I'm just posting this in case someone runs into the same issue.
A couple weeks ago, my 2012 ouback 2.5 started randomly bucking or misfiring on mild accel from a stop light. It only happened around 10-20% throttle, any less, or any more and the car drove fine. I also found that by manually shifting, and keeping RPM above 2K, I could avoid the bucking. I pulled the codes with my ELM-327 and got p0302 (misfire cyl 2) and p0352 (coil problem cyl 2). I ordered up a new coil from amazon, and swapped it out two days later. I pulled th eplug, and it looked to be in great condition, with a nice chocolate color. The car dove great for a couple days, but then the misfire and codes came back one night. I swapped the cyl 2 plug with a spare I had on hand, and the car drove great for another day or two, then bam, the code came back. Finally, I happened to notice the wiring harness on the back drivers side of the motor had fallen down onto the EGR pipe, which had melted thorugh the wiring loom and wiring insulation. I must have broken a clip a couple years ago when I had to pull the head due to a dropped valve guide. The wire was fine for all that time, but over the years must have wiggled its way out of place and fallen down onto the hot pipe. Anyway, some liquid tape and a couple of zip ties later, and I'm back in business.
A couple weeks ago, my 2012 ouback 2.5 started randomly bucking or misfiring on mild accel from a stop light. It only happened around 10-20% throttle, any less, or any more and the car drove fine. I also found that by manually shifting, and keeping RPM above 2K, I could avoid the bucking. I pulled the codes with my ELM-327 and got p0302 (misfire cyl 2) and p0352 (coil problem cyl 2). I ordered up a new coil from amazon, and swapped it out two days later. I pulled th eplug, and it looked to be in great condition, with a nice chocolate color. The car dove great for a couple days, but then the misfire and codes came back one night. I swapped the cyl 2 plug with a spare I had on hand, and the car drove great for another day or two, then bam, the code came back. Finally, I happened to notice the wiring harness on the back drivers side of the motor had fallen down onto the EGR pipe, which had melted thorugh the wiring loom and wiring insulation. I must have broken a clip a couple years ago when I had to pull the head due to a dropped valve guide. The wire was fine for all that time, but over the years must have wiggled its way out of place and fallen down onto the hot pipe. Anyway, some liquid tape and a couple of zip ties later, and I'm back in business.
