Check Engine Light?
 

I know I saw a thread in here about this, how do you turn it off, but I can't seem to find it, anyone have a link?

Um, fix whatever's wrong with the car?

That is a great answer, and after I figure out what it is, I might be able to do that, the service chick at Lithia told me that sometimes they have trouble getting the light to turn off. But I could have been lost in her hotness....

I would suggest not turning it off and finding out what kind of problem you have first. I think if you go to autozone they give free diagnostics. They'll give you a p-code, and you can look that up in the owners manual. Sometimes it'll just have it on the screen tho and they could give it to you.

BUT.... if you really want to turn it off, disconnect the battery for 30 or so seconds.

If the problem persists the light with just come right back on.

Go to a local auto parts store like autozone, get the code pulled and then you can run the code on google to get the answer. Or post the code on the forums and we might be able to tell you what it means. Once you figure out what the code is, you can correct the issue and clear the light.

Well, I will definately go to AutoZone tomorrow but alas, Dean must be a master mechanic when it comes to wrigglin wires, Since Dean and Cody checked some connections wriggled a few wires, the light is MIA. I have driven it about 50 miles or so since I left Deans house and no light, and even though it was painted over you could see the light shining through some pinholes. So I will take it to AutoZone to see if they can see anything, but with the light not on, not sure what they will say.

Thanks for the input

I did check/jiggle the EGT sensor cable/connection, and a bad or loose contact on that would definitely throw a CEL.

I think the WRX should have it still stored in memory, but I'm not sure if it has teose in NVR or not.

Yea, I am hoping thats all it is, the light has not been annoying me all night. It looked like one of those wire plugs was loose. If it comes back on tomorrow, after I get the paint off of that spot I will let ya know.

The WRX has a stock EGT?

Yep, there's an EGT in the uppipe the ECU uses to make sure the pre-turbo catalytic converter is operating at the propper temperature.

If you replace the up-pipe w/ a non-catted pipe you tend to get a P0420 CEL code "inefficient catalytic converter". The simple fix is to replace the EGT with a 2.2kOhm resistor.

Is there anyway to tap the EGT through the ECU on some sort of datalogger or something to see what temps you're running at?

Yea, but it is a little far down the pipe, and not a very accurate instrument as I understand. They are also prone to break off and get sucked into the turbo as I understand, so most people with moded up-pipes remove them, and put a real one in the headers after cylinder 3 I beleive.

Yeah, what Dean said. The EGT isn't in a great location, and it's very slow to respond, so it's not useful tuning purposes. All it does is make sure that once the car's up to operating temperature, the exhaust is above a certain temp, which indicated the pre-cat is working.

Ok the engine codes were as follows PO301 which is Cylinder 1 misfire, and PO304 which is...you guessed it Cylinder 4 has a misfire. Anyone have a preferencial spark plug?

NKG, same as the factory uses.

Ok and anyone have the combination lock and secret decoder sequence to unveil the spark plugs? Any one have any other ideas about misfire? Other than the usual wires, plugs, cap, and rotor?

Unveil the spark plugs? They're right on the side of the motor under the coils. To swap the plugs you'll have to remove the airbox on the passenger side, and the battery/washer bottle on the driver's side.

Remember, it's a direct ignition flat 4... there are no wires and no distributor.

Tech details here: http://www.seccs.org/tech

Actually I was joking, Dean and Cody pointed me in the right direction yesterday. But your the bomb, I wondered if we had an online manual around here, I have been looking for one. Thanks!

DSMs like NGKBRR7ES'

Do some research before you tackle that job Ez. I've heard it's worth paying a reputable shop the $50 they'll probably charge for labor. Also some places will try to sell you the right plugs with the wrong gap. Make sure the NGK (I think it's NGK) part number doesn't have a "-11" at the end of it. Some other stuff I remember reading are, it's easier if you remove the battery...use anti-sieze on the threads, but subtract a few foot pounds from the factory torque specs on them or you can strip the threads in the block very easily.

I haven't read it, but here's the DIY: http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1596

More spark plug info:
http://www.wrxfanatics.com/index.php...&hl=spark+plug
http://www.wrxfanatics.com/index.php...&hl=spark+plug

Essentially the same plug Subarus like, with significant differences. Ignore the part number for those EZ.

What you want is the basic copper plug. Just ask for "NGK coppers" for a WRX, also known as V-groove I think. It's the cheapest NGK-branded plug actually, isn't that nice? :D The only downside is that you only get 20,000 miles out of them, less than 15,000 if you're making a lot of power. If you'd rather have long life at a minor performance cost, platinums will last 70,000+ miles. I personally always ran the coppers on my RS though. Changing them isn't really that big of a pain.

Why would he run the same plugs as a non-turbo'd car? Wouldn't you want the colder burning plugs?

Note the part where I said "for a WRX." That gets you the colder plugs.

Gotcha