McDave

A ship mechanic told me once he rigged up tarps over the engines so when he got a runaway he could simply drop the tarp over the (supercharged) intake to starve it of air. That would stop them! On cars with cats you may not see any oil smoke, or just a puff on a cold start since the cats tend to burn it all off... somehow. Agree the turbo should have been changed long ago, certainly before the one time he forgot to check the oil level leading up to the engine failure.

How does it accelerate if you manually shift it? I've found as long as I keep mine above 2300 rpm it runs great. The darn things upshift too quickly in auto mode unless you floor it from a stop. Otherwise as mentioned, make sure the timing belts are timed correctly, the exhaust isn't clogged, and consider bumping up the timing to about 23 degrees. A couple treatments of Techron in the gas tank seemed to help mine too. Note: Timing is set with green electrical connectors by the master cylinder connected. Make sure you disconnect them when through.

I'm going to take you at your word as a first timer and tinker-er and recommend you not attempt to do this job yourself, unless you buy a second car first so you can take the time to do the job right the first time. Even if everything goes like clockwork the car will likely be down for a minimum of 2 weeks, particularly if a machine shop reworks the heads (you should have that done too with that many miles). It would probably be easier and cheaper for you to drop a 2.2 in it like GD suggested. It still might take you a week or so though, unless you have vacation time coming. Bottom line - Since you have to keep your family rolling, start looking for a cheap second car now and fix this one later. It's either that or rent a car while a shop fixes this one, imo. In the meantime, there is nothing wrong with modern stop leaks like Alumaseal or Subaru's sealant. They won't stop up your system when used as directed, but they may not be much help with a head gasket already leaking either, though Bars-Leak now makes one for head gaskets that looks interesting.

Put a vacuum gauge on it so that you can read the gauge while driving the car. If the needle starts jumping while it's missing, you have a valve problem again. If the gauge needle remains steady while it's missing, the problem has to be spark or fuel related, not compression (valve) related. Suspect the coil since it's knocking out a pair of cylinders at once.

Just bumping this thread to let you know we're back, and was wondering if you ever solved the problem?

Not good! The abrasive gets everywhere and shortens the life of your engine. ATK engine rebuilders sent out a warning about this several years ago shortly after the Scotchbrite pads came out. On tear down inspections they were finding significant damage caused by the abrasives. Permatex makes a spray on gasket remover that is similar to oven cleaner that does a good job after letting it set for 10 minutes or so. Use a good gasket scraper to get it off and finish with B12 Chemtool carb cleaner. Note: 2 applications of the Permatex Gasket remover may be required to get all the old material off..

Like I said in post #3, it's low on freon. If you can't get the dealer to take care of it, at least have a shop diagnose the problem and consider letting them go ahead and fix it if it's cheap enough. If it needs major repairs though, take the diagnosis to the dealer and insist they fix it under warranty.

Make sure you change your oil and filter the minute the fuel problem is taken care of. I imagine it is very thinned out with gas and will ruin the bearings in short order if you don't. On the upside, the inside of your engine is very clean now.

How disappointing. At least this last round was fairly cheap and easy to do, and like I said in the PM, it was something that had to be done to rule the possibility out and to show ccr that you've done all you could on your end before asking to have the valves checked. If it truly is happening more often, don't throw the old parts out, consider putting them back in to see if it goes back to the way it was before, and take a very close look at the wiring at the sensors. I've seen wires broken inside the insulation with only a couple strands making a connection. Pull gently on each wire near the connector and watch for the plastic insulation to stretch. If it does most of the wire is broken inside and you probably just broke the last of the strands. Also, start the car, warm it to operating temps and wiggle all under hood wires while it's idling to see if you can get the codes to set. As far as what else can be done besides checking for tight valve adjustment or valve guides slipping, it gets complicated. It will take a top tech with the proper equipment and patience to scan while in movie mode and hope to get it to act up in a relatively short time. When we get a car like this it becomes our 'parts chaser' so we can drive it often to the parts store with the scanner hooked up without having to bill you for the hours spent in it. Once they get a positive movie capture, hopefully one of the parameters will point them in the right direction. Bottom line, I wouldn't blame you for calling 'uncle' after ccr does their thing either. But the fact that it appears to be getting worse may actually help make it easier for a shop to find the problem. You just might want to point them to this thread first so they don't start replacing a bunch of parts you don't need. It's going to take intense diagnosing, not parts changing to figure this one out.

Sounds like it's low on freon and as a result the compressor is cycling off and on. If it's not under warranty, have a shop check for and repair the leak, then top off with freon, or evacuate and recharge depending on if they had to open the system to repair the leak. Sometimes it's as simple as a service valve or hose that needs tightened so a full evac and recharge isn't needed.

The stub axle is what passes through the bearings and knuckle. On a 4wd the stub is the outer CV joint of the axle. The posts you've seen here to replace the whole knuckle refers to going to a junkyard for a used assembly.

My '93 Loyale came with 3 of them. One in each fuel line before and after the throttle body, and one back by the fuel pump. I can honestly say I don't hear any fuel flowing.

Oh man, I knew they were bundled. I'm going to have to give my parts guy a hard time. Be sure you post the part number here. They just bolt on. Nothing special to do since they're just magnetic induction pickups.

Yes, all warning lights should come on either in the 'on' or 'crank' positions. That's your bulb check to make sure one hasn't burned out.

The problem with using used sensors is you won't know if they are the old design or if they came out of an overheated engine. Then if it still triggers the cel you will be left wondering if it could still be the sensors. The new sensors are sold separately, not bundled and were in stock at the dealer I called. That's often a good sign that they replace lots of them. The part numbers listed below also show up on the online sites like http://www.subarugenuineparts.com/ Crank sensor #22053 AA 052 - $34.22 list price, $25.05 online. Cam sensor #22056 AA 062 - $61.72 list, $45.18 online. 1 of each are needed.