Duff injector

[ccrien]

Ok,. So for the first time in 180 thousand miles ( exactly!) and over 14 years, the forester has let me down, not quite stranded but limped home with smoke from the exhaust.  A little hesitation turned into a big misfire within a half a mile then the light came on, with code P 0301, misfire cylinder1. Feared the worst!  Must be a head gasket.

Quickly ruled out ignition fault by changing plugs leads and swapping around with the Impreza coil, then noticed injector 1 wasn't " ticking"  but Unburned petrol spitting from the exhaust!

Stripped them out today and that injector isn't closing as it should when there's no voltage across it. I can push air or cleaner through it with a syringe.  My trusted local independent garage I asked for advice on cleaning/ refurb confirmed  it's not worth trying to repair.

So, a pair of new injectors ordered from Subaru dealer and hope to collect / fit tomorrow.  Fingers Crossed.

 

Edited April 24, 2018 by ccrien
Spellcheck

[ScoobieFloz]

Glad you got to the bottom of it. The Forester lives on 

[ccrien]

20 minutes ago, ScoobieFloz said:

Glad you got to the bottom of it. The Forester lives on 

Cheers,. Just got to put it all together then burn off a bit of petrol in the exhaust without too much of a Big Bang!     Will update tomoro with a bit of luck.

[t5nyw]

awesome realiabilty  

[ccrien]

On 25 April 2018 at 00:17, t5nyw said:

awesome realiabilty  

Hi Tony,. Yes it's the only thing in 180 k that nearly left me stranded.  And the first time the engine has been touched apart from plugs, belts and filters etc. Only other thing like a failure was a flasher relay sticking on a bank holiday weekend a few years ago!    Everything else I class as maintenance, and mostly " planned", even the rear wheel bearings gave a barely perceptible noise for a few months before I had them changed ( had to sit in the boot to feel/ listen to identify which side, it was that minor at about 120 k).  Fantastic reliability.

all fixed this morning, 300 quids worth of injectors, I put 2 new in that side so I now have a spare!  Just realised I used over a quarter tank of petrol getting the 5 miles home yesterday.  It was between half and three quarters when I set out.  Beats Floz, s 3 mpg! 

Suspect a load of it was just sitting in the cat and exhaust. WRX Dan is worried about a few puffs of smoke, you should have seen what mine put out for the first few miles after it was going and warming up again today!      Now let's see how long it takes for the ECU to fine tune itself, and if the cat and sensors survived unscathed.   The forester lives on.

Further update after a few shortish runs today:   driving fine most of the time but surging / cycling on tick over between 600 and 950 rpm every few seconds, and a similar feeling when dawdling along or overrunning at low speed, it wants to keep on going?    Obvious things look ok, like all the wiring and  vacuum pipes are attached.  Anyone have any ideas?      Do I need to try resetting the ECU parameters by disconnecting the battery again,  is it likely to be a crudded up O2 sensor that will either burn itself clean with longer runs or with  Cataclean??

final update, Thursday:  It was the front O2 sensor gummed up ( confirmed, as when unplugged ? the idle remained stable) but after 50-60 miles today on faster roads it's practically cleared itself, stable idle most of the time, can only get better.

  So, the moral of this rather long story, LOL, is that  these motors hardly ever break but when they do, with a little help, they help to fix themselves ✌

Edited April 26, 2018 by ccrien
Further update

[johnmacdonald]

Subaru reliability is amazing. Since 1998 we have spent only about £1,500 on replacements.  But still, warranty companies want to charge outrageous amounts for cover. Sadly they are plainly unable to evaluate and underwrite risk. (I spent 40 years as a commercial underwriting broker and now have to place my insurances through youngsters have haven't a clue - not their fault!)