Bogging out of nowhere?

2zzgtte · 02-07-2010

I was driving down the highway right after the superbowl was over about 65 miles an hour and out of no where, my car started to act really weird. My "service engine soon" light came on and i noticed I did not have any power anymore. I turned the raido down a little bit and it sounded REALLY weird.

The only way i can explain what the exhaust sounds like is exaxtly like a WRX. it seemed like a constant mis-fire like it was onyl running on 3 cylinders.

I got out and checked my plugs. Took them out and instpected them. I thought maybe I fouled one out. They all looked "fine". So i drove it home about another mile and it didnt get worse, but it didnt get better.

I am not sure what to think of right now, but my first thoughts were:

1) spark plug fouled
2) Coil went out
3) Timing belt skipped a tooth (hope not)
4) valve spring broke?

I am not sure if any of those are even close, but thats just what was running through my head. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Kevin 1G Drummer · 02-07-2010

It's possible a coil went out, but that would lead to a fouled plug. Did you check your intercooler for holes? Maybe a chunk of ice bounced up and punched a hole in your intercooler core. It's also possible your timing belt skipped a tooth or two. Check that before you drive the car too much more.

Matt D. · 02-07-2010

I have had that exact same problem a few times since I've owned my car (3+ years) and have never been able to figure it out. Only does it on the highway at sustained speed. If you let off the gas it fixes it momentarily, but will usually happen again right away 3-5 times, then will be fine. My check engine light went away later that day or the next.

blackrosenova400 · 02-08-2010

I suggest the obvious, check your code or codes that were triggered!

2zzgtte · 02-08-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt D.

I have had that exact same problem a few times since I've owned my car (3+ years) and have never been able to figure it out. Only does it on the highway at sustained speed. If you let off the gas it fixes it momentarily, but will usually happen again right away 3-5 times, then will be fine. My check engine light went away later that day or the next.

Hmmm? I drove mine for another mile or 2 and did not fix itself. I'll go get the codes read and see what they say.

Is there any places that test coils?

2zzgtte · 02-08-2010

Well, pulled my car into the garage and the 2 middle cylinders plugs were totally fouled. They were black and smelt like gas. So, i am guessing, when i checked them on the side of the road last night, i did not drive on them long enough for them to look like they were bad.

I am going to try and put 2 new plugs in and see if they atleast fire. Otherwise I think it is time for the SpoolinUp COP!!

Matt D. · 02-08-2010

It should be interesting to see what code is pulled. When it happened to me I completely let off the gas and coasted for a few seconds, could hear it was firing again, got back on the gas, happened again, rinse and repeat. Doing this 3-5 times and it stopped, but the CEL stayed as I already said.

2zzgtte · 02-08-2010

Well I went to get the code checked. The autozone dude checked me code and he said "mis-fire in cylinder 1" which is totally wrong. The 2 cylinders that were black and gassy were 2 and 3. So that got me nowhere.

So what I did was take a coil off of 95talonracers can went home and put it on.

That helped me nothing. After mixing and matching plugs, wires, and coils, nothing seemed to do the trick. So I proceeded to unplug my battery and reset the thrown codes and see what happens. When I did this, i started the car and it sounded actually a lot better. I proceeded to drive it down the road and the CEL came back on (Boo!) and it started to do the same thing but not as bad.

So I came back and "rinse and repeat" and I tired it again. It has been seeming to get better but my CEL keeps coming on. I am going to goto auto zone tomorrow to see if there is anything different going on in there.

**asshanson** · 02-08-2010

Cam angle sensor or a crank angle sensor going bad? Not sure which one(s) Evos have. If the ECU thinks there is a misfire it'll just turn off that cylinder completely, right? This used to happen in my 6bolt 2g before I disabled the misfire codes.

2zzgtte · 02-08-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by asshanson

Cam angle sensor or a crank angle sensor going bad? Not sure which one(s) Evos have. If the ECU thinks there is a misfire it'll just turn off that cylinder completely, right? This used to happen in my 6bolt 2g before I disabled the misfire codes.

Oh really? I had no idea about that. That makes sense then because 3 of my plugs (2,3,4) look really rich and the one that I thought was firing good (1) was the plug that looked just fine...

Matt D. · 02-08-2010

Now that I think of it, right after I got my car it acted weird when leaving a stoplight and died. Took a bit to fire up again, but got the code checked right away and it was a crank angle sensor error. Also, I don't think this problem has happened to me since I got tuned and Scheides helped me play around with the ECU, we may have turned those things off on my car.

2zzgtte · 02-08-2010

Lol, I have no idea where to go with this now.

Is there any way I can test injectors?

**asshanson** · 02-08-2010

Try disabling the misfire codes in the ECU with a reflash.

Ronnie S · 02-08-2010

Try to pinpoint which cylinder is mis firing for sure. I'm leaning towards cylinder no 1.
You can do it by either unplugging each injector clip or lifting the sparkplug wire or coil on each cylinder.
Once you know which cylinder it is, switch the injector in that cylinder with another cylinder and see if it follows the misfire. If it does then it's your injector.

Ronnie S · 02-08-2010

The test is done while the car is running. You will be listening for a change in how the engine idles. The cylinder that's misfiring is the one that won't change the way it idles.

Ronnie S · 02-08-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt D.

I have had that exact same problem a few times since I've owned my car (3+ years) and have never been able to figure it out. Only does it on the highway at sustained speed. If you let off the gas it fixes it momentarily, but will usually happen again right away 3-5 times, then will be fine. My check engine light went away later that day or the next.

This is actually a common issue with the evo. There is now a way to flash it to go away.

2zzgtte · 02-09-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie S

Try to pinpoint which cylinder is mis firing for sure. I'm leaning towards cylinder no 1.
You can do it by either unplugging each injector clip or lifting the sparkplug wire or coil on each cylinder.
Once you know which cylinder it is, switch the injector in that cylinder with another cylinder and see if it follows the misfire. If it does then it's your injector.

Good idea! I'll do this when I get home. I tried to do this with the coil's and I swear i pin-pointed the issue as a coil issue, but it doesn't seem like I hit the nail on the head.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie S

The test is done while the car is running. You will be listening for a change in how the engine idles. The cylinder that's misfiring is the one that won't change the way it idles.

I have never looked at injectors before. Are they hard to take out and switch?

Quote:

Originally Posted by asshanson

Try disabling the misfire codes in the ECU with a reflash.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie S

This is actually a common issue with the evo. There is now a way to flash it to go away.

If I was going to flash it, how would I go about doing it? Would I have to bring it somewhere?

Matt D. · 02-09-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2zzgtte

I have never looked at injectors before. Are they hard to take out and switch?

The plugs are easy to take off, which is all you need to do for this testing. Removal of them requires removing the fuel rail, only a couple of bolts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2zzgtte

If I was going to flash it, how would I go about doing it? Would I have to bring it somewhere?

Any of the local shops can help you out, but hit up Scheides and see if he's available sometime. He's becoming the local freelance Evo ECU flasher. He accepts beer and handjobs as payment.

2zzgtte · 02-09-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt D.

The plugs are easy to take off, which is all you need to do for this testing. Removal of them requires removing the fuel rail, only a couple of bolts.

Any of the local shops can help you out, but hit up Scheides and see if he's available sometime. He's becoming the local freelance Evo ECU flasher. He accepts beer and handjobs as payment.

Sweet! thanks for all the information! I'm gonna hit Scheides up right now. He was already nice enough to offer me one of his good coils. I'll post up what I find tonight when I get to testing.

The car is drivable, but i am not sure how good it is for the car. I might have to limp it over to him.

If i find that it seems to be an injector, should I replace it? or is there a way to test the injector to see if it is acting goofy and if it needs to be replaced?

**Shane@DBPerformance** · 02-09-2010

did you pull the code?