Mis firing under any load
I did a search and did not find anything that had the same sort of problem.

After the built motor install (Axis Stage 4) on the first drive. I am having a misfire hesitation. And to make it worse My code reader will not connect. (it plugs in just will not talk to the ECU. So I have no idea which cylinder it is misfiring on if not on all of them.

Idle is fine, and revs fine in neutral.
When in gear and under load it miss-firs and hesitates bad.
I will be installing a new set of plugs. It may have fouled a plug when I started the motor for the first time and it would not idle. That issue turned out to be a cam sensor not being plugged in. (I must of missed it when I did the install.
When installing the new plugs I will check all the coil connections, and make sure they are seated properly.

Is there any way to check the coils to make sure they are working right?

Is there anything else I should check if that does not fix the problem?

Thanks for any information.

Mods as it sits right now.
Engine
Axis Stage 4 Components:
2.35 Liter Fully Closed Deck Short block (EJ22t
Piston Squirters
Stock Steel Sleeve Liners
Modified Axis Racing Forged Crankshaft
Balanced & Polished to 10,000 RPMS
Pauter 4340 Chrome-Moly Forged Rods
Axis Racing/ CP forged pistons (8.5:1 or 9:1)
8500 RPM Rev Limit
Downpipe and Straight catless midpipe (Perrin)
Stealth Exhaust Midpipe (TurboXS)
ARP head studs
Motor mounts (Group-N)
TGV deletes
Axleback exhaust (ProDrive)
Front Mount Intercooler
UTEC/Tuner (TurboXS) w/ custom tune
Turbo XS BOV RFL
Battery (Odyssey 680 MJ)
Light Weight Crank pulley (Perrin)
One step colder plugs (NGK LFR7AIX)
Head gaskets (Cometic Head gasket)

knock sensor installed and torqued correctly?

Yes one of the first things I checked. I thought that may have been pulling timing.

Pull the plug and find out which one is misfiring by reading the plugs, then compression test that cylinder(s). Then double check all the engine harness grounds for resistance to chasis ground. IME they are more suspect than the coils actually failing.

I have the same plugs as you and have problems with misfires like you. I don't think the STIs like to run them regardless of setup. Stick with the -11 stock heat ranges.

Changed the plugs, they did not look bad. (Just alittle dark) made sure the coils were seated right and checked all the grounds again. Still hesitates...

Ran some UTEC logs, I will post them up in a few.

Here is my misfire Log. As you can see Under the RPMs it is showing some crazy numbers. jumps from 2800 something to 10,000 something back down to 28 or 2900 something.

It looks like the ECU is getting bad info from somewhere. Any ideas? I think it may be the Crank Sensor.

It is misfireing on throttle under load. Cold idle is good, but after warm up and a short drive will not hold idle at all. Stalls with no throttle.

Can you see any other things in this log that look out of place?




http://www.thesuicidaleggroll.com/hosting/dennis/new_block_5.txt

check crank sensor.

Changed out the Sensor. It did not work. Now I do not know what to do.

I used to use those 1 step colder plugs too, but was getting misfires with them. I'd recommend using the stock ones unless you absolutely need the colder ones. Just remember they HAVE to be gapped manually to .028"-.030". They come gapped around .040" which is too large for a turbo car.

Did you ever measure your harness ground resistances, and not just continuity? The driver's side manifold ground has a ton of sensors going to it. It probably wouldn't be a wasted effort to make a cheap grounding harness to go from each side of the chassis to both manifold grounds, and the crank sensor bolt. This would guarantee a good ground for all the sensors involved.

The Utec is also known to burn up coilpacks.

Has the motor ever run right since it was built? You may have have the timing off or a compression problem.

Was the new engine ever tuned? Ignition timing problems could be causing the misfire if your engine is drastically different from what was it was tuned for.

When I changed the plugs I went back to stock. Still same problem.
I can measure the resistance tonight.
I am still running the stock heads, what I changed was from a 2.5 to a 2.35.
The motor has not ran right sense the build. It will more then likly show low compression sense the new block only has about 10 miles on it. Right?
I will make some small changes to the timing and see what happens.

What compression is it showing? I have a hunch that the block itself is causing the misfires (probably not what you wanted to hear). You might have a timing issue.

Are you real sure the crank and cam sensor gap to the wheel "humps" is close enough for a good signal?
One of these threads had a good outcome with closing the gap for a stronger signal. If the feedback from the sensor is erratic it must be fixed.

Most likely your problem can't be fixed by anyone unless you get the code reader working and you know for sure what feedback the ecu isn't getting reliably.

I have some one comming over with a diff code reader. So I will try that out.

Or I may try to keep it running by keeping revs up when comming to a stop. And head to Vatozone.

have you tried without the utec?
Maybe reflashing the factory ecu would help you troubleshoot. The problem could be the utec. Not the first time a utec has caused problems either.

It could be the Utec. But the Utec was in the car before the motor build. And was not touched during the build at all.

What compression is it showing? I have a hunch that the block itself is causing the misfires (probably not what you wanted to hear). You might have a timing issue.

Once again.....

I have not checked the compression on the new motor. From what I understand it will be bad, due to the rings not being seated yet. Only ten miles on new block.

If I am wrong, and you can tell something by the numbers I will do a check.

A compression test will still provide information to you. Compression will surely go up as the engine breaks in, but it should still be "there" from day one. I always test my engines before they even are put back in the car as it is a good sanity check. I suspect you have a cam out of time and this should show on a compression test. 10 cranks cold.

I will check the compression tonight. I had to work late last night and did not get a chance to do it. If A cam is out of time. Then one side will be lower comp then the other right?

Check to make sure that your map sensor is calibrated correctly. Your car is doing the same thing that mine was doing at the Mile last October.

I am useing the same map sensor as the stock block. Is there any reason it would change?

And to make it even harder to find the issue. I was able to pull the codes last night. And there were no misfire codes. I did not have the time to do the compression check last night. I had to teach a class at church. I should have time to do it tonight.

Also if I disconected the UTEC and ran on the stock ECU. It would run bad but if it does not have the hesitation, that would mean it was the UTEC right?

just got done with the compression test. and I still do not have an answer.
1. 115
2. 115
3. 115
4. 120

motor only has 143 miles on it.

you should allow 10 psi per cylinder variance. comp test looks ok i guess, should be around 140 ish but with new rings could be the culprit as far as lower comp test results. what injectors are you running?? coils ok?? timing belt ok??? i dunno what else just guessing

Stock injectors
coils tested ok
timing belt s brand new

I think I will start changing out some fuel items and see if it changes. Like fuel pump and fuel filter.

I will also be installing new injectors this weekend. I got the 1000cc P & L kit.

Intake leaks? Disconnected Sensor? Check the MAF? I would look at things that you have touched putting the new engine in first.

I have check all the sensor a bunch of times.

This weekend I am going to go ahead and install the rotated kit. By doing this, I will be able to cover the intake and make sure there are no leaks. And I will also check the MAF.

One question: under the throttle body there is a hose fitting that comes out of the intake man. looking at the intake from the throttle side the fitting I am talking about is under the throttle body on the right hand side. What does that line connect to? I know what I have it connected to now. Just want to make sure it is right.

I looked through the tech manual and it does not show it anywhere.

I think you are talking about the coolant line. This just runs coolant through the TB to heat it up. This can be disconnected and eliminated from that run if you like, but it isn't causing you problems.

the pcv line?

It is not the coolant line. This fitting is tapped into the manafold not the throttle body. If it were to be left open you would loose pressure in the manafold.

If you have a FMIC you can stick your hand under the throttle body from the passanger side and feel it.

the pcv line?

Does the PVC line attach to the Manafold under the trottle body. My can has always had a small hose attached to the PCV that has been pluged. It was like that when I bought it. And the hose that is pluged off the PVC is to small to fit on the fittung under the trottle body.

Any other ideas before the weekend?

Intake leak test. It is cheap to make the tool also. Go to a store that sells plumbing supplies and get a cap that fits into your intake. Go to a tire store and ask them for a valve stem. Drill a .5" hole in the top of the cap and put the valve stem on. Attach to your intake and fill with 10-15 psi of air, listen to the leaks and fix accordingly. When I did my build I had two problems that caused major hesitation under load. One was my turbo inlet had a rip in it and unmetered air was entering the engine, the other was my knock sensor. It was originally torqued to around 15 pounds (because that is what I thought it needed to be until I found out later) and was sensing false knock and pulling timing. I put it at EXACTLY 17.4 ft lbs and all my problems were solved.

I am not showing knock in any of my data logs.

And I will be changeing the intake with my rotated mount install this weekend so that should fix any intake problems. I hope...

We will see after the install.

The pcv is under the intake on the throttle body side. I suggest using the pcv system to purge the crankcase of bad contaminates such as water generated on startup. The crancase needs fresh air in and bad stuff out, preferably not back in the intake though.

I think I will run the PCV to a catch can. and vent it along with the other cam cover vents.

Sorry No update I did not get the rotated kit done. When I was putting in the new turbo, the oil feed line was under the turbo and it put a kink in the line. So I will have a stainles line built.

Maybe its a bad coil itself? Un Plug each one, one at a time, while its running to see if there is any change in the misfire.

Still using a MAF??? Un-plug and see if gets better.. Seen MAF sensor stop reading air movment and always using cruise ignition timing (40degrees+) which would causing some issues... ;)

Just my 2 cents though.. easy to check as well.. :D

Only useing MAF when stock ECU is controlling. The UTEC steps in at 20% load and runs speed density. But Sense I am still braking in the motor is stays with ECU control. I have cleaned the MAF, But it may have went bad.

Does anyone know the volts to check the MAF with volt meter?

I don't know this from checking it but most sensors for stock motors range from 0 volts to 5.0 volts. When wittmer25 redid his pre turbo intake he accidently installed the larger maf tube/bracket backwards and it wouldn't run very good. It wouldn't idle and was too lean.

I know it is in the right way. That was one of the first things I checked.

We will see how it runns after the turbo install. It will be getting rid of some of he things that may have been the problem. (Turbo inlet, injectors and some other little things)

Try not to be misled into unlikely causes by the community. I still put the blame on the newly rebuilt engine until you confirm there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Did you check the timing yet? This is the main item the was changed, so you must eliminate it first from your list of causes. You have only verified compression at this point, but you can be off by a tooth and still make compression.

Try not to be misled into unlikely causes by the community. I still put the blame on the newly rebuilt engine until you confirm there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Did you check the timing yet? This is the main item the was changed, so you must eliminate it first from your list of causes. You have only verified compression at this point, but you can be off by a tooth and still make compression.


I thought that the compression would be off if it was out off time from the belt.

So I should remove the belt covers and shoot a timing light, to check the timing?

Do you know of any issues that have came from running no belt cover? So I don't have to put the covers back on?

no need for a timing light. remove the timing belt cover and rotate the crank by hand a few times to see if your cams/crank timing marks still line up every other rotation.

Just make sure you have the right marks on the cams. Subaru puts at least 1 if not 2 extra (IIRC) timing marks on the cam gears that they use for assembly. It is easy to confuse these if you are not familiar with them. Luckily I caught this by bench testing my engine before we put it back in.

I would not run the engine long without the belt cover. It is fine until you resolve this, but I would certainly plan on putting it back on once you find your problem.

Well the rotated mount is in, So the inlet is gone. Still have same problem.
Injectors are going in tonight. If the problem is still the same. I will be taking it to a shop to pull the front of the motor apart to check the timing as wgknestrick said. I just do not have the time or want to do the front of the motor again myself. I had the injectors and stuff, So I thought I would give that a try before I tore into the motor again.

I have some logs that look similar to yours (OP).....very low timing, neg timing, occasional letters instead of numbers.
A few short log snippets:
2745 -10.0 1.9 3 00 00 W/B +34.8 6.3 ECU. 95 ECU. 1.9 14.49
2694 -9.8 1.9 3 00 00 W/B +34.4 6.0 ECU. 95 ECU. 1.9 14.74
2692 -9.6 1.9 3 00 00 W/B +35.3 5.7 ECU. 95 ECU. 1.9 14.58
2624 -11.4 1.4 0 00 00 W/B +26.6 3.6 ECU. 95 ECU. 1.4 14.49
2587 -1.0 2.9 100 00 00 W/B +4.5 8.3 ECU. 95 ECU. 2.7 14.65
3356 +0.2 2.9 100 00 00 W/B +18.9 22.8 ECU. 95 WGS. 3.014.65
3996 +3.3 3.3 30 20 00 W/B +0.2 37.7 ECU. 95 250.00 2.9 14.08
3818 -9.1 2.0 0 10 00 W/B +11.2 12.4 ECU. 95 ECU. 1.9 13.23
3538 -10.4 1.8 0 10 00 W/B +11.5 9.3 ECU. 95 ECU. 1.7 13.23

2394 -8.5 2.1 4 00 00 W/B +20.2 7.3 ECU. 95 ECU. 2.0 16.89
2732 -3.8 2.4 16 00 00 W/B +14.9 11.4 ECU. 95 ECU. 2.6 18.43
2664 -1.2 2.5 18 00 00 W/B +8.6 14.8 ECU. 95 ECU. 2.7 15.12
2679 +0.6 2.7 23 00 00 W/B +20.5 17.1 ECU. 95 ECU. 2.8 14.70
2770 +2.1 2.8 25 10 00 W/B +15.7 23.1 ECU. 95 ECU. 2.9 14.83
2849 +3.7 3.0 25 20 00 W/B +12.6 26.6 ECU. 95 ECU. 3.0 13.92
2955 +5.1 3.1 26 20 00 W/B +7.1 30.8 ECU. 95 ECU. 3.1 13.06
3055 +5.9 3.1 26 30 00 W/B +5.8 33.3 ECU. 95 ECU. 3.1 12.71
3174 +6.4 3.2 27 30 00 W/B +8.1 35.2 ECU. 95 ECU. 3.2 12.39
3274 +6.2 3.2 27 30 00 W/B +8.4 36.1 ECU. 95 ECU. 3.2 12.17
3384 +6.4 3.2 28 30 00 W/B +9.1 37.4 ECU. 95 ECU. 3.2 11.98
3479 +6.4 3.3 28 30 00 W/B +1.6 38.9 ECU. 95 ECU. 3.3 11.80
3595 +6.6 3.2 29 30 00 W/B +10.9 39.7 ECU. 95 ECU. 3.3 11.76
3707 +6.6 3.3 29 30 00 W/B +10.8 40.9 ECU. 95 250.00 3.3 11.71
3809 +9.8 3.6 29 40 00 W/B +6.1 53.2 ECU. 95 250.00 3.5 11.68

1457 -11.2 1.3 0 00 00 W/B +20.6 2.7 ECU. 95 ECU. 1.3 >25:1
1392 -11.2 1.2 0 00 00 W/B +20.7 2.7 ECU. 95 ECU. 1.3 >25:1
1314 -10.8 1.3 0 00 00 W/B +20.9 2.7 ECU. 95 ECU. 1.3 >25:1
1242 -10.8 1.3 0 00 00 W/B -3.7 0.0 ECU. 95 ECU. 1.3 >25:1
1164 -10.4 1.3 0 00 00 W/B +2.1 1.8 ECU. 95 ECU. 1.3 >25:1
1079 -10.0 1.3 0 00 00 W/B +7.6 1.7 ECU. 95 ECU. 1.3 >25:1
874 -9.8 1.2 0 00 00 W/B +22.2 1.7 +18.5 95 ECU. 1.4 >25:1
669 -7.9 1.5 0 00 00 W/B +23.0 2.2 +14.5 95 ECU. 1.4 >25:1
478 -6.1 1.3 0 00 00 W/B +29.1 1.7 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.4 >25:1
00 -3.0 1.4 0 00 00 W/B +30.0 0.0 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.4 >25:1
00 -2.8 1.3 0 00 00 W/B +Ä0.0 1.6 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.3 >25:1
00 -3.6 1.3 0 00 00 W/B -J7.8 1.9 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.3 >25:1
00 -3.6 1.3 0 00 00 W/B -S7.2 2.0 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.3 >25:1
00 -4.0 1.4 0 00 00 W/B +5.8 1.9 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.4 19.83
00 -4.0 1.3 0 00 00 W/B +7.1 1.8 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.4 16.69
00 -3.2 1.4 0 00 00 W/B +2.7 1.9 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.4 15.65
00 -3.6 1.4 0 00 00 W/B +4.1 1.9 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.4 15.65
00 -3.4 1.4 0 00 00 W/B +5.7 1.9 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.3 15.80
00 -3.8 1.3 0 00 00 W/B +13.1 1.8 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.4 15.87
504 -4.0 1.3 0 00 00 W/B +5.9 1.9 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.3 15.80
655 -4.3 1.3 0 00 00 W/B +16.1 1.9 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.4 15.65
711 -4.0 1.3 0 00 00 W/B +4.5 2.0 +11.7 95 ECU. 1.4 15.65

This has followed me thru a couple motors, only to get worse. I have pretty much tried all the recommendations made on this thread. Almost all sensors replaced,coils replaced, different ECUs, injectors, turbo, verified no leaks in the intake manifold etc. Had problems with and w/o utec.

Two things I'm in the process of taking care of right now is (1.) I just replaced a bad neutral position switch. The CEL was pretty elusive, only popped up once in awhile. My scanner never saw it but EcuExplorer showed the CEL. It's hard to find any conclusive evidence, but there are a couple threads I found where it was claimed that this sensor can cause some real problems. Even had on person PM me confirming it. (2.) I found that the Integrated Module up under the dash had a couple "burnt" spots on the circuit board, probably from some electrical shorts that happened in the past. Not sure if these will have in impact on the issues I'm having, but I should know within the next week.

Please let me know how it turns out.

Are you only having the issue under load? Like me.

Yes. It actually idles like crap as well....but the real problems start happening as soon as it starts seeing positive pressure at the manifold. Doesn't matter if it's 1 psi or 18. :(

Mine does it in Vac as well.