davebugs

Couple of thoughts. Perhaps remove the belt, compress tensioner again (yea - I know you're probably tired of doing it) and while belt is off turn cam sprockets. Just to make sure they are free. You will feel resistance at some point in the revolution. But they should rotate the whole 360 degrees. And basically the same level of resistance on both sides. Just a thought. ALso I find it easiest to install the lower left idler last.

I always use and recommend the bigger plier type of clamps. Never knew clothes pins would work especially for the crank. You are the man of 1k photo's! And can actually find them - that would be the challange for me. To the OP DOTS and DASHES/Hashmarks and NEVER arrows. Some of the crank splined pulleys have a litte dot on the front to help if you're having trouble seeing the hash at the back especially when doing this in the car.

Your description of the crank alignment has me concerned.

Welcome to USMB. That's not an interference engine. So as long as a mechanical failure didn't cause the belt to strip you should be o.k. as long as it's still aligned on crank and both cams. You need to double check the timing belt alignment before compression checks mean anything.

Wish I had a link. In full disclosure I'm a VW guy. I have 7 antique air-cooled's and 3 TDI(Turbo Direct Injection) diesels currently. But way back when VW was thinking of introducing the first New Beetle rumor was it was delayed due to thinking of not making it uness they did a diesel hybrid. One that they already had patented a lot about. Sounded interesting. Apparently most of the patents surrounded this. They basically had one crankshaft for an electric AND diesel engine. Apparently most of the patents were about clutches engaging and disengaging on this crankshaft as one engine took over from the other. At the time the good news was that the New Beetle got such positive feedback at the auto shows they finally decided to make it without this engine. But some searching should turn it up.

I believe the best I'd found was the "skipnospam" link back in the day. Combined with always getting the latest HG torque seguence from the dealer (actually the whole HG replacement procedure) just incase it changed. I'm unaware of one for the 2.2 swap so that would be nice.

As long as the non-fouler's are rusty they are kinda up out of the way and heat shield helps hide them. Now if they are spiffy new shiny ones like you fixed it the day before - well, that they may actually pick up on. But I doubt it.

Man, you've got pics or illustrations for eveything!

Wow - hard to quantify now that I think about it. I'd GUESS about 3/8-1/2 inch deflection on the longest run with decent pressure applied. But others may have better guidance.

Thus the possible "second guessing" of electrical side. OR looking for a problem on the mechanical side or why it's so hard to turn. We could suggest putting a breaker bar on and turning the crank but if he's never done it before he wouldn't know what oo much resistance was anyways - unless it wouldn't turn at all.

You can't check engine reistance easily. What you CAN do is make sure atleast the cam sprocket notch's are lined up with the timing belt rear cover. Compression check may help too. If EVERYTHING with the starter is checking out. It's kinda gotta be the engine or the trans is stopping the engine from turning normally. Or we need to start second guessing.

Have you checked the timing belt yet? If you've PROVEN the starter is o.k.. And REPLACED cables/wires running to the starter. Extra engine resistence is where I'd check next.

They actually make brake line anti-freeze for big rigs. Whether it may work or ruin a booster or hose I don't know. As pointed out now that you know they may be wimpy and possible how to solve it each time it happens you're probably good to go.

Wow. You realize the odds of it being the filler neck is MUCH MORE likely than being the tank. Not cheap or enjoyable buy WAY cheaper in parts and labor than a tank.

I'm thinking brake booser/hose/iced up. Haven't had it happen often (and never on a Suby).

Disconnect battery forst. Rather easy and straight forward to remove IIR.

They are a never ending battle. Removel (often tougher than it sounds). Hose clamps. Whatever. My favorite was pop rivets - I thought ingenius. Shove the shaft in and leave the head out.

Parts places sell REMAN starters. NOT starter parts. Look in your area for a place that says "auto electric" or "starter and alternator service". That is where you'll find the pieces to do the starter yourself. Me - I just go used (I have a bunch here) or used to have a local who has recently retired to rebuild them - I'll miss him!

Tale off BOTH ends of the timing belt cover. 10mm Deepwell on 1/4 ratchet is what I use. Helps to remove overflow bottle on drivers side. Look to see that BOTH cam sprockets are lined up with notch in back of black timing belt cover. This is easy to check and quick. At this time you may learn enough from checking these cam sprockets to know if it's the timing belt. It COULD still be off - the crank versus the cams. But usually when a belt problem happens the cams no longer line up.

Yea the whole tailpipe works best. Because we're still back to cables (getting down to 9 volts) OR the engine is being too resistant. Ever hear of a compression tester? The tailpipe trick often helps but I think you're heading to double checking the timing belt(to see if it's a current problem) and running a compression test(to see if it's leftover from timing belt breaking).

Lets mback up here. If it's a 96 Legacy Putback it should be a 2.5. Can we please confirm that also? Or simply SOHC vs DOHC is what we really need to know. WHich will tell us 2.2 or 2.5. Or jsut look behind PS pump I think and in the block it'll say EJ22 or EJ25.

REMEMBER to loosent the JAMB NUT on the tensioner. Where the idler is on it before loosening the long screw that adjusts it. One of those jamb nuts is hard to get at with fan plastic in the way but I forget which side (PS or Alternator) so that will be your biggest challenge. INfact sometimes I've jsut removed the tensioner form the block with htose 2 bolts to get it off but I forget what my reasoning was then and how my access was. Pull the alternator and go get it tested. Check for voltage at starter and at battery. After you know those voltages and the alternator has been tested you can make better decisions. Also usually another unrelated light usually comes on in addition to the ABS light when the alternator is bad.

At this point I'm thinking alternator and possible valves. SInce you can't drive the car to a place check battery voltage where it sets, but I'd also remove alternator and have it tested. Check battery at battery and starter. But the occasional miss could be valves or timing belt off one tooth. A compression check may help with that diagnosis. The clicking noise while running (if I'm understanding) is what's got me thinking valves too. But often by now it woul dhave a catastrophic failure. If you need any 97 2.5 heads let me know.

The alterntor might be the cause. Especially if you started loosing the ability to get into the higher RPM's and that "ceiling" kept getting lower (less RPM's) as you drove. ALso if unrelated lights come on ABS and another one (I forget) but NOT a battery light(yea - I know - stupid) but that's what happens in a SUbaru.

Can't help you but I'll be following along. Be curious how this build ends up.