Never ending story from my 2005 wrx. -.- (42k miles)

Today, I took my car to the dealer because of my previous problem. After I let go of the accelerator, where in low speed (1st and 2nd gear). After which if I accelerate, my car will shake front and back. So, they advised me to change the clutch. Up till today, after the clutch has been installed for 2 weeks, the same problem persist.

Today, the dealer raised the car, and couldn't figure out what the problem was. The dealer took a crowbar and shake the tranny under the car. Basically, he said that since the transmission mount is aftermarket and much stiffer, the shake is due to the stiff mount. Because the mount is not allowing movement and cause the car to shake.

We test drove the car, dealer said the car is mechanically sound, everything is fine. The shaking is just the behavior of the car.

So I proceeded to drive home (30 miles drive). In the last 5 miles, suddenly my CEL started blinking. The car idled very roughly.

Drove home, took a scanner and got a code P301.

Ques - Should I reset the car and see if the code still comes back ? What will happen if I continue driving it and see if the problem goes away?


I researched on P301 code and seems like many Subies experienced this problem too. Anyone in the east bay want to come take a look?

 

could be simple such as bad spark plugs, coil packs, bad tune? anything small. sounds more like bad coil packs if it bogged alot. had this problem with my old g35. dont drive it, it might worse..

 

what problem did you have with your g35?

The car shaking when accelerating from low speed?

Also, what could get worse?

Who is in Fremont area that can come by and take a really really quick look pls ???? I am at Fremont and Washington cross street. (Very near safeway). Would owe you a big one. In return, I can help you do any PC related stuff. Format operating system, build custom PC, or virus removal stuff.

 

When I had a misfire code I swapped out my sparkplugs and my issue went away. But mine only ever blinked when I was at higher rpms. I don't recall having any shudder. But that could be from a cylinder not firing I would think.

 

Cylinders usually missfire when not getting enough spark. Like I said. Could be coil packs or could be spark plugs or could be something else. My g35 would bogg and shake at any speed if I was on the accelerator. It started at high speeds and within a couple days, it was to the point where I would even bog at idle.

 

I just had this happen to me one of my injector wires came loose plug it back in runs perfect now

 

I worked on a friends 03 WRX with a very similar issue. turned out to be the copper contacts on the MAF were dirty. P30x as well as a lean cylinder CEL. very odd.

Clean the copper contacts with a q-tip and alcohol and see if that helps. easy to do.

 

An old tuner told me if the CEL blinked for a little bit, then either went away or stayed solid, it's telling you there was a lot of misfires, and the code stays to tell you which cylinders misfired.

Since you have aftermarket mounts, what other mods does the car have?

 

how long would it take to change the spark plugs? Can I do it myself? My maximum level of tech is only at oil change

I would really appreciate it if someone can stop by really quick to let me know if there is something simple that went wrong? Maybe a hose came lose ??


So, how did you fix that problem? Are misfire expensive fixs ??

Do you happen to have a picture of the injector wires please ? Hopefully mine was just something simple like that ???


The MAF is the connector that goes on the Air intake correct??

I bought the car used. The mods I can see are pro drive CAI, perrin endlinks, sway bar, tein s lowering springs, and an aftermarket boost controller.

I think that is all.


Guys, what should I do ? The car idles really rough. So I guess there is something seriously wrong with it ??

 

Definitely pull your plugs if it's still idling rough (http://www.scoobymods.com/spark-plug...17.html?t=3017). Scoobymods has a lot of info on mods and maintenance how-tos.

Speed Element is in Fremont, if no one can help you. Might want to give them a call and swing by.


Maybe someone else can chime in about a Prodrive CAI, but AFAIK almost all CAIs require tuning to keep your car running well. If you have the stock box, I would recommend you put it back on.

 

So, with the help of forumers, I went and check my spark coils. The entire coil came out of the plug. With the bolt still hanging on the coil.

Right now, I am trying to figure out how to insert the coil back in with the bolt? ?
The part that came out are shown in picture below circled in yellow

fyi: passenger side

 

The coil pack should slip right on to the spark plug. The bolt secures the coil pack to the head. After you get the coil pack back in place, make sure the bolt is actually threading in to something (make sure nothing is stripped). If you need more wiggle room you can unclip the harness where it attaches to the coil pack.

 

good news!

slide the coil back in, bolted it down. The CEL dint go away on its own. I had to reset it.

No more rough idling. Will see if the CEL comes back on in a few days.

Also, The coil pack right next to it also had a really loose bolt. I had to tighten it as well. However, for the other two on the driver side, I couldn't reach it because it is too deep down. What do I need to remove to reach the coil packs on the driver side ?

However, it din't solve the problem of the car where when it accelerates, it recoils a lot , A LOT !

Any ideas ?

 

On the drivers side it makes it easier to remove the plugs by taking out the battery and the washer fluid reservoir. Other than that you the swivel sparkplug sockets make life a lot easier.


Does the recoil happen all the time or only occasionally?

 

I have the same problem 05 WRX. Seems like every 300 miles or so get a p301. But I never feel any difference in how the car drives or idles. Just all of a sudden CEL will be on and I have p301. Any suggestions?