need to resurface the heads idk what to do, paying for my wedding in May, the honeymoon and my first house this year means money is tight. We shouldn't have to suffer through these headaches on a 88k mile, stock, dealer maintained car, and it seem fairly common with ours. Does the limited number of production models mean Subaru doesn't get enough feedback data to work out the kinks? Idk what I would do without this thread though, the amount of information available is astounding. You guys have been a huge help already by helping me learn a truckload of info. I guess I'm going to bite the smallest bullet I can and get a code reader and the right tools to remove my spark plugs so I can check those as I do the coils. How much harder will it be to swap the injectors if it's not the plugs or coil pack?
  4. Rebuilding an engine would make sense to me if I were modifying things, trying to squeeze out as much power as possible by tuning, if it had 150k+ miles on it, or if I regularly brought it to the track but I've done none of those things. I own a completely stock car for 3 years that's been dealer maintained and now I need to rebuild the engine? This is ridiculous. Do I just pray I can clear the issue with a coil/injector/plug and then sell it asap? I want and planned to have the car for many more years but as I was searching threads on here to fix my issue it seems like all I have is doom and gloom in my future with this car even if I spend thousands of dollars to rebuild the engine.
  5. I guess I don't understand engines as well as I thought because I was under my own delusion you could just adjust clearances. If I'm wrong, what the f is going on? I bought a stock car at 44k, kept it stock and drove for less than three years and now my engine needs to be rebuilt?? It seems like my only options are to A. Spend a time learning about engines, finding a good mechanic, ordering all the new things for a new shortblock, spending thousands to get it installed, plus all the other stuff I will do to rebuild an engine B. Even if I skip the valve clearance and go through all these headaches and risk damaging anything by swapping coils/plugs/injectors to find what's wrong, order new parts, install right I still have an engine that needs to be rebuilt because I can't just adjust my valve clearance so I'll probably get burnt valves pretty soon so what's the point? C. Sell my broken car that I still have 2 years of payments on This is a punt to the dick. I'm furious and heartbroken if this is true.
  6. Thanks for the tips everyone. What's the fastest/cheapest way to clear and read codes? Ideally I'd have a Cobb AP or the BtSsm app route but need a cheaper option for the short term. Can you buy one from like an autozone or something then return?
  7. Questions for everyone: 1. Given exhaust valve #4 is VERY tight and thus more than likely resulting in a loss of compression, wouldn't that affect the results of a compression test? 2. If we know my exhaust valves are way out of spec, why wouldn't I start by adjusting those no matter what? Even if I find out a bad coil/plug/injector is causing the misfire, ignoring the super tight exhaust valves could lead to bigger problems in the near future. 3. Further, the only time my CEL comes on is when this massive bucking issue happens - under heavy load and high RPMs. So if I was going to swap around coils/injectors/plugs I would have to duplicate the heavy load/RPM scenario each time in order to see if my CEL was throwing the code on a different cylinder or not... meaning that I'd have to go WOT above 4k RPMs many times to not only see if the issue is recurring but even if the CEL doesn't show up again I'd want to keep testing a lot to make sure it wasn't just a fluke. I don't feel like this testing scenario is wise with such tight exhaust valve clearances. BUT, maybe I'm talking out of my a$$ and am totally wrong. Maybe the tight valve clearance caused the underlying issue... but it led to a bad plug/injector/coil and by replacing a bad plug/coil/injector I will be able to diagnose that yes, the valve clearance is off but the issue was ultimately caused by a bad plug/injector/coil. Again I don't know a ton about engines so I'm just trying to use logic to find the safest and cheapest way to fix the issues I know are wrong and troubleshoot the things I don't know for certain. The BtSsm app route is still going to cost me $15 plus ~$150 for the bluetooth dongle thing so its more money on diagnosing when I already know my valve clearance is very bad and that my secondary issue is highly likely a bad coil/injector/plug which can be diagnosed without spending any more money. To me it seems like below is the safest bet, for this route I am only spending money on something I am certain is a problem that needs addressing, the rest is free diagnosing until I've exhausted likely issues and will have to start spending on further diagnostics. A. Adjust valve clearances to spec, see if problem persists, if so move on to B B. Check spark plug on cylinder #4, if it looks fine proceed to C C. Swap coils on #2 and #4, see if CEL follows, if code stays move on to D D. Swap injectors, see if code follows, if not proceed to E E. Ringland test: remove oil cap while engine running, look for puffs of smoke, if smoke it's likely a cracked ringland/bottom end failure. If ok move on to F F. Compression test? And/or get the BtSsm app to start logging, share results with the fine fellers on this forum to get more insights PLEASE let me know if my logic is solid or if there is something I'm missing.
  8. Hmm, that's a head scratcher because my car overall runs fine. If anything it has some subtle hesitation when accelerating but idles and drives fine otherwise, besides the main issue in the OP. Maybe I'm just used to it being bad and have no comparison. From what I'm gathering it seems like the exhaust valves definitely need adjustment either way (and I'm lucky nothing worse happened with them being so tight). Based on the very tight clearance of exhaust valve#4 with a P0304 cylinder 4 misfire code, and the fact that my surging/bucking only occurs in heavy load above 4k RPMs, is the violent jerking/surging and cylinder #4 misfire issue being caused by extreme heat which is causing something to fail, like and injector/plug/coil? The dealership, the 2nd mechanic I took it to and myself have not looked into injectors, plugs or coils yet. I'm hesitant since I've never done any engine wrenching before and don't want to mess anything up.
  9. I don't know what the mechanic logged but the dealership said, "...all exhaust valves are out of spec. Number four being the worst at .12mm, all others range from .15mm - .20mm". What's a 'normal' range?
  10. Yeah, the dealership checked and gave me the numbers. I have the printout at home. I think they just went for the expensive diagnostic and repair, and didn't try testing a bunch of other things. The mechanic I took it to afterwords actually jumped in the car with me to experience the issue, then started data logging some stuff to get a better understanding of the bigger picture. He did not, however, check the coil packs, injectors or plugs because he didn't think those were likely culprits.
  11. Ok, this doesn't look that bad - though this isn't a 5th gen Legacy, it's an 04 WRX. Is the 5th gen legacy a relatively similar process to get to and spacious enough for an amateur to figure out and do himself? If so, this would save me a lot of money in labor to do myself, swap #2 and #4 to see if my issue follows a bad coil or persists.
  12. Ok this makes me feel more confident it could be the coil pack. What was a little odd to me was that the mechanic and I both thought the MAF would cause issues throughout the rpm range not just under wot conditions, but last night he basically said he can order a new one, try it out and if it doesn't fix it he can just return it since he has pull with the companies, saving me the cost of a new one if it doesn't work. Might be worth it in that case just to try. Assuming that doesn't work, and assuming he tries a coil pack to no avail, how much time does it take to switch around the injector with another to test that?
  13. Alright guys - went by my mechanic's shop last night to go over all of the possible issues I described here in my last reply - he thinks it isn't the coil pack, injectors, ringlands or even the exhaust valve clearance that is off. He seems like a very knowledgeable, honest guy and did do a lot of testing on my car. He wants to try putting in an aftermarket MAF to see if that fixes it and then gave me some other possible culprits. I know far, far, far less than he does about engines so my question is this: to everyone suggesting the coil packs, did you have the EXACT same issue as me or a similar issue? My car starts, idles and drives perfectly. I can drive it even moderately hard all the way to redline without issue. It is ONLY when I am at/near WOT under hard loads and above 4k RPM in any gear that my car jerks (like a fuel cut) then surges, jerks then surges. There are no other noises or other symptoms.
  14. CWW - They did, I have to find the sheet they gave me or will need call and ask. Even so, I remember them saying they were all relatively ok and even #4, the most out of spec, wasn't alarmingly off, just the most off. It isn't misfiring throughout the rpm range, and I can even get to redline as long as I am not putting it under harder load / acceleration > issue ONLY occurs when at/near full throttle at 4k+ rpm. I have thick forearms and am still a padowon at engine stuff so I'd need someone to do it for me. Subaru would do be able to do it, but would likely go the longest route possible and charge about $112 an hour for labor. A local mechanic might do it as efficiently as possible but wouldn't really be familiar with the process. Know any trustworthy and knowledgeable mechanics around the greater Milwaukee area?
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use