MountainGoat

Thanks guys for all the help. I got the cover off and discovered that the belt must have jumped. Crank mark is at TDC and both cams are at 1:00.... this stinks.

By "pop" I hope you mean this to be a fairly easy removal of the 22mm bolt and then remove cover, inspect for timing mark alignment, replace cover install pulley, 22mm bolt and torque to what?

What is best way to get DS mark at top so I can check PS through peephole?

Are we talking removing covers and all that junk in front of covers to check timing marks and counting teeth or is there an easier way?

Update but no resolution. Changed crank pos. sensor. Waiting on code reader to pull those still. Inspected timing belt, all teeth are intact. I do not have a timing light anymore (lost in a move) so is there a way to check timing w/o this tool? When I crank I get no movement on tach and I have tried to unplug cam sensor (read where that might help diagnose faulty one) with no change in crank/non-fire. Can anyone tell me how to check coil? Sorry guys, I've looked around for these answers and having bad luck as you can see!

I changed the plugs and wires, all were wet with gas. Cranked again and held petal to the floor - it backfired but will not turn over. I think I'll replace the engine temp coolant sens since it has been running rich but not sure if that is the problem either. Does any of this new info help lead to a diagnosis?

Thanks, CEL has been on and off for a while - last time I got it read it give an emissions code and running rich code (thought it was cad so saving up to replace) it will be a couple days before I can get someone to read it again, wish I'd gotten a scanner when I wanted to last. Just checked the one plug so not sure, will check the rest for spark. It needs new plugs and wires so I'll just replace those and maybe get lucky. At least I'll narrow it down until I can get the code pulled.

2002 Outback has been running like a trooper through this weather, so I'm at a loss and need help to figure out what happened and what to fix. It was low on gas the other morning but not lower than it's ever been, it started up no problem and idled for a minute then sputtered and stopped. Would not turn over again only cranked. I thought it was out of gas, so I put at least two gallons in, tried again, same thing. I removed plug closest to driver (not sure what number) to check for fuel and plug was wet with gas so that's not the problem, Hooked plug to wire, cranked and looked for spark, no spark, but the odd thing was that it fired once on that crank. Replaced plug this morning and it cranks worse than before. Need some guidance here y'all, this is the only car that can climb my hill with all this snow!