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Hi all,

I am trying to sell my 92 Liberty GX FWD (for $2500 if anybody interested haha) and I just did an oil change to give the potential new owner some new fluid! No sooner had I done this, and driven the car several hundred metres, it started to run very rough, and the engine was 'shaking' at idle. Revs are intermittantly rough, especially with the air-con going, it fluctuates as much as +/- 250 revs. Also, when I rev, it takes longer than normal for the revs to drop, usually dropping to around 1500 no problem, then 'grabbing' as it drops the rest of the way.
I checked my spark plugs, and although reasonably old, they were not caked up or tarnished. I also did some checking for loose hoses / wires / connectors and did not find anything out of the ordinary.

The oil I used was Mobil2000, a 10-40 synthetic blend. Is it a case that I should have used a lower grade of oil, or something different? The Mobil2000 is what the book at REPCO specified.

Any help greatly appreciated.

hard to tell, it could be anything from leads, vacum hose, un-hooked sensor etc.. I'd put new plugs in. They won't be more than $20 and it might run better.

manual or auto? does it get worse flying up a hill and when you depress clutch for next gear lose the power? HVLA lifters not like the semi synthetic oil ?

sounds like youve knocked a lead off abit. Make sure all your leads are on good. They 'click' when theyre connected properly.

Otherwise the leads maybe dead, knocking them when theyre already half dead is enough to make them faulty.

Open the bonnet at night time in pure darkness and look at all your leads, if you see any sparks running through them its time for a replacement. Just dont touch or youll get a nice hit

alex

It's an auto, and still doing it. Even worse, yesterday the car won't start. It turns over, but won't fire. It's almost as if the immobiliser is staying on.
I took it for a big drive beforehand, hoping it might 'thin' the oil a bit, but no luck.

See, that's what you get for trying to be nice for the next buyer

thinking out loud here...

if all the leads and plugs are fine and all the hoses on the intake are hooked up.

try cheapest things first, fuel filter is a common culprit.

otherwise dicky coilpack or ignitor?

Is it throwing any error codes? It should be after 5 turns of the engine and no start. From my experience the check engine light comes on at that point. That should give you a code to check. Search engine codes and perhaps EJ22 to find them on this site.

If it was running rough and now is not starting ever, would it be something vital to the starting system, coil as Alex mentioned? Do you know anyone with an EJ22 you can swap parts to help identify if there is no code error?

Agree with guyph_01 get new plugs. But still its unlikely to be this as it would still start, can't be all 4 of them shagged. Same for filters, good idea to change but that would not prevent it EVER starting?

Im leaning towards an ECU related sensor defunkt and not allowing engine to start or something essential to the running of the car, previously mentioned coil.

Try the codes and see where you go from there.

or a tear in the air intake boots after the AFM has seen the readings, leak in more air through a crack in concertina ducting ?

A friends car did this, it was the crank sensor?

And since the oil change what's the oil level look like?

Other than this if you don't know your way around your EJ I'd recommend finding a mate who does - will save you loads of money compared to a mechanic.

Check the codes - you'll need to plug in the black connectors located under the steering wheel/dash somewhere, I'm not familiar with their exact location on the liberty, just know their colour... From this you'll be able to read the codes to find out which sensors are faulty. It could be the knock sensor, AFM, crank angle or the cam angle sensor.

It could be a pure coincidence that this has occurred after you did an oil change - unless you knocked something and damages it internally.

Best of luck with the sale.

Cheers

Bennie

I doubt this is your problem since your car won't start any more, and don't know if this happens to subarus, but I have seen some cars which run rough if the dipstick is loose. Messes with the PCV system.
Since you just changed the oil I thought this might be your problem. Probably not but here's hoping it is something this simple!