94 EJ22T running rough

[oleman77]

Ok all you Legacy lovers I need some help....I recently purchased a 1994 EJ22T. It was running when I bought it but not well at all. As a matter of fact it barely ran, would barely pull up in my driveway. The seller told me it needed heads changed (used set of heads came with the car) due to a broken timing belt and bent valves. Well as I did some research I found this motor is a non interference motor and the valves don't bend when timing belt breaks. So I knew this wasn't the problem. He also said the 2 cylinders on the passenger side had 110# of compression and the 2 on the drivers side Had 0# so my thought was the timing belt was a tooth off. So I bought the car hoping to be able to fix it my re setting timing. Well although it did appear a tooth off I reset the timing but still had the same problem. I then did my own compression test and found cylinders 1,2 & 3 had 126# of compression and cylinder #4 had 0# of compression. After further testing my assumption was that cylinder #4 had a exhaust valve issue. So I pulled the head off and did find a burnt valve. I then installed the head that came with the car and low and behold she runs! (wow it was a pain changing the head with engine in the car). I also put in new plugs (NGK IX Iridium's), new fuel and air filters and added Seafoam to gas tank but I still have a miss and need help finding it. I know I have a good coil due to when I was checking compression I could see all 4 sparking. What do You guys think, spark plug wires or something else? Thanks fellas, I'll post pics soon........

[ciper]

Whatever caused the valve to burn the first time is probably still there.Connect a vacuum gauge and tell us what it reads at idle. If its not around 20inch of mercury then you have a vacuum leak.

My guess is your intake manifold gasket is leaking which causes the miss and that cylinder to burn the valve as well.

I had a car burn through an exhaust valve on cylinder 3 three different times before replacing the engine and computer (I think it was a bad injector or injector driver)

[oleman77]

Whatever caused the valve to burn the first time is probably still there.Connect a vacuum gauge and tell us what it reads at idle. If its not around 20inch of mercury then you have a vacuum leak.

My guess is your intake manifold gasket is leaking which causes the miss and that cylinder to burn the valve as well.

I had a car burn through an exhaust valve on cylinder 3 three different times before replacing the engine and computer (I think it was a bad injector or injector driver)

ok, where do I connect the vacuum gauge? A picture would really help if you have one. Thanks....pete

[ciper]

Connect it anywhere on the manifold after the throttle plate. I don't have a good picture at the moment.

You could use the line that goes to the brake booster on cylinder runner 4. This is a larger hose, maybe 3/4 inch? Its right between the throttle linkage and the drivers side strut tower. Or the medium sized line, maybe 3/8 inch, just below it that goes to the recirculating bypass valve. Or the line that goes to the MAP sensor on cylinder 1. This is the tiny vacuum line that is near the power steering pump and goes over near the air filter box.

I personally purchased this http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=49109 from Harbor freight and connected it with a T to the line that goes to the bypass valve.

[Legacy777]

I'd also suggest replacing the spark plug wires.

[oleman77]

Ok fellas I'll get me a gauge and let you know what I find. I do have spark plug wires on order. Thanks guys, I'll keeP you posted.

[oleman77]

Ok fellas I'll get me a gauge and let you know what I find. I do have spark plug wires on order. Thanks guys, I'll keeP you posted.

Ok fella's. Finally got my vacuum gauge. At an idle I have 13.5". Looks like I have a leak. Checked all vacuum hoses I know of even sprayed carb cleaner and starter fluid everywhere on each hose, no change. Can't seem to find the leak. Any other ideas? I did change the spark plug wires. Even after changing the plug wires I still have a noticeable miss. Scratching my head. Needs some help fella's....

[oleman77]

Ok fellas I'll get me a gauge and let you know what I find. I do have spark plug wires on order. Thanks guys, I'll keeP you posted.

Ok fella's. Finally got my vacuum gauge. At an idle I have 13.5". Looks like I have a leak. Checked all vacuum hoses I know of even sprayed carb cleaner and starter fluid everywhere on each hose, no change. Can't seem to find the leak. Any other ideas? I did change the spark plug wires. Even after changing the plug wires I still have a noticeable miss. Scratching my head. Needs some help fella's....

I found 2 rubber lines (maybe 3/8") coming from the front top of my 4eat transmission connected to nothing and cant seem to find where they go. Any idea where they go and if they are vacuum lines? Thanks fella's....pete

[Legacy777]

Those are vents for the trans & differential. They should not be connected to anything.

[oleman77]

Darn, thought I had found something..I'll keep looking...

[oleman77]

Ok fella's, after several days of looking I finally found my problem. It ended up being a fuel injector(s). Not sure which one it was but I changed out the fuel rail and both injectors on #2 & #4 cylinders (left side). #4 is the cylinder that had the burnt valve so I suspected that injector but changing out the rail with both injectors in it I'm not positive. #2 injector wasn't even the right one (it was black) which makes that one suspect as well. Regardless the miss is gone! After injectors where changed I rechecked my vacuum. Its still low but did improve. Went from 13" to 15". Still 5" away from 20" but will keep looking. I plan on removing intake and installing new gaskets at a later time when I have a free weekend. When I do I will look for possible leaks while its off. Anyway stoked that the miss is gone.....ya baby!

[Legacy777]

Glad you figured out the injector issue.

Your vacuum is right around where it should be. You need to remember that you're probably close to 5,000 ft in Farmington and that will affect the vacuum reading on the engine. This chart will give you a little better idea of how the elevation will affect the vacuum readings compared against sea level readings.

http://water.me.vccs.edu/courses/CIV240/table4.htm

For example, if the std vacuum reading at sea level is 20 in-Hg, at 5,000 ft it would 14.7 in-Hg.

[oleman77]

Glad you figured out the injector issue.

Your vacuum is right around where it should be. You need to remember that you're probably close to 5,000 ft in Farmington and that will affect the vacuum reading on the engine. This chart will give you a little better idea of how the elevation will affect the vacuum readings compared against sea level readings.

http://water.me.vccs.edu/courses/CIV240/table4.htm

For example, if the std vacuum reading at sea level is 20 in-Hg, at 5,000 ft it would 14.7 in-Hg.

Dude Im sooo glad you turned me on to this conversion sheet. We are actually about 5500 ft. which shows I should have 14.3". With 15" I'm golden!!

Thanks for all the help....

[Legacy777]

You're welcome.