My sr20 sounds like a Subaru???

[ZenkiZenki14]

Okay so I just installed my new tomei Expreme exhaust manifold on my sr along with the tomei turbo outlet pipe as well.well I've noticed that when I first drove it, it sounded like a boxer engine. Thought maybe it was just because I just installed these 2 parts. But it's still as prominate as it was when I first heard it.
I did some research, but it's back and forth over this such as it could be worn cams, a coil went out, or an injector is bit working and some people say it's what the tomei manifold sounds like do to it's equal short exhaust runners and how it's made. But I'm not too sure that's correct, although I hope it is.
So if anyone has the same tomei Expreme manifold setup on their sr, do you experience this with this manifold.
And just to clarify, i have all stock bottom/head except for HKS rockers.
Thanks.

[ZenkiZenki14]

Also before this, the car ran perfectly fine!

[5280VertDET]

Sounds like maybe an an exhaust leak, post a video...

[jr_ss]

The Tomei manifold is not an equal length manifold.

What you can do, is pull a coil at a time. If nothing changes, you've narrowed it down to a specific cylinder. Then you can try to figure out if it's an injector or a coil. Even with an exhaust leak, it shouldn't sound like an EJ.

[Asil]

When i broke a rocker, i also heard the same subaru sound. So basically, you get that exact sound when one of your cylinder stops working.

[ZenkiZenki14]

The Tomei manifold is not an equal length manifold.

What you can do, is pull a coil at a time. If nothing changes, you've narrowed it down to a specific cylinder. Then you can try to figure out if it's an injector or a coil. Even with an exhaust leak, it shouldn't sound like an EJ.

Oh, my mistake then. But okay, I will do that then. And yeah, it's definitely not an exhast leak.

[slow92]

This happened to me and my igniter was bad. Swapped it out with a q45 igniter and it was fixed.

[ZenkiZenki14]

This happened to me and my igniter was bad. Swapped it out with a q45 igniter and it was fixed.

So can I test this by unplugging to see if anything happens? Or does it not work like that with ignighters?

[ultimateirving]

It's definitely a misfire or bad cylinder. There are lots of possible culprits.

[ZenkiZenki14]

Okay so coils are good, I tested by unplugging, they all did something.
I looked at the spark plugs as well, all seemed in good condition. I unplugged 2 of 4 injectors, which also caused the engine to die down, so good on those 2 lol. still trying to get to the ones right under the throttlebody.
But while trying to do this I pulled the plug off of the iacv and nothing happened, so wouldn't that suggest that my iacv is bad? Or would it not do anything unplugging it or not while running the car?

[ZenkiZenki14]

Just tested last two injectors and they both are fine. The car sounds perfectly fine at idle. It's just when driving is when the boxer comes out lol.
And i feel no Loss in power really, if anything I feel like she feels stronger and more responsive, that's why I'm confused as to why this seems like my car is having problems. It just seemed strange. But just in case Ima run a compression test soon to be 100% sure all cylinders are good.

[ultimateirving]

Well than if you've double
Checked the exhaust studs for tightness and leaks maybe it's the unequal length that's causing the sound. As previously stated if that manifold isn't equal length it could sound lopey in low rpms.

[ZenkiZenki14]

Well than if you've double
Checked the exhaust studs for tightness and leaks maybe it's the unequal length that's causing the sound. As previously stated if that manifold isn't equal length it could sound lopey in low rpms.

That's the thing, it's loped all the way through 3-4000 rpms.

[ultimateirving]

Wastegate opens around then?

[ZenkiZenki14]

Wastegate opens around then?

Sorry let me clarify a little better. It's continuous all they way up through the rpms, similar to a subie. I really wish someone on here with the same manifold would tell me if their sr sounds like this.

[ZenkiZenki14]

So, I ran a comp test.

Dry/Warmed up/WOT
Cyl #1 70psi
Cyl #2 80psi
Cyl #3 75psi
Cyl #4 75psi

All cylinders have somewhat equally low fkn compression. Pretty odd if you ask me, especially for as hard as this bitch is pulling still. Also the comp. tester is like brand new, but I feel like it's false readings.
After doing the dry test I ran a wet test only on cyl.#1 and cyl.#2 because I ran out of oil to use lol. Anyways results came out 71psi on #1 and 82psi on #2. So now it just means I really Low compression, but the rings are fine. But then again doesn't matter if the compression tester is correct.

[slow92]

Are you experiencing overheating issues? Have you checked the torque on your head studs to make sure they are tight and that your head did not lift? Just for information, my car pulled really hard even though I had melted a piston. It sounds like you have some issues with your car and it may not necessarily just be one thing. If you think your compression tester may be giving a false reading, you can go to any auto parts store and rent a compression tester. At least this way you would be able to determine whether your readings are accurate. If I was you I would stop ragging on your car until you figured out what was wrong.

I know you said you unplugged each coil pack and you did not observe any change and this is a bad thing. When my igniter went out, it sounded like a subaru even at idle. I had to use a diode tester on each coilpack to determine which one was not receiving a pulse. The coilpacks on these engines usually do not fail, most of the time it is the igniter that goes bad. My Q45 igniter performed well until I started to make 400+whp, then it started to break up. I had to swap over to ls1 coilpacks in order to supply enough power to the engine.

[l adam l]

Liquid electrical tape on the coil packs, get new ignitor, check sparkplug gap, check exhaust studs - mine sounded fine at idle and under throttle and I had a little leak, also had shit xspower manifold put stock back on with new exhaust gaskets. After all this my car ran fine. Idk which one did it.

[jamg]

back injector.

[ZenkiZenki14]

Are you experiencing overheating issues? Have you checked the torque on your head studs to make sure they are tight and that your head did not lift? Just for information, my car pulled really hard even though I had melted a piston. It sounds like you have some issues with your car and it may not necessarily just be one thing. If you think your compression tester may be giving a false reading, you can go to any auto parts store and rent a compression tester. At least this way you would be able to determine whether your readings are accurate. If I was you I would stop ragging on your car until you figured out what was wrong.

I know you said you unplugged each coil pack and you did not observe any change and this is a bad thing. When my igniter went out, it sounded like a subaru even at idle. I had to use a diode tester on each coilpack to determine which one was not receiving a pulse. The coilpacks on these engines usually do not fail, most of the time it is the igniter that goes bad. My Q45 igniter performed well until I started to make 400+whp, then it started to break up. I had to swap over to ls1 coilpacks in order to supply enough power to the engine.

No overheating issues at all, and no I have not opened up the head yet, I cant really since I'm working and going to school full time, and this car is my daily. And the compression tester was a brand new one from Pep Boys, nothing seemed wrong with it, so its probably giving me the right readings unfortunately.

And no, I DID observe change each time I unplugged a coil pack, one at a time, just like I did with my injectors. Also they are Splitfire coil packs, so im sure they're still in good condition. And my SR isn't running anything more than 300hp im sure, mostly just boltons, so I don't think it would be my igniter in that case. is there anyway to check my igniter? maybe the same method used to check coils/injectors?

[ZenkiZenki14]

Liquid electrical tape on the coil packs, get new ignitor, check sparkplug gap, check exhaust studs - mine sounded fine at idle and under throttle and I had a little leak, also had shit xspower manifold put stock back on with new exhaust gaskets. After all this my car ran fine. Idk which one did it.

coil packs are fine. sparkplugs are fine too. like I said, before I even put this new manifold on, the car ran perfectly fine. And I already checked for exhaust leaks around the manifold, there are none.

[ZenkiZenki14]

back injector.

can you explain what you are talking about?

[jamg]

bad, not back.

Lol

[l adam l]

does it do it the whole time from start up? or does it start when gets warm?

[ZenkiZenki14]

does it do it the whole time from start up? or does it start when gets warm?

most prominent while driving. Doesn't sound too rumbly while at idle, sounds normal.