97 2.5 dohc misfire 1&3

[dsoundman]

97 Outback 2.5 dohc misfiring on 1 & 3 at idle. Around 50k miles on
the engine. Runs great on the road or highway. Idles really rough and
codes misfires on 1 & 3 which we know are on the same side of the
engine.
Compression checks out fine on both 1 & 3. Changed the coil pack
although it was a used one. New plugs and wires. Have checked for
vacuum leaks using the old carb cleaner trick of spraying around
vacuum connections and hoses to detect a leak. Haven’t found any. It
idles so bad sometimes it starts knocking but if you get in and take
off it stops and funs fine till you stop at the next light. No
evidence of gas or coolant in the oil or vise-versa. I did take the
timing cover off and checked to see the cam gears were still lined up.
They are. ANY other suggestions would be great. Thanks.

 

[Dave]

97 Outback 2.5 dohc misfiring on 1 & 3 at idle. Around 50k miles on
the engine. Runs great on the road or highway. Idles really rough and
codes misfires on 1 & 3 which we know are on the same side of the
engine.
Compression checks out fine on both 1 & 3. Changed the coil pack
although it was a used one. New plugs and wires. Have checked for
vacuum leaks using the old carb cleaner trick of spraying around
vacuum connections and hoses to detect a leak. Haven't found any. It
idles so bad sometimes it starts knocking but if you get in and take
off it stops and funs fine till you stop at the next light. No
evidence of gas or coolant in the oil or vise-versa. I did take the
timing cover off and checked to see the cam gears were still lined up.
They are. ANY other suggestions would be great. Thanks.

Was the compression check done with both spark plugs out at the same time?

You might tee in a vacuum gauge to make sure the needle is steady while it's
missing. If it isn't then you have valve train problems.

I suspect though that you have leaking injectors. Are the 1 & 3 spark plugs
a darker color than 2 & 4? Hook up a fuel pressure tester, cycle the key to
build pressure, then watch the gauge to make sure it holds pressure.

 

[dsoundman]

vacuum gauge does fall around three lbs (from 18 to 15) when missing
occurs. fuel pressure is steady. gauge only reads up to ten lbs. and
pressure is steady there after waiting several minuets. still steady
when engine is running. sparl plugs look similar. had both spark plugs
out when checking commpression. do you think i have valve train
problems