adzer

iTrader: (13)

well after weeks of trying to solve my imprezas problems i gave in and took it to a local jap specialist got the car mot'd and on the dyno to see if we could narrow the faults.

on the rolling road we found that the car run lean on low revs and rich on high revs (or other way around cant remember)

fault codes 24,44 & 45 keep coming up on the ecu, i've replaced all these parts already but fault still exists and ecu wont reset them. so guy advised i should check wiring to these items.

he also thought the car was running on 3 cylinders so he unplugged them one at a time and when we unplugged the front left cylinder (piston 2?) it made no difference see took coil pack out and it sparked so checked the plug no spark!!! changed the plug and car was running better.

but now i've got the car home its doing the same again, when i unplug the other 3 coils the engine runs ****e but when i unplug this cylinder nothing changes??? its getting a spark and i also swapped the coil packs around but still not firing on this cylinder??? then thought maybe petrol aint getting into the cylinder so changed the injector and still no joy

so basically if i unplug a coil pack or the wiring to the injectors the car runs rough but when i do this on the front left cylinder nothing changes?

wiring to the coil pack and the injectors are both giving off voltage coil pack 13.8v ish and injector 3.8v ish if i remember right.

so come on guys help poor me out lol

anyone know why i'm only running 3 cylinders and anyone know how i can test the wiring to the boost control solenoid valve, pressure sensor and idle control valve????

thanks guys and gals

overlord

if you put a big screwdriver on the injector for the dodgy cylinder and put your ear to the screwdriver can you hear it clicking? It should click fairly loud if its working. Other wise you will have to start checking out the wiring. You can download the service manual from this site somewhere and that should have a wiring diagram

Scoobyslammed

My mate's my96 suffered with a dodgy wire to a injector... Re wired it from the ecu to the injector and all was sorted...

adzer

iTrader: (13)

but the plug is giving the same voltage readings as the other injectors???

mikey2

iTrader: (1)

Yeah thats all good mate, unless the injector isnt using the voltage its given!!
How old is the car, and what are the fault codes for?? off top of head, they wouldnt be boost controller, idle air solenoid and pressure solenoid are they??
The no 2 coil pack is deffo firing is it?? take the plug out again and see if it fires against the block, should be a nice strong blue spark, if its brown then thats not right.
Just re read your post!!! i was right about the codes!!!!
I might have an answer for you, or at least something to try!
Underneath the dash on the righ hand side there are 3 relays on a bracket screwed to the side of the car, ( you will have to move, unplug lots of things to get to them!) Remove the bracket and on the bracket you will find your main relay, its brown and boxy looking, this is what supplies your boost controller, idle air solenoid and pressure solenoid. You need to change it, you can try and open it, i did it, clean the contacts so it works again ( it wont work for long, so get another one, it will burn out quite quickly) plug it back in and with a multimeter, unplug the plug on the idle air solenoid and check you have a min of 10v on the MIDDLE pin, should be yellow and red, or just yellow. In theory, right now, you should have no voltage on that pin with the ignition on, lets hope so, cos thats an easier fix!!! I very much doubt you do, but tis possible that the output voltage from these bits are out of range, but i think thats a bit far fetched!!! i would say your main relay is up the creek!
If i was you, having been in your position, i would check every bit of wiring to your fuel pump, the main relay feeds the fuel pump relay too, so it may, like mine did, fuse together so the fuel pump is running permanently, it burnt out the wire block under my back seat and i didnt move for a while!!!
Basically you have 3 looms coming into the engine, 1 comes in behind the engine on the firewall, it does wipers to lambda, and most bits in between. The second comes in from the passenger wing and feeds directly to the 3rd, which sits ontop of the engine under the manifold, this feeds your sensors, injectors and sparks, also has 2 of your not working sensors on, the pressure valve and the idle air solenoid, so check that too.
Something that my old man tried after i had tried for 5 months to fix mine, he found the problem within 5 mins!! poke the wiring loom and listen for a change in the engine note, obviously you can tell the diff between 3 and 4 cylinders!
I wish you the best of luck with this, it was the biggest pain in the **** for me when i had similar probs, so i feel your pain!!
Sorry this is so long, i hope you find something useful in this ramble!!!!

mikey2

iTrader: (1)

Sorry, was a bit vague about the relay position! you need to take off the underpart of the driver side dash, only if you are a contorsionist will you be able to reach from here!!! its more of less right up as far as you can reach, near the level of the steering wheel, its a right tit to get to, but its the problem, i am sure of it. If you have dramas, pm me your number and i will give you a call.

Mike

adzer

iTrader: (13)

car was none runnin when i got it and i tested all the fuel pump wiring and relay etc as wasn't pumping fuel!

if you have just told me the solution to my problems i'm gonna be mega pissed off i just paid £200 today for a jap specialist and got nowhere lol!

this relay you talk about does it look like a normal square relay brown in colour?

not round metal one like fuel pump relay?

mikey2

iTrader: (1)

another thing to try, the voltage to the coil doesnt matter, its the quality of the earth, thats what creates the spark. Unplug your ecu ( so you dont blow it) and unplug the side of the ignitor pack( sits on the underneath of the bracket the boost controller sits on, its a big ish metal square with a plug either end) which has only 4 pins, the other has 5! test all the pins have continuity with their coil pack, then when you have found they have, test them all to ground, see if they are shorting out. then plug the ignitor back in and test it again, but this time to the ecu, ( you need a wiring diagram really, its available, i had it! but i dont have it anymore and not sure where i found it!!) find your pins that go to the ignitor, the ignitor is a silicone switch, the ecu gives it a voltage which makes it conductive, creating an earth for the coil pack to fire down onto. I suspect you will find a short somewhere, but i dont know where.
Out of curiosity though, thoroughly check your lambda sensor, all the wiring up to the plug, strip the elect tape off if need be, my heater shorted when the plug dropped and the lambda loom sat of the manifold, melting all the wires and burning the earth all the way back to the bulkhead, it melted to the coil pack too, hence my issues!! might be a similar problem with yourself!
I suspect its gonna be in a similar position, burning the main relay out through shorting the sensor power cables!
Anyway, i have rambled far too much! my brain hurts!!!! lol
Really wish you the best,

Mike

adzer

iTrader: (13)

hmmm i replaced the lambda as it was fcuked when i got the car and one of the wires was stripped bare iirc.

do you mean check the coil pack ground for continuity too?

garage told me to test the wires for continuity from the ecu pin to the sensor but i will need to get a diagram to do this correctly.

deffo sounds like your on the right track tho so keep the ideas rolling lol

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

do a compression test also..

Simon

mikey2

iTrader: (1)

If one of the lambda wires was stripped bare then check it from the plug back, if it shorted it would get so hot it melts the other wires around it, then shorting to them also.

adzer

iTrader: (13)

[QUOTE=mikey2;8087000]I might have an answer for you, or at least something to try!
Underneath the dash on the righ hand side there are 3 relays on a bracket screwed to the side of the car, ( you will have to move, unplug lots of things to get to them!) Remove the bracket and on the bracket you will find your main relay, its brown and boxy looking, this is what supplies your boost controller, idle air solenoid and pressure solenoid. You need to change it [QUOTE]

i could kiss you lol

removed this relay from my blown impreza and fitted it to the ra and started her up!!!! all 4 cylinders was firing sweet as a nut, the car now idles properly once i adjusted the idle valve and i'm now running full boost

check engine light went off, came back on then went off and aint came back since.

only problem that remains now is i'm getting a little bit of fuel cut now and again but other than that i'm sorted

thanks so much for your help without you i'd prob never have solved it

mikey2

iTrader: (1)

i could kiss you lol

Easy tiger!!! glad its sorted you out, glad i could spread some of my misery earned info!!

mikey2

iTrader: (1)

Fuel cut is just running too much boost! you need to turn your boost down a bit!!

adzer

iTrader: (13)

thought that was controled by the ecu?

adzer

iTrader: (13)

ok guys can anyone help me out? since replacing the main relay the car runs alot better but i'm getting fuel cut??? why would this be? faulty ecu?

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

As mikey said, fuel cut means there's overboost in the boost control system - it's reaching the threshold of the MAP sensor. Assuming you haven't actively upped the boost in any way, then there must be something awry with the boost control system. Check all the vacuum hoses for splits, etc. Sometimes a decat can cause turbo to overspeed, promoting too much boost (unlikely)...

adzer

iTrader: (13)

could a faulty ecu also cause?

saiklon

Faulty ECUs are rare. Split hoses and/or misrouted hoses are much more common. First check the houses and their routing as was suggested earlier.