Rich running/missing forester (codes): CPS?

[ldeikis]

Skipped timing belt it is! I'm amazed it can even RUN this way. Another tooth or so and I imagine we'd have trashed the engine.

 

When I lined up the notch on the left/drivers intake cam with the notch on the timing belt backplate, this is how things look:

 

Double hash marks on driver's intake/exhaust cams slightly out of line:

 

 

...and both passenger cams are way out of wack!

 

 

If I turn the crank until the hash mark on the PASSENGER side lines up with it's notch, the passenger exhaust cam is correct, but the DRIVER sides look like this:

 

 

 

I don't have the timing belt covers all the way off yet--came in for some guidance on how to free up the crank bolt and am going to use the starter trick--but I did find THIS underneath the driver TB cover:

 

 

I think maybe he was a mouse at one time. Hard to believe he could get that dessicated that quick, but I guess if he passed under the timing belt he would have been pretty well tenderized! We have issues with mice up in our engines all the time because we live on a farm... I recently tore apart the dash on my vw to find a huge mouse house inside my heater blower...

 

I'm back out to try to remove everything and see what might be seeping and need replacing. Looks like it's TB time after all.

 

Luke

[ldeikis]

 

Thanks everyone for your help. This was pretty much my first time getting into this car (aside from a knock sensor and oil etc) and I learned a ton about it. I have to say, I think I really like these little boxer engines... maybe it's the similarity to the old aircooled vws I learned to wrench on...

 

Anyway, for posterity, it seems the CPS code was getting thrown because the timing had jumped several teeth out. Each bank's intake/exhaust were vaguely in sync, so even though the left and right weren't in harmony, nothing got crunched. I blame the mouse hide I found under the timing belt cover, but maybe it was just luck.

 

I think the fuel trim code was a red herring, perhaps due to an aging 02 sensor or dirty injector or who knows what. Hopefully it stays gone.

 

Got it buttoned up, took it for a spin--nice and smooth--and it threw a CEL! I then learned that you have to recalibrate the TPS if you remove it (which I which I had done for clearance when locking the flywheel to tighten the crank pulley bolt). That's old news, apparently, according to the search function. New news, though, is that my $69 Actron CP9575 code reader also reads the TPS signal as a %, allowing you to really easily dial it in without having to mess with pinning the ECM etc. Of course I didn't realize that until I was mostly through it, but it's still good to know.

 

Anyway, thanks for all the help. I look forward to remaining a part of this board.

 

Luke