porcupine73

On my 00obw I don't remember which ABS it has but the connector was under the dash. It was the same connector where you ground some pin to make it flash out any error codes. The connector itself had two grounding wires on it that could be used. I did learn however not to just stick the grounded wire pins randomly into the connector trying to find the right combination since that blew the fuse. I didn't see that connector diagram in my files but I did find this one which I remember saving because it's kind of funny picturing a professional asking the customer if they would describe the sound as more a gong gong or a bong bong

One additional thing just brainstorming I know there's been a post or two over the years from someone getting a chunk of rtv or something plugging up the passageway and wreaking various havoc. I think they said they fished a piece of copper wire or something through there to clean it out.

I'm not sure if your model ABS had it but I know on '00obw the ABS could be put into sequence control by connecting certain pins on the diagnostic connector. I think it said that made it cycle the pressure valves and pump to help bleed itself out and stuff. Here it is

Yes my ignition got messed up too so I used the left blank slot for the pushbutton for the starter. The other blank slot I wired up to the FWD fuse. There may be wiring behind there even if you don't have that option since there were only so many 'standard' body wiring harnesses. I.e. rather than having a separate wiring harness for every possible combination of options.

It's an automatic right make sure it's shoved all the way into park. I can't remember if the late 90's soobs do it but my '94 that happens a lot where the key won't move so I can remove it and I have to give it a little extra push into park until something clicks even though it's already in park.

Another possibility might be the fuel pressure regulator but I don't think I've seen any posts of that as a failure mode on soobs at least not for leaking fuel into the oil.

On the strut bolt, is it the top bolt? It's always best to turn the nut not the bolt, but on the top one (the camber bolt) you must turn the nut; the bolt pretty much won't turn due to its eccentrity. And right, 1/2" sockets/wrenches minimum for that if not 3/4". 3/8" unless it's maybe a high grade steel tool will not take that kind of torque. In my experience on the strut bolts it's usually not so much that they're rusted though they do rust and that does't help, it's more just that they're tight to begin with like 100 ft lb or so is the tightening torque if I remember correctly.

I did forget to mention one other thing - the pads shouldn't be too tight in the caliper bracket. I.e. they have to be able to slide in the clips. Sometimes if the old bracket is somewhat rusty the pads will fit sort of tight in the bracket. There was a bulletin about filing down the ears on the pads in that case so that they're not so tight. I always file mine down a bit. The only potential downside to filing too much is there may be a 'click' noise when applying the brakes. I did get that but only when switching from backing to going forward. Else I didn't get that click. I would not put the pins in 'dry', that almost guarantees they'll seize up quickly. They just need to be clean and have a bit of proper lube on them, and probably if either has the little rubber bushing on the pin get that out of there.

I think lots of vehicles are like that, I had an Explorer that did that too. Basically I believe the vehicle has no way to know that you just used the key to unlock the door. All it knows is the door opened when it was armed.

Sounds like a problem with the sliders or pins. Someone here says if either guide or lock pin has a rubber like o-ring on it he removes them because they swell up and then make it not slide freely. I think one time someone said the new caliper had like paint or something where the pins go into and it wasn't sliding very freely. Basically the caliper has to be more or less free to slide in and out on the pins so that it can center itself and wear the pads evenly. Otherwise something like what you described will happen. I like reman calipers but usually get it including the bracket that way it's all ready to go.

Hm well if it was working ok before and it started after replacing the plugs wires and coil if you still have the old parts a simple test might be to put back on the old coil and wires temporarily to see if that makes any difference. Right on plug wires some people have had trouble with non Subaru wires but I don't remember if it caused this kind of issue.

Here we are she's a double lip seal: The part # and such you could probably find on parts.subaru.com

Hm well one thing that happens sometimes is one or more of the little hoses connecting underneath the air intake tubing disconnects but isn't easily noticeable. That can make it unhappy. There's two hoses, one each going to the valve covers, and a larger hose that goes to the idle air control valve. Subaru's tend to like NGK plugs best and sometimes have issues with others especially such as the Bosch+4. The wires it can be a bit picky about too. If the the TPS was replaced it also has to be adjusted properly so it knows when the throttle is completely closed.

The tensioner if it's not leaking and you compress it nice and slow like over the span of a few minutes it will usually be ok. If you compress it too fast then it can rupture or something.

That's the 'older' style tensioner. I believe people generally say it seems to work better than the 'new' style. The reason they come with both is in a transition year they tend to use up the existing stock of 'old' parts then once those are gone they cut over to the 'new' part. You can actually use either style tensioner, you just need the mounting plate or whatever it is called that corresponds to the tensioner.

Well everything else aside if it's blowing bubbles in the overflow that's bad. The oil may be unaffected, i.e. the oil passages in the head gasket can be fine while a coolant passage could have failed. Because the gases are coming from somewhere. If it's just air trapped it should stop eventually provided the overflow is kept plenty full so that when it cools it can draw in more coolant. Otherwise it could be the exhaust gases blowing into the coolant. And the fact that it leaked out most of the coolant due to the bad hose is not a good indicator for the head gasket integrity.

Hi sorry to hear about that. It's possible there's just air trapped in the system. But the bubbling coolant in the overflow tank is generally very bad. It may mean the head gaskets are shot, which may have happened when the coolant leaked out and it overheated. What is now happening is exhaust gases are blowing into the coolant, which results in the bubbling in the overflow tank.

On a '91 I believe you look for a pair of little black connectors under the dash, hook those together, put the key to run and the check engine light will flash out any codes. It's not quite as newer models using a code reader but it's not too difficult. If your check engine light isn't on or flashing while the engine is running there probably aren't any codes in there but I forget for sure if the old ODBI had pending codes. Another easy thing to check is the little tubes that connect underneath the intake tubing. You mentioned it had intake cleaning/work done and sometimes one of these tubes comes off and isn't noticed right away and causes issues, especially if it happens to be the large tube to the idle air control valve. I can understand being afraid to touch it but at the same time that's going to make it difficult to find potential issues. Unfortunately some shops don't bother to troubleshoot it or have no clue what's wrong so they just start throwing parts at it at the customer's expense. A lot of the time that method works because if you replace the most likely 3-4 parts that could cause it you end up fixing it. But when it doesn't then you wasted a bunch of the customer's money like in this case it sounds like. What city and state are you in?

Great glad it's back together and working! I think I heard that if the old belt had a lot of miles on it, sometimes a new belt will give a bit better performance because the old belt was likely stretched a bit thus altering the timing slightly. Yes those early/mid 90's soobs with the 2.2L 'take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. Their main enemy seems to be rust if they're in a rusty area.

If it's losing vacuum that fast a mechanic's stethoscope might possibly be helpful. Just get somewhere quiet like in a garage if possible and after shutting off the pump move the end of the stethoscope around the hoses fittings shrader valves condenser etc and see if if you hear any slight noise of air. It might not work but I"ve had good results with the stethoscope in other situations; I was surprised how helpful it can be.

Any codes? What's the mileage / when was the last time it had a tune up i.e. new plugs, wires, etc? You mentioned fuel filter, when was it last replaced?

I am not familiar with old gen but on a new gen if it had an automatic transmission and it sounded more like a buzzing or rapid clicking (i..e around 50Hz) I would say that is a solenoid in the trans.

Hm just taking a random shot, there have been people who have posted about strange issues that did not throw a code which turned out to be the front o2 sensor. I wonder if maybe when it's in closed loop is when it has no power until 3300 rpm? I don't know the details maybe it goes into open loop above that rpm or something? Because how you mention it works for maybe 20 minutes after unhooking the battery seems like it is something it is learning improperly. Also if your scanner will show the engine coolant temp does it seem reasonable?

Hm ok is it giving any codes? You might not have touched the air filter / intake stuff for the timing belt, but if you did, are you sure all the little hoses and such are all reconnected? Often one or more, especially the breather hoses going to the valve covers and sometimes the big hose going to the iacv likes to unhook secretly underneath and then lets air bypass the MAF which makes the vehicle unhappy.

You're sure all the hash marks lined up, i.e. it's not a tooth off anywhere? Is it just moisture dripping from the tail pipe from sitting? Were there any such issues before the timing belt broke?