ontos

have fuel and spark, but as mentioned before, spark seems weak to me (and this is entirely subjective). have errorcodes for something in the maf circuit, but maf looks good visually. yes, i used the timing marks, not the tdc marks. problem predates timing belt replacement. that's just something i did "for fun." engine has 260ish thousand miles on it, leaks oil from a hairline crack on the underside of the engine (head? block? whatever, it's cracked), and has poor compression in cylinders two and four. new ignitor was a last ditch effort to revive a dying car for a little while longer. but honesly, i'm about halfway to gave-up and i'm not putting a ton of effort into it for now. unless anyone has a spfi ignitor module they want to sell me. thanks for helping out so much, evverbody.

i didn't get a chance to hit up a junk yard when i was in salt lake last, so i'm on hold for the moment. as soon as i can find an ignitor, maybe a distributor, maybe a new maf, i'll let you guys know. thanks for all the help, everyone.

i did try starter fluid again, and that didn't help. i agree with you that this engine is very worn out. i was just hoping to get it running for maybe a little while longer because it's about my only option right now. i still plan on trying to find an ignitor. i'm not expecting much, but i need a little more time before i don't have a car at all.

sure did. notch on driver's side cam sprocket was pointing down, notch on passenger's side was pointing up. double checked. it's possible one or the other was off by a tooth or two, like Cougar said. but it wasn't starting before i messed with them and it's doing exactly the same thing now. don't think it's timing.

i so do not want to take that all apart again.

i found 12v on one pin of the MAF, i'm assuming the others are common and ecu connection? i'll look the wiring over and on tuesday i can drive to the junkyard and try to find an ignitor and MAF. engine sounds awfully odd when it's trying to start. it almost kicks on and kinda sounds like it's starting to run for a few seconds if you're giving it gas, but then it cuts out. from the engine bay, centerish, but i'm not sure where exactly is a high pitched whining noise that goes up in pitch for a moment when it almost starts and then drops again for a second before the engine dies again. at the very end for a second there's a rattling noise (pinging?). i can record the sound if it's worthwhile. i'm not sure how my timing could be off after double checking the timing belts. i didn't mess with the distributor. i guess i'll try to find/replace the ignitor and MAF and see what happens. sorry, long winded. thinking out loud.

ok. things are happening, but i'm not sure what. put everything back together from the compression test, recleaned a bunch of electrical connectors with a fresh can of cleaner (high pressure), replaced a couple fuses even though they looked fine, double checked that the fuel pump was working. nothing in particular, really. but! she's actually almost starting now, or at least trying to kick over instead of the weird whiny cranking i was getting before. and the error code 14 went away and 23 came up instead. 23 is air flow meter circuit. so i'm going to get some MAF cleaner right now and clean the sucker even though it looks like it doesn't need it. also noticed one of the harnesses for the fuel injector has a wire that's lost it's insulation, so that may explain the occasional fuel injector code? even though it's annoying that it might be something that was covered on the first page of this thread (sorry folks! :-\), oh please god let it be something as simple as that.

quick update. i said the ecu showed code of six short lights. after actually looking into how to get the codes out of it, i realized it was in technician dynamic diagnostic mode or whatever. previous owner had left both connectors connected. my bad. actual codes are: 14- fuel injector abnormal output 34- egr solenoid or circuit same codes in normal (starting/driving) mode and read memory mode. don't know if any of it is relevant, but now i'm looking into it. bonus! i finally got rid of that annoying relay noise with the key on. edit: after plugging the fuel injector back in code 24 went away edit edit: egr wouldn't be the problem, as far as i can tell. but a clogged or faulty fuel injector seems like it might be a problem, what with no fuel getting into the engine using starting fluid/putting gas in the throttle body would not work if there was no injector, correct?

anywhere that still sells this? would it be listed as an Electronic Ignition Module, or is that something else?

yes, the oil raised the pressure in that cylinder, but now it doesn't start at all. after it first died, it started then died two more times and now no longer starts. i didn't bother to clean it because it appeared to be in perfect shape. shiny and clean, nothing bent or wobbly or otherwise indicating it wasn't working. thanks for the input and the link, i'll look through your thread.

what really irks me is i had a 87 gl parts car that i just sold to some dude for scrap. it was "just an eyesore" and i had taken very little from it. i bet it didn't have a cracked head or a bad igniter.

ok here goes. code from ECU was 6 short pulses. electronics below the coil look fine. no heat swelling or anything like that i could see. compression check is as follows: cyl # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |test #|------------------------ 1 | 115 | 95 | 125 | 55 | 2 | 125 | 100 | 125 | 70 | 3 | 135 | 105 | 125 | 70 | 4 | | 115 | | 225 | <-- after adding a little oil to #4 5 | | 115 | | 225 | (probably a little too much) i can't tell from that whether i'm looking at a head gasket or a piston/cylinder problem. but that's enough to stop my engine from running at all, eh?

ok, i'll do the compression test today. can i check error codes without some sort of error code reader?

today i: tried starting it with starter fluid. no go. installed a new air filter, just because. installed a new coil, just in case. no go. tore apart the front end of the car again and made absolutely sure i hadn't messed up the timing. i hadn't. thought about doing a compression test, realized i can't because i can't warm up the engine. pulled the spark plugs anyway. thick black crap on em. cleaned them up and regapped. still no go. anyone still listening out there? i'm stuck!

checked for spark, seemed weak and sickly (midday, but overcast). checked coil and got 1.4 ohms for primary and 9.56k for secondary. that's a bad coil, is it not?

i did try putting a little gasoline in the intake, and that didn't do anything, but i'll try starter fluid and check for spark. compression test a year ago was fine, but who knows what's changed by now. thanks for the help everyone. working from 2am to 8am so i can get my sister's car back for my wife to use is not going to be this much fun for very long.

just checked the fuel filter and it is not clogged. no warning lights of any kind have come on, and the car has never overheated. i am very much out of ideas. please tell me people haven't stopped replying because it's all bad news from here. she's not dead, is she? :-\

ok. checked MAF, all seems to be in order. o ring was a little sandy, which i cleaned up. air filter is pretty gunked up, which would help explain my gas mileage. fuses and links all look good. cleaned wiring harnesses. the two efi harnesses were covered in motor oil. the big and little guys next to the battery seemed fine but i cleaned em anyway. didn't check distributor, but everything looked ok in there a week ago. any viable way to check fuel pressure without a guage? any way to see if fuel filter is clogged? before i checked this stuff i tried to start it one more time and now it's not even kicking on for a few seconds. here's what it sounds like: http://fyels.com/W1r00p which doesn't sound normal to me. i should mention- after several replaced seals and the engine still leaking oil, i found an inch and a half long hairline crack on the front/bottom of the driver's side head. somebody who isn't me had tried to fix it with epoxy. i cleaned it up and put on more epoxy. still leaking some :-\ also, i broke down on my home from work, but when i got to work that morning i could hear the coolant boiling. edit: a couple teaspoons of gas in the throttle body didn't have any effect.

wow, people. thanks for all the replies. as soon as the rain lets up i'll go take a looksee. i'll be sure to follow up.

ok, i'll check those things out. i swear to god if i have to take the four nuts off of the clutch fan one more time i'm going to freak and and find some small child to yell curse words at.

what confuses me is its decision to just stop running while i was driving. something went wrong, right? what is the MAF? it's not something i can recall dealing with before. also, i thought the ol' fuel in the throttle body was a carb trick. this is fuel injected. am i wrong?

hi all, searched around a bunch, tried some things, now i'm stuck. was driving home from work the other day and my 88 DL (ohc, spfi) kind of half-way stopped running. engine was still going but sounded too quiet and had zero power. managed to coast downhill to a gas station, and the engine finally cut out after a few minutes of running funny. had things to do, got a ride home, came back a few hours later. engine started once, sputtered and died, then would not start again. after looking around here i became convinced it was a timing belt issue (seemed like only half the engine was running). ordered replacement parts, spent today disassembling and installing (old parts seemed fine, maybe just a little loose- bad sign). still the same problem, engine starts once, runs rough and dies within 10 seconds, then won't start again. my job is at risk because i can't get to work. anybody want to point me in a good direction?

finally managed to get to that access plate on the bottom of the bell housing. calling it an "access" plate is maybe a little bit of a misnomer. all that's revealed is the underside of the flywheel and the smallest of cracks to get through into the bell housing. i'm assuming this is the way its supposed to be. but now i'm curious what this access plate is meant to give you access to? on the subject of just ignoring the problem, how bad could this be? what's the worst that could happen?

thanks for the quick reply, GD. good to know about that access plate. car is twenty miles away parked in front of a friend's house, but i'll check it out soon as i can. the new fork was slightly different from the one that came off, but that was the one the dealership sold me. i made sure they had exactly my model's fork ordered, but it's just a little off. pressure plate should be where it ought. everything torqued down just fine before i put the engine back in. before i dropped it, i got just the adjusting nut threaded on, had friend push in clutch pedal, and then held the fork back with a big socket. it looked like i might be able to get everything on after that, but then i dropped the nut. i don't know if doing that is even remotely like "something that might work," but i was going to give it a shot.

hey all. clutch stopped clutching on my 88 DL 4wd. thanks to lurking around on this forum and miles fox's videos on youtube, managed to pull the engine. found the clutch fork was cracked nearly in half. got new clutch fork from subaru dealer, installed new rear main seal, new clutch disc/pressure plate, new pilot and throwout bearings. got the engine back in thanks to friend with muscles and amazing pilot/wife. found clutch cable was now apparently too short (wtf?). could maybe just barely make it fit, but in the process of maybe just barely making it fit managed to drop the adjusting nut through the broken clutch fork gasket (oops) and into the bell housing. now, after a bunch of fishing with a magnet on a stick, i'm thinking i'll have to pull the engine again. is there an easier way? is there a way to just get enough room to reach under into the bell housing and fish the nut out? can i take out the housing bolts and pull the transmission back a little? should i just stop whining and realize it's not going to be that big of a deal to pull the engine up and back a little to score enough room to find that damned nut? anyway, thanks. i think this is my first post? hi everybody! i just want my subaru back.