Cougar

Welcome to the forum. Hope you like it here. I see you are a fellow Alaskan. It's always good to have another member from our state. After looking at my reference it appears that the common things for the circuits you mention are the black fusible link and the ignition switch. If you are getting voltage on both sides of the link and the connections are clean an solid then you may find the problem on the bottom side of the fusible link holder. Perhaps the feed wire has come loose from the connection there. If that is ok, I would then start checking the ignition switch area. There is a connector to it that may have a bad contact connection. Keep us posted on the progress.

One clue is seeing bubbles in the coolant reservoir. You can also have the radiator coolant sniffed for gases in it or have a block check done to test for gases.

The second fan is usually for the A/C system and it should turn on with the A/C. Have you checked to see if this heating problem may be due to exhaust gases getting into the coolant system?

I thought the only real problem with the Haynes manual was the part that described the rotation of the engine when changing the timing belts. You could try going to your local library and see what info you can find there for reference. You can usually find factory manuals for sale on Ebay for a good price, though there are none for sale currently for your model year. One other good reference book is "How To Keep Your Subaru Alive". You can find used copies on Amazon.com.

I believe that is normal for the door locks.

That's correct. I think all the locks are controlled by the driver's door lock. If the outside passenger door lock can lock all the doors also the problem could be from that side to. Since the driver's door gets the most use and your description of the problem points to the the driver side it is the most suspect.

The work can be done while the engine is in place but it is harder to do. If you do this yourself be sure to have the heads checked by a pro, they may be warped or cracked. I would also use genuine Subaru gaskets when you start the rebuild.

It sounds like the head gaskets are going to have to be replaced. This is a fairly common problem. If you have bubbles getting into the coolant reservoir this will confirm it. The reason the heater did what you described is because the water in the heater core is being displaced by air being forced into the coolant. When this happens you don't get a transfer of heat from the coolant to the heater core. Water is needed to make the transfer.

When the CC went out on my Loyale the problem turned out to be the shut off switch on the brake pedal. It needed to be adjusted closer to the pedal so when the pedal was in the normal position it would open the switch. Indicating to the CC system that brake was not in use. The switch was seperate from the brake switch. Using your voltmeter, you should be able to see when the switch is open and closed by watching the voltage across the switch.

The problem may be due to a bad PCV valve.

It sounds to me that the driver's side switch in the door is causing this to happen. To prove it, disconnect the wiring to the switch for a while and see if the problem clears.

Just a heads up note if you do that. Since the relay now will have to power two two fans, it will have to handle more current than the relay may be designed for and cause it to fail later on. The wiring may be undersized also.

Matt, Are you planning to swap the cam sensor out to see if that will change things for the better?

I have to agree with you Nipper. If replacing the cam sensor doesn't fix this problem then this is the only thing left that can possibly be causing this trouble.

Here is a link to a great site that a new member brought to my attention. I am using the factory wiring diagram info that I downloaded from it to refer to. There is a lot of good info here. To get the wiring diagram click on the "Legacy electrical wiring diagram/schematics" heading. http://www.subaruelectrical.com/index.html

If I have the correct fuse (#13), my info shows you are correct about the fan relay. If you have AC, then it is for the sub-fan relay. This is not going to have any effect on the ignition trouble but you do need to fix that problem also. Edit: I first forgot to say, "Good morning gentlemen. Are we ready for another big day?"

You are correct about it using little current with no load on it but there is a good amount of startup current used when it is first plugged in.

I would try replacing the TPS. It can cause this kind of thing to happen with dirty contacts. Your total mileage is high enough to also confirm the unit may need to be replaced.

Thanks for the link VDC.

The only thing I can think this may be is a relay but whatever it is I don't think it has any bearing on the ignition problem. I forgot about the fuse problem you stated. It would be good to know what fuse this is. From the sounds of your description of the trouble I would say that the fuse holder connections were not making good contact and the high current through the resistance there caused excessive heat. You may have to replace that fuse position with a external fuse holder. Please let me know what the fuse position is so I can trace the circuit and see what is being powered on this leg.

It is a little strange that the resistance readings between the two ECUs is different. More important though is that the readings are the same for each unit. This is a pretty good indicator that the sections are ok. It isn't a for sure thing but it is encouraging. The only thing left to do, in my mind at least, is to replace the cam sensor. It is the only thing we haven't tried yet and is last piece of the puzzle as far as I know. My hat is off to you Matt for your patience. It is pretty easy to sit here and type things on what to do but it is another to really do them. If you do replace the cam sensor I really hope it gets the car going. This has been one of the biggest problems I have helped with here and we still don't have the answer. As far as the new plugs go, I don't think they can cause this kind of thing. You have proved the ignition components are good and they would be the things damaged if the plugs did something like that.

Have you checked the valve seats and the head for cracks?

It's hard to say what will happen but since the new one is less power perhaps the startup current will be less also. I would plug it in the socket you want to use and just see what happens. You could also do a test using some jumper leads and a fuse tied to a battery with the unit to keep from using the cars power systems. You will need a 25A fuse to handle the full rated power of the new unit. If the new inverter has problems also I would get a smaller unit rated for 100 watts. That will still be plenty of power to run a laptop and shouldn't be a problem for the fuses to handle.

So the resistance was the same for both output pins? If so, then that would be encouraging to say the ECU is OK. Check the spare one also if you can. This may mean the cam sensor is the culprit.

The TPS should be connected to the ECU. The clicking sound you are hearing may be coming from a relay possibly but I can't say for sure. None of the things you mentioned will cause the ignition problem you are having so I wouldn't bother trying to fix those things until this problem is solved. If you could check the resistances of those ECU pins I mentioned in my last post it may help us out here. To 1 LT: From what I remember, it was from someone who broke off some of the tabs of the crank sensor cog. Glen