Hey guys,

I'm currently stressing the f*** out.

Here's my situation: I went to go pick up a buddy of mine from Bart and right when I turned on my car, the check engine light started blinking which was accompanied with rough idling. As I began driving, the engine started bucking horribly. I pulled over and checked the oil dip stick, which yielded no problems (there were also no leaks or anything on the driveway when I came back home). The engine was shaking abnormally when I looked under the hood.

A weird smell started filling the cabin as I returned on my route towards Bart - couldn't tell if it was coming from the exhaust or the engine but it smelled somewhat like burnt gas. I proceeded to fill up at Chevron using 91. It didn't do anything; I reluctantly limped the car all the way home and haven't touched it since.

Does anyone in the SF/Daly City have any free time tomorrow to help pull the CEL codes for me or have any clue on what's going on with my car? ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED AND WILL BE TAKEN SERIOUS. A FIX WILL BE COMPENSATED WITH BEER (or anything that floats your boat).

2002 WRX wagon with 130,xxx miles. My only engine mods are a koyo radiator, cbe, and a short ram intake.

Hope to hear something soon!

Austin

 

For now avoid driving if possible as it seems to be a severe misfire which can cause a lot of issues. Mostly with the cat but prolonged use while misfiring cause cause engine damage as well. Check all wiring to the plugs and see if something came lose. It most likely is a dead coil.

 

I'd offer to help with a OBD2 scanner if you weren't so far. And my knowledge of cars is next to none.

 

misfire. One timing belt tooth off?

 

+1 for ignition coils.

 

Ignition coils....or...you broke one of the ring lands on a piston. That is exactly what my FXT did, time to do a leakdown test.

 

Doesn't happen very often, but when my DP cat failed and became a big ball of crap that clogged my DP, something similar happened. It was accompanied with a slight exhaust leak sound, I'm guessing since exhaust gasses weren't able to flow out the exhaust it start pushing past the gaskets. I had almost no power though, couldn't get more than 1 block before not feeling comfortable enough to drive it an inch further.

 

I live in the south bay. I have a spare ODB2 reader I could sell you cheap but I personally would not be able to git it to you until the weekend.

 

Also, any aamco reads codes for free. I forgot about that last night.. But only if you HAVE to drive to get the code read.

 

True, most places will read your codes for free. Idk if it's your only car, but your probably best off getting it towed to whatever shop you'd want the work done at. No use limping somewhere, only to find out you need the repair elsewhere.

 

if your CEL was not blinking, then the coils should be fine. misfires will blink the CEL instead of steady illumination. im going with maybe a skipped tooth? in terms of the shaking, it could be a number of things. but no use guessing if there IS a code present. pull it and update this thread! : banana:

edit: ""Here's my situation: I went to go pick up a buddy of mine from Bart and right when I turned on my car, the check engine light started blinking which was accompanied with rough idling. As I began driving, the engine started bucking horribly.""

im just...going to go make some coffee....jesus. LOL