AK1’s 2010 Forester

Misfire #1 cyl and misfire #2 cyl

But, is it the misfire that caused the flat face or is the misfire a result of the flat face.  

So, air/fuel/spark.  

Air: bad map sensor could be reading the air wrong but not so wrong that it thinks itself is the problem.  

Fuel: if the fuel pressure is low (or nonexistent) then the spark might try hitting #1 and try hitting even #2 and then fail triggering CEL

Spark: both fail to spark so that leads back to unified coil pack.  Ignore this theory if the car is individual coil on plug.  

#1: Inspect the heck out of the MAF for wiring trouble and maybe clean internal with spray.  

Another thought...vacuum/air leak somewhere after the MAF.  If the engine only draws air over the MAF, it will send the proper amount of fuel for that air.  If the engine can draw air that the MAF doesn't  know about then the MAF doesn't send enough fuel and result is stumble.  

Test: with engine idling spray something like starting fluid around the MAF and down stream of the MAF.  If the addition of this spray/fuel causes a brief high idle then investigate that area for air leak.  

It's got a single coil assembly with 4 outputs on it. I was hoping maybe someone would say "oh yeah, they share a coil" or they're both on the same side of the plenum divider, or something like that. I'll look for obvious stuff tomorrow.

I am someone, and I am telling you that they share a coil.  It's a wasted spark system, the cylinders on opposite sides of the engine are connected essentially in series to the secondary of the dual ignition coil pack.  I suggest doing a full ignition overhaul...plugs, wires, and the coil. NGK only on the plugs, OEM wires and coil pack. BTW, on all the non COP Subarus, plugs on one side of the engine wear faster than the other, as the plugs are used "reverse polarity" on one side of the engine. I can't remember off the top of my head if it's the driver's side or the passenger's side that wears faster. What can happen is that if you're lax about changing plugs, the peak voltage needed to jump the gap gets higher as the gap gets larger and the excessive secondary voltage can compromise the insulation in the coil pack or wires. 

Yours is an auto, mine was a manual.

My engine would occasionally shut off while the car was in motion when I put the clutch all the way to the floor. Cleaning the mass airflow sensor made that happen a lot less frequently.

It was starting to do that again but I traded it in for my Rav4.

RA lists a E36 M3load of spark plug types for this car. What is correct? Iridium? Also, can I go with NGK for coils and plug wires?

Also, I found a really nice looking timing belt and tensioner, as well as a water pump that was much cleaner than its surroundings.

so I said berkeley it, I'm sending the TB/WP kit back to RA and spending the refund on ignition parts.

someone in this car's past assembled the alternator belt adjuster incorrectly, and cracked the bracket at the base of the slot.

I'll put it back together correctly and carefully tighten everything, and I think it'll be OK. 

I don't know who the OEM mfg is for the coil and the wires. OEM plugs are NGK FR5AP-11, which is a platinum plug.  Last time I needed them, I just ordered  plugs, coil and wires from one of the wholesale OEM Subaru parts companies.  But if you've got Rock Auto store credit, I guess that's not an option. Supposedly Bosch and any weird multi electrode plugs are particularly to be avoided. 

Fyi Subaru discounted parts

I believe I have reached a stopping point for the day.

My Subaru did this recently on a simple bolt hold the air filter inlet.  What is it with Subarus, corrosion and fasteners?  

We put 150k on our first 1992 SVX and rarely did I struggle with a fastener except for the belly pan bolts.   My 2003 Ram, 2005 G35, 2007 Legacy GT specB, and 2010 Honda Odyssey have all been nightmares for fastener removal.  One of the hazards of the salt belt.

It was a busy weekend for me and the Forester. I dug into the timing belt job and found it looked fresh enough to roll the dice, so I decided to return the TB kit and spend that money on ignition parts. I put the front of the engine back together and moved on to cleaning the MAF sensor and replacing air filter:

followed by R&R of front LCAs and end links. The front end is clunky any time we're *not* on the brakes, so my theory is that the rear bushings of the L arms are smoked. Theory confirmed:

The RF came apart better than I expected. Old and busted on left, new hotness on right:

while the car was in a good position for it, I drained as much ATF as I could (measured almost exactly 4 qts) of what I suspect was the OE fill. Guess which is old and which is new:

So I refilled with fresh ATF and moved on to engine oil change. What I drained out was about 2-1/2 qts of the blackest, yet somehow not sludgy, oil I've ever seen.

And whoever installed the oil filter last time around, well, i hope his wife has the mailman's baby. Anyway, with both fluids refilled I went back to the suspension job. Google found me the the torque specs I needed:

so I buttoned up the RF and turned the car around so the LF would be in the shade. It got up to about 90F and 90%RH today, so shade was a big deal.

LF was coming apart nicely until I broke the pinch bolt for the LH LBJ. At that point I was hungry and tired so I put the LF corner back together and called it a day. Tomorrow after work I'll try to weld a nut to the broken bolt and work it out. Maybe the heat will be my friend.

I also looked more closely at the scrape guards under the gas tank, and the RH guard is definitely warped and stained from gas leak. I hope whatever is behind that shield is easy to fix and solves my P0457. 

The stretch-fit AC belt finally arrived, so I got both new belts installed this evening.

So that's a couple less things to worry about. The ignition parts are here but I didn't have time to start that job tonight.

Did you find the pinch bolt at the yard or did you get a new one?

In reply to wawazat :

Haven't been to the yard yet, bought a new pinch bolt for $1.80 at Glassman since I was near Tel-12. Suburban has a new knuckle in the $150 ballpark, or I can pay $40 for a JY knuckle that almost certainly has a broken bolt in it, or I can berkeley around with the one I've got and maybe or maybe not succeed at getting the broken bolt out. Wife says "buy the new one. You've earned it."

Wife has the smarts.  Do that and be done with it.  

You can drill the existing bolt out completely, then use a longer bolt with a nut on the other side rather than relying on threads in the knuckle.  Through some combination of luck and skill I've never personally broken one, but I have heard of folks though bolting them this way. Given appropriate grade fasteners and locktite or a nylock nut I can't see why it wouldn't work. 

With these what I usually do is a ton of prep work before attempting removal. Take a thin file or hacksaw blade to the gap in the center of the "pinch" area to clean out rust, soak with penetrating oil for days. If it won't come out, I then partially drill out the bolt from the side w/o the head (leaving enough of the bolt so that the female threads in the knuckle aren't damaged) before attempting removal. I think the pre-drilling helps relieve some of the pressure on the threads, plus the heat from drilling probably helps too. There's usually no need to drill past about the halfway mark as all the threads are on the non-bolt-head side of the knuckle. 

Good luck! I can certainly understand just throwing a knuckle at it... it's a seriously tedious job even if things go relatively well. 

Haven't touched the knuckle again. We, and by we I mean I, needed some time apart. Today I'm back to the Forester, changing plugs and wires and coil, I guess it's a shotgun approach to the combined P0301 / P0302 it threw, just once, a few weeks ago. NGK all the way, including double platinum plugs. The old plugs were NGK single platinum, and looked pretty good. The wires and coil were NAPA.

I'm also straightening the upper rad support so the hood opens better and the headlights shine farther down the road. Both housings have broken mounts, so I need to see how she behaves for a couple weeks before I throw money at aftermarket housings and projector conversion.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

I need to see how she behaves for a couple weeks before I throw money at aftermarket housings and projector conversion.

The car or the daughter?

In reply to TVR Scott :

I LOL'd.

I finished buttoning up the front fascia and headlight alignment, got the gaps as evenly distributed as I could. Connected the battery and she started right up, and settled into a smooth idle. Ignition parts cannon seems to have been well-aimed.

Rewarded myself with a giant Slurpee, half and half Coke and Cherry for those who need to know my preference.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

But which is on top and which is on bottom?  I know your preference on that.

In reply to Stampie :

It may be hard to believe, but I mix it up. Generally it's Coke first. But today I went cherry first and then blasted the middle of that cherry full of Coke.

The question now is "how do I trick the system into not setting P0457?" Could that DTC be coded out by a tuner? Or could someone change what the sensor is sensing?

Theoretically, of course

I've had a few uninterrupted minutes to google and think, and here's something I thought about. From a post on a different forum:

When the ECM does a evaporative emission test, it signals the vent valve to close so a vacuum can be pulled and then reads from the pressure sensor (located in the tank) a change in tank pressure, because the valve was frozen in the open position it just vented to atmosphere through the drain filter.
 

so, for science, I'm going to get a spare vent valve and a gallon can, and I'm going to install that valve in the gallon can. Then I'll install a vacuum barb in the can, and route a hose from my pressure sensor to that barb. I'll extend the wiring from the OE valve to the can valve, and see what happens. 

science is hard.  anyone here experienced with romraider?  seems like i could disable nuisance code, if there was such a thing.  i'm a little scared but getting braver.