Hi all

My 02 wrx periodically gets a CEL on cylinder misfires... people have been brushing it off, but it worries me. No engine mods, healthy compression tests. When I moved back up here, an indie shop diagnosed it as in need of valve adjustment. Something about subies coming with valves too tight, etc... These people really seem to know what they are doing, and so I lean towards trusting them on this.

The problem lies in them being unable to perform the service, due to a missing tool (?) they need and not being able to get it from vendor or subaru dealership on loan. As bad as I feel about jumping ship to have it done elsewhere, I have waited patiently for about two months.

When I got in my car today (I have since been driving a family lexus gs 300... the only thing I like about that car is the gps... everything else is shyte -_- [from a performance/sport perspective]) I realized that I was un-used to it. I had to get used to the steering feel again, shifting, getting in and out, even putting in my key. I didn't like that. Even when i was gone for three months in japan I didn't feel that way when I got back in the seat.

So I need to get it done, and I'm looking for shop recommendations. I already have an alternate in mind, but I'd like to see if there are good words on this service specifically. Additionally, I'd like to know if anyone else had this problem or service... and kind of how likely is something to go wrong on performing it, etc.

Or, you know, if it's just me... cuz I originally got my car from SCS and the curse extends in perpetuity -_-; And yes, powertrain is out of warranty (on miles and number of years...)

Shops/vendors don't be shy either =p The only qualification is that I need it done same day (since I'm living alone and don't really have a second ride [person] I can depend on) and soon... the price I was originally quoted was $400 for 5 hrs of work, plus cost of the... uhm... valve... gap... thingies (it's 7am and i haven't slept yet -_- ) In lieu of my situation, price differences are negiotiable. I'm in South SJ, but can drive...

Sorry mods if this is in the wrong forum ^^; And yeah even when I try to keep it short, I write a lot... =p

 

Try LIC, they can do that for you.

We can as well but nowhere near your budget.

Mike

 

I am guessing you have to remove the valve covers?
Can it be done with the engine in?
this is the bad thing with the H4 in Subies. Space it tight.

Nick

 

try GB-motorsports. try LIC, try AutoHQ...

there are many shops in the area

 

Do subaru's use shims and buckets?

 

I would HIGHLY recommend LIC Motorsports. Yes, it is a lot drive, but well worth it. Noah, Adam, and Kevin are awesome and know exactly what they are doing.
While you wait they have a PS2(and an XBOX I think?), DVDs, wireless internet, and if you go around lunch time you can ask Noah and Adam to take a lunch break and go to the place around the corner that has the BEST philly cheese steak you'll ever have in your life!!

If GB, or Gruppe-S can't do it, I would go to either Alan Rice Automotive down in Capitola, or AutoHQ.

Why Alan Rice? - He helped get Subaru of Santa Cruz get going, he has many years experiencing working on our H-4 and H-6 motors, not to mention Alan is an awesome guy.
I had a friend that worked for alan for a couple years, and they are a very honest shop. If they tell you something needs to be done on your car, its not to line their pockets, its cause it honestly needs to get done.

Why AutoHQ? - Its only one lead mechanic, but he came from Carlsen Subaru. Kevin(IIRC thats his name) seems to have a following. They also have free wifi.

Good luck bro, I know it might be a hard choice, but this is the order I would personally do. If I could not get it to any shops, I would go to Subaru of Santa Cruz. They have by far the best service you can get from a dealership. I will miss seeing them for my free oil changes since I am almost at 60K.

 

LIC did mine a year or so ago, didn't make my CEL go away, but they did find one of my valves out of tolerance.

Auto HQ also can do this work reliably.

Good Luck.

 

I would really like to hear more evidence pointing specifically to valve lash being the cause of your misfire CEL, there are just WAY too many other factors that can cause single or multiple misfire CELs that are about 10X more common and likely than your valves being out of adjustment, especially on an untouched stock motor, and belive me, Ive gone through just about all of them!

 

That was simply what i was told. I had a Vishnu underdrive pulley... however, the problem did not start until much after it was installed, and persists long after it was removed.

If that's not it, I don't know what is. The only other thing I've heard of has to do with clutch/flywheel stuff. Mine are, and have always been stock, but I was still learning manual when the car was bought... so the clutch was smoked 'somewhat' at the time. Of course, the problems started long after (~2 years?).

If anyone else has some insight, I'd like to hear it ^^;; My old mechanic started to milk me for money... basically 'lets try this... no... ok well here's the bill for that, now lets try this instead..."

 

Try the crank sensor. If you come by the shop I'll give you one to try.

Mike

 

well, like with all exploritory diagnostics, starts with the easy stuff and work your way inwards. change spark plugs, swap out coil packs and injectors for known good ones. If you have access to a delta dash or get it to a shop with a Subaru diagnostic tool, you can monitor cylinder roughness, this is what helped me single out my bad injector, and it was only 2K miles old when it went bad so I would not have thought to replace it without seeing it on the scan tool for myself. and yeah, take mike up on swapping out the sensor, you might get lucky!(with the sensor, not Mike, but if you bring by some Becks....)

 

thanks mike i'd like to take you up ont he offer... where are you located?

 

At Gruppe-S