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impreza wrx misfire P0302

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paybi...@xemaps.com

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Jul 28, 2008, 10:35:37 PM7/28/08
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I was driving my 2002 wrx on freeway and suddenly the engine became
rough and the check engine light came on. The car was still drivable
but shaking all the way. Using a code scanner I got "P0302" which
means cylinder #2 misfire.

The car has only 43K miles, still on original plugs.

Are there simple ways to narrow down the cause of the misfire without
opening the hood? Perhaps the code scanner could be of use??

Otherwise, my next plan of action is to replace the fuel filter, then
the spark plugs. If that still doesn't help, I'd probably take it to a
shop.

Tony Hwang

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Jul 28, 2008, 11:02:55 PM7/28/08
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Hi,
Which cylinder? One thing you can try is in the dark(after sunset) open
the hood and look to see if you can see spark jumps around. My bet is
coil, wire, plug in tat order for a particular cylinder. Fuel filter
has nothing to do with it, remotely maybe injector.

Carl 1 Lucky Texan

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Jul 28, 2008, 11:42:50 PM7/28/08
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paybi...@xemaps.com wrote:


If this happened a mile or 2 after a fill-up , or the next morning after
filling up and parking, suspect water in the fuel. a bottle of HEET or
similar gas 'dryer' and 3-4-5 start/drive cycles will likely clear the
code and the problem will be resolved. I would also suggest accelerating
the schedule for a fuel filter change if not doing it immediately.

43K may be a little eraly for bad wires - though high voltage stuff can
be stressed and go downhill quickly. I dunno if the 02s had copper plugs
- if so they may be overdue for a change.

Carl


--
to reply, change ( .not) to ( .net)

BD

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Jul 31, 2008, 6:55:29 PM7/31/08
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On Jul 28, 8:02 pm, Tony Hwang <drago...@shaw.ca> wrote:


I had 2 cylinders start to misfire on me at the same time. The dealer
dialed the problem in to the coils, and rather than just replacing
them reactively, decided to swap the coils between the cylinders - the
idea being that if the problem recurred and followed the coils, then
there's the problem.

That was about 5000k ago, and I haven't had a CEL since.

mul...@x.files

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Aug 3, 2008, 10:51:49 AM8/3/08
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The turbo Subarus don't have plug wires, they are all coil-on-plug
design, so there are no wires to go bad.
Since this is a single-cylinder misfire, it's unlikely to be caused by
something like bad fuel which would be expected to affect all
cylinders. The cause will likely be something confined to that
cylinder, either a bad plug, coil or injector or an internal engine
problem.
You are going to have to open the hood to troubleshoot this, there is
no hands-off solution. The first thing to do would be to check the
wiring to the coil and make sure it's still plugged in. Sometimes they
come off and that will of course set a misfire code. If it's ok,
remove and inspect the coil and plug for that cylinder. If the plug is
fouled that is a visual indication of the problem, it should be clean
with minimal deposits. At 43K the plugs should not be worn out on a
healthy engine, the service interval for the OEM platinum plugs is
60K.
The coil should be checked for visible signs of failure, such as
carbon tracking or cracks/bulges in the housing. If these are seen the
coil should be replaced. If it looks ok, it can be swapped with
another coil to see if the problem then moves to that cylinder. If it
does move then you've confirmed a bad coil.
If the coil is ok and you've replaced the plug (if necessary) and the
problem still persists, it could be a bad injector. This is a bit more
difficult to troubleshoot on your own but you can at least use a long
rod or screwdriver to confirm that the injector is clicking on and off
as the engine runs.
Next would be a compression and leakdown test to check for loss of
compression due to bad rings or valves. This is unlikely though due to
the sudden onset of the problem.

john

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Aug 14, 2008, 9:16:02 AM8/14/08
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>>> I was driving my 2002 wrx on freeway and suddenly the engine became
>>> rough and the check engine light came on. The car was still drivable
>>> but shaking all the way. Using a code scanner I got "P0302" which
>>> means cylinder #2 misfire.
>>>
>>> The car has only 43K miles, still on original plugs.

I replaced spark plugs #2 and #4. The old plugs look ok to me. I also
swapped the coils to see if the problem would migrate from #2 to #4.

To my surprise the problem is gone. I still don't know why or what caused
the problem, but I'm not complaining.

It could be a bad contact, or maybe the plug was bad, just not visibly. Or
perhaps rebooting the ECU (side effect of removing the battery to get at the
plugs).

It was hard to torque the #4 plug with a torque wrench.


gilkeyf...@gmail.com

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Apr 24, 2015, 2:20:22 AM4/24/15
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So I have an 02 Subaru WRX, I had the CEL come on, had the code read and it came up as Cylinder 2 Misfire. Took to a shop they said $700 to reseat the gaskets on Cylinder 2 fuel injector. Pick up the car the next day the shop said its fixed. Drive 21.4 miles and the CEL comes back on saying Cylinder 2 misfire again. Take it back to the shop and they call me back and tell me now they have to replace the gaskets on Bank 1 cylinders 1 & 3 cost to fix those $425. Picked the car back up drive 18 miles and tonight the CEL is back on again saying Cylinder 2 misfire. I am so f-ing pissed, so I will be calling the shop again tomorrow morning. But any insight into what I should do? I feel like I've just been taken for an expensive ride to not have the issue fixed. Or what may not have been the issues to fix in the first place. Please help!

mul...@x.files

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Apr 24, 2015, 6:44:13 AM4/24/15
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Sounds like that shop is doing a good job of reaching in your wallet but
not so much at fixing the problem.
Things to check with a single cylinder misfire, in order of
likelyhood/severity-
- Spark plugs (how many miles, when were they last changed?) Pull and
inspect them, replace if questionable or near the change interval of 60K
- Coil pack. To troubleshoot a single cylinder issue you can swap the
coil pack with another cylinder and see if the problem moves with it. If
it does the coil pack is bad and should be replaced. Sometimes a visual
inspection will reveal a bad coil (swelling/cracks/carbon tracks).
- Injectors. The injector for that cylinder may be defective, this can
also be determined by swapping them between cylinders and seeing if the
problem moves.
- Internal engine issues. If none of the above reveal the cause, a
compression and leakdown test should be performed. Compression on the
affected cylinder may be low, this can be caused by bad rings, or burned
or out-of-adjustment valves.

cl...@snyder.on.ca

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Apr 24, 2015, 2:04:21 PM4/24/15
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On Fri, 24 Apr 2015 06:44:07 -0400, "mul...@x.files" <mul...@x.files>
wrote:
or a bad head gasket

1 Lucky Texan

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Jun 9, 2015, 10:55:01 AM6/9/15
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On Friday, April 24, 2015 at 1:20:22 AM UTC-5, gilkeyf...@gmail.com wrote:
> So I have an 02 Subaru WRX, I had the CEL come on, had the code read and it came up as Cylinder 2 Misfire. Took to a shop they said $700 to reseat the gaskets on Cylinder 2 fuel injector. Pick up the car the next day the shop said its fixed. Drive 21.4 miles and the CEL comes back on saying Cylinder 2 misfire again. Take it back to the shop and they call me back and tell me now they have to replace the gaskets on Bank 1 cylinders 1 & 3 cost to fix those $425. Picked the car back up drive 18 miles and tonight the CEL is back on again saying Cylinder 2 misfire. I am so f-ing pissed, so I will be calling the shop again tomorrow morning. But any insight into what I should do? I feel like I've just been taken for an expensive ride to not have the issue fixed. Or what may not have been the issues to fix in the first place. Please help!

tell us what city and what shop so others can avoid them.
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