G_Mossman

I have a 98 2.5RS (EJ25D) that I've had for a while. The past 18 months its been stored in my garage and not used. It has become more of a fun/project car and I bought a house so it quickly moved to the bottom of the priority list. I finally have had some time to get it going again. When I put it away it ran perfectly. The battery went bad while it sat, but it was like 7 years old when I put it away. So I bought a new battery and when I when to crank it up. I first disconnected the coil pack and the fuel line before the filter in the engine bay. Routed the fuel line into a cup and cranked the engine over for a while to get oil moving through the engine before actually running it. I then put everything back together. Then tried to actually start it. Still cranked strong, but never started. I used starting fluid to see if it was a fuel delivery issue even though I had fuel come out before. Didn't start on starting fluid. I checked and found that I wasn't getting spark to the plugs. So I bought a new coil pack, as I have had those die on several other subarus. Still no spark on all cylinders What should I check next? I couldn't find a diagram online that showed all the parts involved in one diagram. There are no signs of mice doing any wiring damage that I can see.

I thoroughly looked through the manuals. I'm not sure if they are wrong or incomplete, but the plugs on my 06 should be the same as the 04 seats, according to the documents. However, in real life, they aren't. I'm really confused. Nothing looks altered or modified. Every other Subaru that I've swapped seats on were plug and play.

I picked up a full set of black leather Forester seats from an 04 XT. My Forester is an 06 base model. Both seats have built in airbags. The leather ones are heated, but not powered. The 06 harness has 3 connectors. 2 of the plugs don't match up to the seat harness from the 04 seats. And the seats only have 2 plugs. I want to get the heated seat functionality working, and I also have an "airbag" light on. Which I'm guessing it means that the airbags won't go off when they should. Pics of the connectors: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-I1mMFkCaZH810vcGYwpDruJiRQnVTNW I am willing to mod the harnesses or whatever, but I don't know what pins go to what. If anyone has diagrams and could share them, that would be great.

I drove it home from work which is a fairly short commute. 5-10 min. About a mile from my house it started acting up again. All the same symptoms. I have another SG Forester that I pulled the alternator and battery out of. I first started by swapping the alternator and leaving the battery. The current battery had a full charge still. But even with the alternator swapped it won't crank strong enough to start. So I also swapped the battery too. It started right up. I drove it around for like 5-10 min. Got it plenty warm. No issues. I parked it in my driveway for 10 min. And got back in and drove around again. No issues. So at this point it's either the battery or the alternator. My plan is to drive it around for the next couple of days and make sure it wasn't a fluke. If I don't have any issues. I'll A/B test the alternator and battery and see which one causes the symptoms to return and replace that piece. Luckily these are easily accessible parts on Subarus. Thanks again for your input. I'll check back in to let you know what ends up being the culprit.

The alternator was from Advanced Auto. I've had good luck with reman alternators, but at the same time, I've never owned a car for more than two years because I'm fickle. Haha. I'm on like Subaru number 9. But I'll start there. I'll get it replaced under warranty and then look into getting a better quality one. I also replace the battery in the winter. The previous one was like 10 years old and finally gave out on me. It had served me well through 3 different cars. If I replace the alternator and it doesn't fix it, could it be the battery? Could it read as having a full charge and still not give enough juice to not crank over the engine? Would temperature have anything to do with the battery working inconsistently? Thanks both of you for your quick responses.

Car: 2006 Subaru Forester Base Model AT Two days ago I drove over to my parents' and stopped in their driveway. Turned the car off to go into their house for 5 min. Then came back out to go to work. As I am driving down the road mere blocks from their driveway, my car starts to intermittently jerk. The best way to describe the feeling is like the whole drivetrain locks for a fraction of a second making everything thump loudly. Looking back my best guess is intermittent fuel starvation, but I am open to other theories. It was happening once ever min or so, not consistently or rhythmically. I turned around and went back to my parents' house. Pulled in their driveway and tried to put the car in park. I couldn't get the gear selector to go past neutral. I didn't want to force it, so I turned the car off and then it let me put the car in park. I turn the key the rest of the way and removed it. It was idling fine in the driveway while I was sorting out the gear selector issue. I put the key back in and try to turn the car over. Nothing. No click, no weak crank. The dash and radio light up and work. I pop the hood and try to sort out what I thought to be a battery problem. I check it with a meter and it is fully charged. I clean the terminals which had very minor corrosion. It would crank now, but very weakly. I then disconnect the ground to the starter and clean it. Reattach. Now the car cranks strongly again. It struggled to get to actually start. I fiddle about for another 10-15 min looking and checking all my electrical connections. I try again and it starts up. I take it for a test spin and it starts doing the jerking thing again. I pull it into the driveway and again it wont let me put it in park while it is still running. I'm late for work, so I borrow one of their cars and decide to come back after work to diagnose. I come back 7ish hours later. It cranks right up and after a short test drive it has no issues. I check the engine codes, nothing. So I drive it home with no problem. Next day, I drive to and from work, to and from dinner, no problems. I figured it was some weird issue that sorted it self out.... Today, I again stop for a few min at my parents' on the way to work. My commute from my parents' house to work in 7ish min. through a small town. When I go to drive to work the jerking issue comes back, but much less frequent. Maybe 4 total times. As I'm driving the radio starts powering on and off. Random dash lights come on and off and the dash starts to flicker. The car is still running strong, except for the random jerks. I am taking it gentle trying to limp it to work. A mile from work the dash completely turns off: no lights, no gauge readings. The car is still running fine. Then, 1/4 of a mile from work it starts sputtering and then dies. Luckily there was a driveway just before my work parking lot I made it into. It was quite disappointing that the car didn't make it to my work's parking lot, but whatever. The car again won't let me put it in park until I turn the power off with the key. I try to crank it over immediately and it won't crank at all. I wait 5-10 min and try again. It will crank but weakly. I pop the hood and check over everything. It all looks good. I take my walk of shame to work and get some stuff done for a little while. I then go back to my car with my buddy from work's car, in case it needs a jump. It has been a little over an hour. It cranks up first try, no problem. I didn't need to jump it. I drive into work and check the engine codes. Still nothing. Have you guys ever experienced anything like this. Any suggestions on where to start? Could it be alternator? Which I replaced probably 6 months ago, but that doesn't mean it hasn't failed again. Luckily it has a lifetime warranty so I might replace it just to see if it fixes it. Could it be a short to ground? Any specific parts of the system to check that would cause all these issues? Could it be the computer? Any ways to test that? I'm open to all ideas! Thanks in advance! Grant

Hazzah! One of the wires to the plug to the crank sensor was severed. Not sure when, but it must have happened during the timing process. So now just need to fix that and we should be back in order. I'll inform once I get it taken care of. I will need to get some waterproof connectors and heatshrink tubing.

Sorry I've been busy with work and haven't had time to delve into this project. I checked the codes and got only one code back. P0335 code (Crankshaft Position Sensor). So I will swap out the good one from my 96 into his 96 and see if that clears it up. I didn't think that would completely shut down the system. Do you guys think this is the sole problem?

Yes we seem to be indeed. I won't be able to check these things until this evening. Ill update you guys as soon as possible with new information. If you have any other ideas of things to test before I get to this tonight. Let me know.

I'll try the key thing and see if that helps. I did get fuel to come through the fuel filter at a steady rate when engaging the starter. So if there is a fuel issue, it will happen after the filter. As for the boots. I wiped them, but I'll make sure to give them an extra good clean. If there isn't power coming to the plugs, its either be that all the wires are faulty, which would be insane, or there isnt power getting to the coilpack. I started investigating that, but didn't have time to finish tracking that down. Jamie thought it might be the igniter from doing some research but I don't know how to verify that it is working properly without just testing it with a voltage tester. The only fuel theory Jamie and I have come up with is a some sort of fuel air lock from the system being thrown out of time. But with the number of times trying to start the engine, I would I have thought the engine would have straightened itself out at this point.

Gary: Definitely noninterference. I had the valve covers off when I did a manual crank through after doing the timing belt. The valves looked like they cycled properly and I could definitely feel the compression. But I still might do the compression test to verify. Texan: I checked all the hoses I could think of. The ones on the whole intake system, the crank case breathers, the one for the PCV, etc. The weird part to me is that is doesn't even want to choke to life unless I spray in starter fluid. Usually a vacuum system issue causes the engine to choke out and die quickly. My brother (jmoss5723) thought maybe it was dieseling off the starter fluid and it's still an electrical issue. But that seems really unlikely since it's a cold engine and the compression ratios are that strong for that. Though I'm not even close to qualified to say that with confidence. Haha. Also, I did the timing twice, my brother also thought that I might have mistimed it. I used the Factory Service Manual to verify the proper timing marks. I counted the teeth on the belt. It all seems like it is in time.

I've now checked the connections for about everything I can think of. I've checked all the fuses both under the hood and in the footwell.

My friends 96 Impreza with the 2.2L Non-interference engine had a timing component fail. We did a whole timing belt, waterpump, thermostat replacement on it. It also had leaky valve cover gaskets, so those were also replaced. We did a radiator and engine block flush. Upon trying to crank it over after do all of this, the engine wouldn't start. It had strong crank from the starter. My brother informed me that I probably didn't time it right. So I redid the timing belt, even though I was 99% sure I did right the first time. But I extra made sure this time. Still nothing. So I went to check the plugs. The spark plugs had huge gaps and were pretty gross from the oil leaking onto from the valve covers. I conveniently had an extra set. I threw those on. Still nothing. I then swapped the coil pack from my 96 2.2L impreza. Still no luck. Then I checked the fuel system. I shot starting fluid into the throttle body as we cranked it over. It choked to life and then died each time. I checked for fuel pumping out before and after the fuel filter. Fuel came from each of those with strong flow. My next step is to investigate injectors, which I am not super familiar with. All advice is welcomed.

I think I solved the problem! After checking the volts with a meter, I was getting power, but the starter still wasn't working. I went and got it bench tested again. The bench test said it was still functioning, but after some small talk with the advanced auto guy, I found out that there was a mystery third wire that was attached in on the stud that the solenoid was attached to. So after looking at some wiring diagrams I discovered that one of the previous owners had attached a random wire to the starter and it was screwing everything up. So I don't know how it ever worked, my only theory was the temperature was somehow changing things. But we will see if this works indefinitely. Thanks for your support. If this isn't the solution, I'll be back!

Yes, the starter does not seem to be the issue. My theory is that there is something electrical that is going on before the starter. It seems like power is not reaching the starter. I've jumped the car straight from the battery to the starter.

I have a 98 Impreza 2.5 RS 5SPD MT I've had a intermittent problem with my car not starting and its finally become constant. I turn the key, the dash lights up, windows can move up and down, radio turns on, etc., but starter doesn't engage. No clicking from the solenoid. I hear my fuel pump prime. When it started this issue, it happened once in a blue moon, then started happening more frequently. The reason I haven't taken care of it up until this point was because I could fix it by just putting it into neutral, releasing the e brake and then rocking the car. If that didn't work, I normally on a hill of some kind and just roll started my car. The only consistent factor that seemed to cause this to occur, was when the air temperature changed a significant amount. Once, I got it started it would then start fine until the next time the temperature changed. I've pulled the starter and bench tested it. It is fully functional. I've pulled the clutch safety switch and its also fully functional. All input is accepted!

I dont know the part number, and it doesnt fit down in where the spare goes. It sits on top of the cargo liner. Its like the way better version of those outback organizers they have in the early to mid 2000s outbacks.

I had given up hope of ever finding another one in existence. My brother has one and he is the only person I know that has it, and I only found this picture after some pretty serious Googling. So I guess my question is, why is this part so rare? (other than the fact that there are not a lot of them) P.S. I am not looking to buy one or anything, that's why this thread is here and not in the Parts Wanted section. It wont fit in my rs coupe's sad excuse for a trunk.

Just ask golucky66 to give you a quote

If base model is what you are looking for, why not go a little older and get some of the bells and whistles?

I would agree that these businesses use scummy tactics to make their money. However, I think that there are plenty of trustworthy businesses out there. Usually local small businesses. As for your sister, I think oil changes and other common maintain items are something everyone should learn how to do. Try teaching her. Especially since subarus are pretty easy. I could change my oil without even putting my car on ramps. Theres no pulling tires blindly reaching for hidden filters.

$21 is a good price for an oil change. I normally pay $25 for the oil and filter when I do it myself. At least thats the price around here, unless theres a special going on. And that means no laying on the ground and no getting dirty. But as for the erroneous repair needs that these pirates try to convince people of. I would suggest convincing your family to run everything by you first. Sadly though sometimes the best way for them to learn is to let them make the mistake. TKFlight is right about doing things yourself. And I'm a big fan of trading work for food. They buy me dinner/lunch and I help them. Especially if its a 10 min job like changing oil.

I love hearing all the theories and techniques to catching a mouse. But I think the reason why the mouse is in your car might help get the mouse out. I don't think you actually stated you had a garage, but likely the reason the mouse moved into your car, was because it was warmer than outside/ or in your garage, especially if outside for you is as blistering cold as it is for me right now. So try to use that to your advantage. The mouse will probably do its adventuring when the car is warm and it will huddle up in whatever part of your car its made its home in when its cold. So your best time to set traps is right when you get back from driving.

Awesome, thanks

I have some beefy 15 inch tires that I plan on putting under my 2.5 RS once I get forester struts for it, but I know that the brakes are larger on the 2.5 RS than all the other imprezas of that generation. What I don't know is, whether or not the brake assembly will be too big for 15 inch wheels. I first did some broad googling to see if this was a common idea, but to no avail so I went a big deeper focusing on strictly major forums such as here, nasioc, rs25, etc. Still nothing answering my specific question. I did find a very nice write up on the brakes sizes for all major subarus here