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Old 07-24-2013, 05:56 PM   #1
smokey1
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Default New spark plugs resulted in bucking and flashing CEL

On my 2003 wrx all stock except Cobb stage 1 flash.
I replaced my spark plugs with ngk iridiums stock range.
The car seems to idle and drive fine, but when and only when I step on it to the floor and boost kicks in around 3500rpm the car bucks and loses power...one time my cel flashed for 10 seconds. No code gets stored. From my reading I think that its gonna be a plug, a coilpack or a wire, but could anyone offer insight about what might be the cause given the described scenario above? Also I didnt check the gaps but they are supposed to be pre gapped and they all appeared to have a uniform gap. Again, the car idles fine, drives fine too even at higher rpms as long as I dont step on it.

Thanks!
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Old 07-24-2013, 06:27 PM   #2
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Your car is misfiring. Do you have something to read the code? Did you hook the coils to the right harness plugs? The plugs for the coil packs are colored, black and white. White is front of engine and black is back. If the are hooked up correctly pull the coils back out and check that they are seated correctly and the electrical plugs didn't get any crap in them.

All of these are assuming you installed the spark plugs correctly, no cross thread, etc.
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Old 07-24-2013, 06:48 PM   #3
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Thanks dzxn,

No codes got stored... I just pulled all the plugs back out to check everything. The gap is perfect on every plug... everything looked fine. I'll reassemble everything doublechecking everything... could it be a bad plug? Is that common at all?
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Old 07-24-2013, 07:02 PM   #4
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Oh and I dont know if this stuff is normal but there is white stuff on the tip of the plug that chips off easily and white stuff (cake) on the white insulation between the metal and the writing...what are your thoughts? Are these things normal? the plugs have about 15 miles on them.
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Old 07-24-2013, 07:09 PM   #5
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Looks like oil in your plug boots. Signs of bad valve cover (spark plug) gaskets. If that is getting into your combustion chamber it could easily cause misfires/plug fouling.
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Old 07-24-2013, 07:17 PM   #6
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It's dielectric grease. Is it possible to go overboard with that stuff?
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Old 07-24-2013, 07:46 PM   #7
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I've seen people put so much in the boots that a seal is formed and they can't push the coils/boot all the way onto the plug, but if the coil bolt can thread all the way into the valve cover that shouldn't be an issue.

White stuff like that on a plug would indicate a lean/hot condition, but it's really impossible to read plugs accurately if you put any miles on them after going WOT.

FWIW, I'm running NGK BKR6EIX as well, they were gapped properly out of the box, used a pea of dielectric grease in the boots, and everything is happy. Best thing you can do at this point is to put it all back together properly and use your accessport to log a few WOT runs. If it happens again you will know where the misfires are and can try swapping coils/plugs/etc from cyl to cyl to see what the problem is.

While everything is apart it wouldn't hurt to do a compression test either.
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Old 07-24-2013, 08:07 PM   #8
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Yes. I will put it all back together. There are no codes stored - the check engine light does not stay on. It only flashed for 10 secs one time when I stubbornly kept the throttle open after bucking. I would love it if it told me which cylinder was misfiring. ...
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Old 07-24-2013, 09:45 PM   #9
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So, I put it back together an hr ago... drove it and im still having the same issue. Violent bucking under heavy boost. Drives fine under normal moderate acceleration. I have read that this issue may be due to a faulty coilpack... I did this plug replacement after 50k on my old plugs but I was really doing it to try and solve a rattle noise coming from the passenger side engine... after new motor mounts the noise was still apparent. Rattle is still there after the new plugs. Maybe it was a coilpack going bad all along. Is this possible? How do coilpacks go bad? Slowly like that? Is it possible that a coilpack is bad but still functioning?

Thanks
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Old 07-24-2013, 10:32 PM   #10
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Check all of your grounds first. Usually if a coil pack is bad, it's bad. It won't only present itself under heavy boost.
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Old 07-28-2013, 02:22 PM   #11
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Updates?
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Old 07-28-2013, 02:58 PM   #12
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What is the gap on plugs
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Old 07-28-2013, 05:55 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SkullV View Post
Looks like oil in your plug boots. Signs of bad valve cover (spark plug) gaskets. If that is getting into your combustion chamber it could easily cause misfires/plug fouling.


yeah...ok....great


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Old 07-28-2013, 05:56 PM   #14
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id bet bad plug(s) and/or wrong plugs...and the TINY lil iridium pads on these kind of plugs is REAL easy to break off with any sort of gapping tool

so if ANYTHING was put between the electrodes--ever...id bet they are all done and need to be paperweights
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Old 07-28-2013, 06:37 PM   #15
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yeah...ok....great


Really, you disagree that if there is oil on your plug boots it is a sign of bad valve cover gaskets? OR do you disagree that oil in the combustion chambers could cause misfires and foul plugs? I would absolutely LOVE to hear your explanation of either and empirical evidence to back it up!

It would be even better if you could do it without any personal attacks, maybe we can all have a good discussion here. I think that is the point of these forums.
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Old 07-28-2013, 09:39 PM   #16
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Really, you disagree that if there is oil on your plug boots it is a sign of bad valve cover gaskets? OR do you disagree that oil in the combustion chambers could cause misfires and foul plugs? I would absolutely LOVE to hear your explanation of either and empirical evidence to back it up!

It would be even better if you could do it without any personal attacks, maybe we can all have a good discussion here. I think that is the point of these forums.

cupcake.....i want you to tell me just EXACTLY how any oil from the boot area is EVER gonna make it INTO the engine like that????

if it is leaking bad enough to fill the entire plug galley---which i have seen.... even then it wouldnt leak INTO the combustion chamber unless there was other way more serious issues.....and by then it wouldnt likely run or wouldnt fire or have compression on that cylinder

and neither one of those pics shows any indication of oil leakage into that area

stop posting...jesus....please
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Old 07-28-2013, 10:16 PM   #17
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muffin....I've seen full galleys leak down past the plug into the combustion chamber. I guess it probably wouldn't happen on a horizontal motor like a boxer though. Have seen it on Ford Duratec motors as well as VW FSI and TSI motors.

The first picture has dark oily residue on the top plug, could have absolutely been oil on the boot. I understand that the OP has clarified that it's dielectric grease, but without his clarification there is absolutely no reason to think that on a brand new plug that wouldn't be the only residue visible.

P.S. I'll be in Houston from Aug 1-Aug 4. I would love to meet up with you and see if you are as awesome in person as you are on the internet.
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Old 07-29-2013, 02:12 AM   #18
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muffin....I've seen full galleys leak down past the plug into the combustion chamber. I guess it probably wouldn't happen on a horizontal motor like a boxer though. Have seen it on Ford Duratec motors as well as VW FSI and TSI motors.

The first picture has dark oily residue on the top plug, could have absolutely been oil on the boot. I understand that the OP has clarified that it's dielectric grease, but without his clarification there is absolutely no reason to think that on a brand new plug that wouldn't be the only residue visible.

P.S. I'll be in Houston from Aug 1-Aug 4. I would love to meet up with you and see if you are as awesome in person as you are on the internet.


cupcake....there is no power on earth that would make me even think about wanting to meet you for any reason other than to laugh at you

im busy workin, anyway....id tell ya where but these boys down here would likely have you skinned and on the grill shortly after you arrived.....so maybe you best not.....
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Old 07-29-2013, 10:59 AM   #19
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Quote:
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cupcake....there is no power on earth that would make me even think about wanting to meet you for any reason other than to laugh at you
twinkie...that's too bad, I was hoping to meet you for the same exact reason! We could have done a lot of laughing. I understand if you're insecure about how your real life physique and personality may not stack up to your internet persona. It happens to a lot of people.

Anyhow, OP, you figure out your problem?
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Old 07-29-2013, 12:16 PM   #20
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Quote:
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twinkie...that's too bad, I was hoping to meet you for the same exact reason! We could have done a lot of laughing. I understand if you're insecure about how your real life physique and personality may not stack up to your internet persona. It happens to a lot of people.
Scotty is just here so help people realize that there is a lot of misinformation on the boards. Misinformation that is sprinkled into every thread that comes up for weeks on end by people like you.

For example but not limited to:
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkullV View Post
Looks like oil in your plug boots. Signs of bad valve cover (spark plug) gaskets. If that is getting into your combustion chamber it could easily cause misfires/plug fouling.
If you knew how these engines or any engine goes together you would realize there is no way for oil to enter the combustion chamber by way of a bad spark plug O-ring, the oil will simply run down the valve cover onto your exhaust manifold and eventually the floor. Not to mention there is a chunk of aluminum called a head, with a sealed spark plug sitting in the way of the path of flow if it was an inline engine. So instead of saying all that Scotty just simply gave you a and wrote yeah.. great...


But now you know what you just got yourself into and why.
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Old 07-29-2013, 12:54 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2gnt2wrx View Post
Scotty is just here so help people realize that there is a lot of misinformation on the boards. Misinformation that is sprinkled into every thread that comes up for weeks on end by people like you.

For example but not limited to:

If you knew how these engines or any engine goes together you would realize there is no way for oil to enter the combustion chamber by way of a bad spark plug O-ring, the oil will simply run down the valve cover onto your exhaust manifold and eventually the floor. Not to mention there is a chunk of aluminum called a head, with a sealed spark plug sitting in the way of the path of flow if it was an inline engine. So instead of saying all that Scotty just simply gave you a and wrote yeah.. great...


But now you know what you just got yourself into and why.
No one learns anything that way, including the OP. I've said it before, there is no doubt that Scotty knows a lot about subarus. I honestly don't. I do know a lot about cars, engines, etc. If he would forgo the personal attacks and simply respond with information half of the things that he bitches about would disappear.

People are ALWAYS going to ask the same questions over and over, no matter how many eye rolls, kiddie boiiiiz, cupcakes, or other insults someone gives, that isn't going to stop. You really think insulting people is going to get them to leave? Of course not, but if you teach them maybe they can pass along the right information. I for one would love to learn more about this specific platform and have already started reading books (yes those still exist) about the subject.

The only thing the insults prove are compensation and insecurity.
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Old 07-29-2013, 01:02 PM   #22
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Old 07-30-2013, 03:05 PM   #23
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If you two are done, I'd like to provide an update.
After two days of driving, I finally got a persistent CEL light and a code that I could read (my GF couldn't understand why I was happy that my CEL came on). It was a P0301 Misfire Cylinder 1. I swapped the coil packs between 1 & 3 and the next day I got the same code, so I pulled the plug from cylinder 1 and inspected it very carefully. I found a thin crack in the white insulation of the plug. went and paid for a new plug and installed. problem solved.

Thanks everyone.
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Old 07-30-2013, 03:15 PM   #24
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I love it when a plan comes together.



I am with 2gnt, give your self more time to see the ignorance on the boards and you will come to love how Scotty uses his approach to get the correct info across. You may not like his methods or antics but he does change the way people look at things. I think Scotty has gotten more people to research for themselves instead of spewing than most other members. So what if it is out of anger and wanting to prove him wrong.

Last edited by DZXN; 07-30-2013 at 03:39 PM.
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Old 07-30-2013, 03:17 PM   #25
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If you two are done, I'd like to provide an update.
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