Gen 1 EJ22 Liberty engine missing

Foghorn · Post by **Foghorn** » Sat Apr 30, 2016 6:49 pm

I have just fitted a good 2nd hand auto gearbox to a 92 model liberty with an EJ22 was running fine before except for the gearbox not shifting gears correctly. This is not my car so i don't know what problems the owner has had in the past, after fitting the gearbox i found a small coolant leak and in trying to see where it was i wet the engine to wash off the green stuff.

While waiting and watching for the engine to warm up and looking for where the coolant was comming from the engine suddenly started making horrible banging sound and stalled.

So i checked the plug leads and sure enough water had filled up Number 2 spark plug hole. Nothing out of the norm i have had that problem before with my own EJ22's in the past even had sand fill up one and push the plug lead off at fraser Is.

I cleaned and dried everything start the engine again and it runs really rough with a definite miss.

Now i have checked the compression and seemed ok, changed the plug leads, changed the coil pack, changed the ignighter. All of this has seen no change in how the motor runs.

I am wondering where else i could have gotten the engine wet, or could it being wet have done damage to the computer ???

I would be very grateful for any help.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Mon May 02, 2016 6:56 pm

Check your codes then the knock sensor and the throttle position sensor.

Mine did the same, there's a you tube video about it somewhere. I ended up replacing the temp sensor, TPS and the knock sensor. Then came the battery dance and the leave for 5 - 10 mins.

Cheers

Bennie

Foghorn · Post by **Foghorn** » Tue May 03, 2016 10:53 am

I found an excellent post on another forum that explains the knock sensor with pictures.

Although this knock sensor looked awful, when u tried a known good one it still has the same problem.

Thanks for the help tho.

I am thinking it is mechanical as it seems to have strong blow coming out of the oil fill pipe when the lid is off, There is no smoke, no oil or water on the plugs so maybe it is blown between the cylinders but the compression test should have seen that. Or a valve has broken or burnt ?

Really got me stumped and i have run out of time for now so will have to come back to it later.

I will post what i find the problem to be, when i get time to pull the covers off and inspect the timing and valves etc.

Thank you for the help

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed May 04, 2016 12:16 am

When you tried the known good knock sensor, did you flash the ECU or do the battery dance to clear the codes?

If not this could give you a dodgy result with the good knock sensor.

If it was valve related the miss would be there all the time and predictable with changes in rev speed.

Got a video?

Here's my one I mentioned:

http://youtu.be/aLxO4ETlk9c

Cheers

Bennie

Foghorn · Post by **Foghorn** » Wed May 04, 2016 7:23 am

Yes i disconnected the battery for about 15-20 min, It will start and run but is consistently rough all they way through the rev range.

Ray

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed May 04, 2016 10:48 pm

Tried a second set of plugs and leads?

While it's running use a long screw driver to listen to the engine internals from various locations. This could show up which cylinder is the one missing.

Another thing to check could be the injectors - ensure the plugs are dry for a start and you can also use the screw driver trick to listen to the injector pluse. It'll sound like a little click.

It could be worth dropping the oil to see what comes out if the banging/clanging sounded big end related.

Another thing to try out would be putting a can of upper engine cleaner through the engine - just be sure to hold the revs high as per instructions, if not done correctly I've heard of engines with a bit of crap between the valve and seat creating rough running conditions on one or more cylinders. In extreme cases the engine can't be started due to lack of compression.

And did you get any codes show up?

Cheers

Bennie

Foghorn · Post by **Foghorn** » Thu May 05, 2016 6:37 am

Thanks Bennie,

All Things worth a try, wont have time to try until the weekend tho.

No codes are showing so very odd.

Thanks
Ray

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Thu May 05, 2016 7:39 am

sounds like coincidence and a compression test is in order before you scratch any more hair out

Foghorn · Post by **Foghorn** » Thu May 05, 2016 8:42 am

Have already done a compression test, 1 cyl was down at 130psi and the rest about 160psi

The way it is running i would have thought should be almost 0 on one of them.

Ray

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Fri Jun 17, 2016 10:36 pm

Any updates on the issues?

Cheers

Bennie

Foghorn · Post by **Foghorn** » Sat Jun 18, 2016 7:12 am

I ran out of time looking for a problem that i didn't cause. So instead of paying me for the job and taking it to find out from another mechanic, the owner decided that it is now my car

When i have have some more time i will take the engine apart until i find out what happened and let you all know how i get on.

Thanks for everyones help so far.