Cougar

I would rather have the books than the CD myself. Compared to the dealer prices for those manuals you got a very good deal. A full set of new manuals will cost more than $400 dollars.

Your deduction is correct about the bad ground. The headlights are grounded through the light switch. There are relays also to provide power to the lights under the dash but since you are getting 12 volts to the light then it would seem they are ok. To prove out the bad ground you could try grounding the lead on the light socket. There should be three leads tied to the socket. The middle on ties to power. The other leads go to ground through the switch. By manually grounding the outside leads it should turn on the lights. If you tell me which side is having trouble I can provide you with some with colors to look for.

The unit works by generating a voltage when it detects sudden shock to the engine. It is a piezoelectric device. The output of the sensor is tied to the ECU and it will send a code out if there is shock detected. The ECU can determine which cylinder is having trouble since it controls the timing.

I have one that I use Mike and it is not what you are really after. Check my post in your thread about the purge valve. I left you a link to a better CD that I have also and it has more what you are looking for. Keep checking for a set of factory manuals on Ebay. When thet show up, buy'em. You won't be use anything else when you see how good they are. Even if the set is around $200 dollars it is a bargin when you think of the shop repair costs they can save you. One repair is usually all it takes.

Mike, One other thing you could try in order to pass the IM test is to place a ground jumper on the ECU purge valve control pin. This will open the valve and hopefully clear the code though, depending on the circuit design it may not. In that case you are sunk. If it works then you can get a replacement ECU later on. This procedure may also cause a different code to appear. The system may see the ground on lead at startup and say there is problem with the load. Then you are still sunk.

You are correct Mike. The ECU is not turning on the valve. The voltage will go low when it does. I can't tell you what makes the ECU turn on the valve. Maybe it is always supposed to be open when the engine is running or there may be some other external control to the ECU for that. You may be able to get another ECU from a salvage yard pretty cheap to see if that will solve this problem. I would be glad to work on yours if you want but if you can't be without the car for a while that won't work out. You should be able to find a manual or factory set of manuals (total 8 of them I think for your year) on Ebay. A full set may run about $160 dollars but that is a bargin really over the factory new prices. Once you have them you won't let them go. Here is a sale for a CD that is pretty good. I have one myself. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1996-98-Subaru-Outback-Legacy-service-repair-manual_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ119140QQihZ006QQitemZ160027017331QQrdZ1QQtcZphoto

After looking at some info on your engine it shows that when the arrow on the crank spocket is pointed at the reference mark then the #1 piston is at TDC. When the cam spocket arrows are facing up at there marks then the valves are set for #1 cylinder to fire.

Greg, Have you checked the tabs on the crankshaft sprocket that the CAS sensor looks at? Sometimes these tabs get broken off the sprocket and cause a timing problem.

When the timing belts are replaced I think the left side (from front view) is put on first and then the crank is supposed to be rotated one full turn. Then the right belt is put on. If I remember correctly about the procedure one arrow faces down while the other arrow is up. I also seem to remember someone saying that the procedure the Haynes manual uses doesn't mention the crank turn before installing the second belt. I have never changed T-belts myself so I am a little unsure about this. I am just trying to recall info from other posters on this. Edit: OPPS! I think I gave you info on the wrong type of engine.

Have you checked to see if there is spark getting to the plugs? Also check to see if you have the firing order correct and the wires going to the correct cylinders.

Welcome to the forum here Greg. Hope you like it here. Along with the master cylinder as a potenial problem you may just have some air in the system that needs to be bled out. Glen

Yes, it looks like the rings are bad in #1 but the others are a little low also. It looks like you need to dig into the engine to fix this.

That's exactly right what you say about the economic motivators OB99W. The first time I woked on a ECU was when it failed to turn on the fuel pump in my 88 GL-10 wagon. Subaru wanted around 600 dollars for a new one and a rebuilt cost around 300 dollars. The problem ended up being with a TO-92 style driver transistor that cost me about $1.60. I also repaired another one for a shop that had the very same problem. That one was a quick fix after working on the first one. Thanks also for the backup on the lighting problem.

Here in Alaska the time is a bit earlier than 9AM and the big cats are just beginning to awake from their slumber for another day of prowling around. After looking at my info for non-DRL lighting it looks to me that the most likely suspect for the trouble is the light switch. It makes a ground to energize the headlight relays. There is a Blu/Blk wire that ties to the relay coils from the switch. To see if the switch or the wire to it is the problem you can ground that wire with a jumper to ground. If the lights turn on then you need to check the switch and the wire to it. You could also measure the voltage at that point. If the voltage doesn't drop to near zero volts with the light switch ON then you know that there is a open connection to ground on the line. The switch would be the first suspect but it may just be a bad wire connection and a easy fix so check the wire connections. Checking the voltage along the lead will tell you which direction the fault is on the wire.

Mike, What Ferret is saying about this problem is right on. The ECU completes the circuit for the valve by making the connection to ground. This means when you measure voltage between the ECU pin and ground that there will be near full voltage at that point when the valve is not turned on. When the valve is on the voltage will be near zero volts. The circuit is monitored by the system by looking for a current in the circuit. It is hard to say if the voltage dropping off slowly is really a good thing or bad thing. You are seeing a capacitor discharge most likely. Since you are getting voltage to the valve on the supply side, that eliminates the Main relay as a possible problem. If the voltage never goes to zero on the ECU pin then the problem would appear to be with the ECU or something else that tells the ECU to open the valve. Good job on your troubleshooting proceedures. You are doing the correct things. If the problem is with the ECU it can be fixed probably. In other model ECUs, I have replaced IC's in them that make the connection to ground, thus fixing the problem.

I'm sure you have one installed. Here is a link you can use to check it out. http://autorepair.about.com/cs/generalinfo/l/bldef_621.htm

Scott, I sent you a message. Glen

Mike, My info shows there is a main relay (also could be called the ignition relay possibly in years past) under the dash near the driver's door area. There are a lot other things there also. Look for a brown relay socket. That should be it. Glen

There is a Main Fan relay in the fuse panel located in the passenger compartment. Looking at the panel with the fuses on the left side of the panel there are 3 relays stacked vertically. The Main Fan relay is the bottom one.

From your description it sounds like the SPFI control unit is shutting the ignition system down for some reason. There may also be a problem with the ignition switch in the 'RUN' position causing this trouble. To see if that is so I would suggest you get a test light and place the probe on the minus side of the coil and ground. The light should see the ignition pulses when running or stay lit when it is not running. Another possibility is the ignition relay. Check pins 29, 41 and 49 of the SPFI control unit to see if power is getting to those wires. If those points are ok then the trouble may be within the control unit.

Fuse #5 is the one that ties to the horn and ECU along with some other things I believe. Instead of guessing what the problem is I suggest you take some voltage readings at key points to see if voltage is getting to those points. Check to see if voltage is getting to both sides of the coil as it should be with the key turned to 'ON'. If that is ok then check if you can see ignition pulses by placing the meter or test light on the minus side of the coil and ground while cranking the engine. You should have pulses if the CAS is ok. To make sure there isn't a broken timing belt problem effecting the ignition just remove the distributor cap and see if the rotor turns while cranking the engine.

Gravityman, Glad to hear here you got the problem straightened out with good results. Since you get to work with the F15-E equipment, do you have a inside connection you could hook me up with? I would really like to go for a test flight in one. That experience would be even better than driving a Subaru. Glen Edit: I tried to send you a private message but it looks like your box is full. Can you make some room for more messages by deleting some old ones?

I guess there is a constant 12 volts going to the wiper park position. I would think it would be alright to put a charger circuit on it. I doubt that the current would be more than a few amps to charge a battery, even for a quick charger. The defroster circuit will be able to handle more current if you need it.

I agree with the battery change unless the battery is real new. This will usually insure that you won't have to work on the charging system for a long time.

You could tap into the rear defoster wire but then you would need to disable the heater by removing the connection to it. If you live in an area where you don't need that then I suppose you could leave it disconnected. Since things are pretty fragile there I don't like touching it. Other than that I think you will have to run a power wire from the front lighter circuit.