i went and took a peek at it and found this:

waste gate hose falling off at the tee
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1418752196

i was excited to find this because it should definitely be it right? and that would make it a quick and easy fix. i reconnected it, went for a test drive and it still does it! WTF?

but it set the CEL this time, so now i have something to scan, although in my experience OBD2 isnt much good. the CEL blinked for a moment then went solid. i checked to make sure the hose didnt pop off again when i got back from my test drive and it didnt, so........ that hose doesnt have a little gay clamp on it, is it possible its over boosting for some reason and maybe it blew the hose off the first time? bad solenoid or WG actuator is my actual issue? or is leafy right- it would be holy shit for a moment before it starts missing? it feels like it starts missing right after boost starts rising.


i didnt see anything else obvious, everything that i can see is connected. im going to try to get out of work early so i can go home and scan it and work on it.

which tactrix would i want, im seeing what looks like unbranded ones or around $80 on google, tactrix website gets $170, and then i find listings on amazon for $230? they all are listed as Openport 2.0. why the huge price differences? and i dont see any "cables", just "dongles".

of course if i can get away with just using the AP, i will for now because $. i assume i will need rom raider and...?

should i start my own thread for this?

i plugged in my AP and get a P0303 and "?????" and "?????". what are the question marks?

P0303 is cylinder 3 misfire. so am i to believe its actually #3 missing? or is that one just the first to register as a trouble code?

i also went for a drive with the AP to look at boost. problem occurs at 11-12psi, and i never got over 13 as its a bucking horse at that point. done in 2nd and 3rd gear. although i didnt get on the freeway with the AP, it seems to happen earlier in 5th gear, because of the higher load i would assume. and to add more frustration, my AP cycled power on its own a few times during the test drive. i dont know if its a bad cable or what.

im going to go clean/inspect my maf now. should i pull and inspect plug #3? that would be pass. side rear correct?

clean and inspect the maf and then the next step is probable to see if the #3 ringland blew.

really, we go from cleaning maf straight to major internal engine damage? i assume a compression test should show this?


which reminds me i was revving it in nuetral in the driveway and theres a strange "tinging" noise upon engine deceleration just for a second at a specific rpm, that sounds like what i would expect a turbine hitting its housing sounds like. i dont know that this has anything to do with anything or if im just now noticing it because im anxious and paranoid about my car at the moment.

Sounds like my car when it had a bad coil.

Swap coils and see if the code moves to the other cylinder?

Maf was filthy, cleaned it, no change. I also discovered I need a radiator.

I'm waiting for the engine to cool down to pull the plug. Swapping coils had occurred to me, but that relys on accurate obd2 data.

I'm guessing the next logical step would be to try and log? Is this worthless without a wide band?

No the factory has a widish band sensor but the reading from it gets kind of skewed in boost. The log will be useful.

I have laptop, ap1, and serial to usb converter. I just download rom raider and have at it? Anything special I need to know to use rr with ap1? I only see documentation for use with tactrix.

I dont think rom raider works with access port.

Rom raiders faq implied it does, they just "don't recommend it". and I found 2 posts on nasoic with users saying they have done it successfully.




Vlad?

If I have to get the tactrix I will, which brings me back to my prior question, which one? Can I be a cheap ass and get the ebay one, or do I need to pony up at thier website?


If the ap will work, I'd rather not spend the money right now.

I was able to use romraiders logger to view individual cylinder misfire counts in real time, made it easy. It took A LOT of misfire counts to trigger the cel.

I paid less than $15 for my obd cable off eBay many years ago.

just the basic cable works then? walmart is carrying those now days iirc.

1) never get the knockoff tactrix cable unless you want to ghetto rig stuff and/or have it work for only 1 car under special conditions, etc. its just a paint and not worth the 50 dollar discount
2) you want the 2.0 rev e I believe, tactrix sells them for 170, in fact, I have a spare if you wanna buy.
3) swap the plug and try again. after that, swap injectors and try again. see if the misfire follows. You've an LGT right (sorry too lazy to search for it) if so, then you're stuck with the moronic side feed injectors which are very well known to have issues with high mileage, and needing cleaning/servicing. all the ones that went bad that I diagnosed before though, all misfired at idle and normal cruise, but not really in boost. but who knows
4) specific cylinder misfire codes are not "general" on subaru's. they're pretty specific, so no its likely not a hoax
5) its weird that its 3, usually 4 goes 1st, and/or 2 depending on what went
6) I've used ap1 and romraider before, but it was ages ago and I honestly can't tell you much about it. I know it used to work, there were ways to ghetto rig it if it didn't. they "locked down" the software sometime in 08 so chances are yours will work with romraider.
7) after all this, if problem still persists, I think its time for compression/leakdown test.

EJ255's are fragile little suckers

On a side-note, what data can actually be logged with RR? I have a VAGCAM cable that has worked for everything I have tried so far, but I haven't tried logging. Can I see throttle position? Valve timing (target and actual)? Misfires? AFR?

VAGCOM cable, yeah that's what I use. It was marketed for VW's but the forums said it'd work on subarus so I tried it and it works. This was back when you could still get laptops with WinXP and guys were having issues with it on Win7.

Parameters: Yep all that. More too obviously but I don't have it open currently, but I've view those parameters in real time. I like the 'turn on rear defroster to record' function haha. Clever.

I also have my AEM WBO2 piped in which is nice. It matches the subaru O2 pretty closely, surprising for the factory sensor.

EDIT: I don't see VVT target, just current angle.

Yeah those other cables work, but nowhere near the support as with the legit tactrix, and if you run into issues you're pretty much at the mercy of google search and forum search button.

Yep, all parameters the ecu is able to record.

What always confused me is that the factory sensor IS a wideband sensor, and actually works as such in closed loop, but as soon as you go over I believe 2.75 maf volts or go into boost or anything triggering the switch to open loop, it just shuts it off and tells you what it wants to see vs what is actually happening.

Tim you've wired your WB into the factory harness? that's pretty cool. I've heard of that done before, and seen it on tons of evo's but never seen it on a subaru. Neat

yes, 05 LGT. #4 is good news, im used to domestics where the cylinder number is pretty useless unless it is consistently coming up.

i pulled #3 last night, looks fine, i can post pics. i will swap the plug and coil and see if the problem moves.

i did some research on the vagcom cables and found a listing on amazon with a number of subaru owners in the reviews that state they have used RR with the cable with success. one guy with an 06 2.5 n/a, and another with a wrx. next day shipping was another $7 on top of the $8 for the cable, so i should have it tomorrow. ill let you guys know how it works, and ill post a log when i do.

EJ255s are fragile? how so? other than the oil pickup, i thought they were good little engines, but what do i know.


tim, how are you integrating the AEM o2 with the vagcom?

so my plan of attack is:
-swap 1 and 3 plugs and coils, reset light, see what happens. if problem moves, then new plugs and coil
-swap 1 and 3 injectors, if problem moves replace injector
-data log
-comp test. which i will probably do when i swap plugs and coils since im already in there. is pulling the fuel pump relay good enough? or do i need to unplug the coils that arent assembled with an installed spark plug, or anything else? i know some coils dont like being energized without a load(grounded spark plug) on them.



thanks again for all the help gents

if it was only $8 that's a cool deal
I think the main problems with the vag and other knockoff cables is the inability to flash consistently, so I guess it might be fine for your log-only needs
yes, fragile ringlands, small/fragile main bearings, and a setup that makes a lot of torque at low revs resulting in high cyl pressures and tendency to knock. its why most of us run them pretty rich and conservative (compared to other cars) among other things. and yes, every 255/257 I've opened up with over 60k had a cracked oil pickup tube.

don't get me wrong - it's not junk, just nowhere near as robust as say, a 4g63