Cougar

Very good pictures Bill but that is pretty ugly looking in there. You made a good decision in getting inside and checking things. It certainly needs attention. It is hard see the tabs on the crank sprocket in the picture. I can make out two of them. It almost looks like there is a broken section just to the right side of the sensor. Please get us a good picture of the spocket tabs when you get it off.

Clean the battery connections with a wire brush. Also check the fusible links for a loose connection. If that is ok then check the connector for the ignition switch for a problem.

Before pulling things apart I was wondering if you first verified the CPS signal is bad (missing a pulse) using your scope. You talked about a sine wave distortion in the signal. I suspect that may be due to some AC hum you are picking up. You could verify that by measuring the time period of the waveform and then take the reciprocal of the time period to get the frequency. I think you will get 60Hz.

Another thing you may want to consider is what the normal blue book value is for this car and then see what a body shop would charge you to repair the body damage. It may help you decide a fair offer price for it. After looking at the pictures it looks like the car has some potential of being a nice ride after repairs are done on it.

It looks good. It would look even better though with some different slippers on it.

To see if the fuel is leaking back to the tank in the line you might try turning the key to the 'Run' position fisrt then back to 'Off'. This should prime the line if it is the trouble. Then try starting the engine and see if it runs ok. The check valve in the line may be leaking and allowing a fuel backflow to occur.

Sorry to hear the bad news. If the other cylinders are as good as #3, at 180lbs, then it would seem repairing the head will fix things up nicely. I wonder if the intermittent condition was something else happening.

Ebay is an excellent place to find factory service manuals. You should be able to get the complete 8 book set for under $180 dollars. You can also get the CD version for under $30 dollars. The Section 2 manual covers the engine and Section 7 or 8 (not sure on that year) covers the electrical wiring. These are the most important sections to have and will be used the most. It is really best to get the whole set in my opinion. They are a must have item that can save you a lot of money in repairs and your time. The misfire problem may be due to some carbon buildup on the piston and head. You could try using the Seafoam trick to dissolve the carbon. If that doesn't work you might try swapping injectors to see if that makes the problem move.

I'm not sure what has been the cause of the damage to these things but some members here have had to replace them for the same problem you are having. Hopefully yours is ok but from what I have seen in the posts so far on this, I think this is the best explanation for the problem. I don't think a puller is needed to remove it if that is needed but I haven't replaced one myself. There are some more knowledgeable members here that do know.

Those last few posts were good. So much for Mechanics Class 102 huh guys.

Here is a link to a good picture of the cog mounted on the end of the crank. Courtesy of Legacy777. In the photo you can clearly see 4 of the 6 tabs that go by the sensor, also in the picture. http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8080/subaru/images/ej22t/20/DCP_4984.JPG

This is exactly the same problem I found in the two units I worked on. The stage before the final output was bad.

Just in case you may be misunderstanding what we are trying to say about the CPS let me say this. If the CPS cog is the piece that is damaged then this is different than the sensor itself. I think the sensor is fine. It is the cog mounted on the crank that I think may be damaged. This is the piece that rotates and the sensor picks up magnetically as it travels by the sensor itself. It may also be called a reluctor I believe.

Use your scope to look at the crank sensor signal and compare the waveform to the thumbnail picture that Porcupine73 posted. My bet is one of the six pulses will be missing or distored, indicating a broken tip. There could be a problem with the CAM sensor instead of the CPS sensor but it is less likely I believe.

The only way I could see it happening is if the other cylinder valves were closed. I think you stated earlier though that the cylinder was making power so a timing belt problem seems to be ruled out in that case.

They are the only two sensors that will be related to this problem. I suspect the cog for the crank sensor has a broken tip. Your scope should show this up if that is the case. Part of the waveform will be missing or distorted.

First let me say hats off to Porcupine73 for the thumbnails of the prints. This makes things so much easier to talk about. Your comment about the voltage difference between the output leads of the ECU (9 & 10) is concerning to me. I am wondering if the ignitor is loading the circuit down or there is a probem with the ECU output to it. We need to find out which way to look for the problem. Since you have a scope to look at this I would recommend you isolate the ignitor input connection and place a load resistor (1000 ohms) on each of the two leads and connect the other ends of the resistors to ground. Then check the signals across each of the resistor leads and compare them. They should be the same. If they are, then we need to check further down the line for a problem. If the output signal for 3 and 4 is down then I would look at the CAS cog. One of the cogs may have broken off.

I agree with Skip. You may want to consider a replacement engine from CCR. PS- Really like the white cat.

That's a great lineup. You must work with a lot of fine people. Thanks for the pictures.

I have had to replace an IC in the ECU on a unit I worked on in the past that had the same kind of trouble. The ground to the lamp is controlled by the ECU. Was the replacement bulb the same kind of bulb as the original one?

I think the exhaust valve is damaged, going by previous posts on this.

It sounds to me that you are only seeing some ringing pulses from the sensor. I think the crank sensor may be bad. Did you look at the ECU output signals on pins 9 and 10 of the ECU to the ignitior using your scope and compare them?

I recommend a CCR engine also. Having a 3 year warranty is worth a lot in my book. I wouldn't consider putting in a used engine and not having some sort of warranty with it, even if it is lower cost. With a CCR engine you are basically getting a new engine and you saw what they cost.

There is a common fuse to those areas along with the horn relay and some other things in the power panel under the hood. To see if this is on the right track check the horn and see if it works when this trouble occurs. If the horn doesn't work then check fuse #25 (15A) in the panel along with the connections to it. There may be a faulty connection there.

We're having some nice weather here in the land of the midnight sun. It is now dusk at 12:30am.