2011 Impreza Always Crank-Sometimes Start

[DevilDog-1994]

Hi All, hoping for some help.

I have a 2011 Impreza that sometimes starts like there is nothing wrong with her. Other times she will just crank and crank and crank and most times eventually kick on but sometimes I have to leave her sit for a few hours and then bam, she'll light up like there's nothing wrong.

Sometimes I see the CEL and stability lights on and flashing cruise, other times no lights at all.

I can hear the fuel pump and relay kick on when I turn the key. I have even pulled the fuel line and run the pump and it does work...just not sure if the pressure is sufficient. My first instinct is fuel pump issue but at $500 I'm trying not to replace until I know for sure what the problem is.

Sometimes when it is in crank no start mode, I can spray starting fluid in the throttle body and she kick on briefly...although last night I tried that trick and it did not work at all.

I pulled one plug and it looked fine but replaced it with a new one (plan to replace all but they are buried and tedious). Comp test in that cylinder also good.

Put a can of Heet in with full tank after this started I suspected water in gas.

This seems (not exactly sure) to have started when I had some corrosion on the battery terminals that was causing a weak connection. Cleaned battery terminals and started to have this crank no start issue.

Probably no connection but a month ago I had a new clutch put in at the dealer.

Very soon heading to advance to have codes read as I understand that even if the CEL is off there might be codes present. Could not get the 'lights and trip ODO reset' trick to work to read codes.

 

Any guesses from the community would be welcomed and appreciated, trying to avoid going to dealer and having them throw parts at it until it works again.

 

Thanks All!!!

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

no guess from me, but, just mentioning, if you own a smartphone, you can get a very reasonably priced ELM327 Bluetooth device, plus an app like Piston or Torque Lite, and read your own codes.

[DevilDog-1994]

***UPDATE***

Took vehicle to AZ to have codes read, came up with 335 (Crank Angle Sensor) with a secondary of 340 (cam position sensor). The car is running fine with the only issue being starting.

I bought the crank sensor and plan to install asap.

 

In the meantime, if I hit it with starting fluid and remember to replace breather hose (I realized MAF sensor will kill engine after a second) it will start and keep running. This leads me to believe that maybe the CKP fail is a red herring and that hard start but good run may be something else.

I reset the codes and will stand by for any developments.

 

Any guesses would be appreciated.

 

Thanks Tex, I did purchase a code scanner for future reference

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

hmmmm......how old is the timing belt's system's parts? Maybe some metal debris from a failing idler has collected on the crank sensor. Rare, but read of that happening once.

[DevilDog-1994]

Original...

[1 Lucky Texan]

risky.....schedule is 105 Months or 105K miles, w'ever is first. You may be getting close to a disaster.

[heartless]

On 10/1/2021 at 10:18 AM, DevilDog-1994 said:

Original...

yeah, not something to be celebrated... that car needs the timing done ASAP before it lets go and costs you a whole lot more.

105 months is 8.75 yrs.. 2011 puts you at 10 yrs... disaster waiting to happen.

we just picked up a 2004 Forester.. written on the radiator support is timing at 133K, in 2013 - the car has 185k on it now.. only 50k miles wise, but pushing the limits time wise. It will be getting done very soon.

[DevilDog-1994]

You're not the first one to advise such... Guess I'll get after it.

 

Thanks Tex.

[DevilDog-1994]

Update: changed the crank position sensor and now she starts without an issue… thank goodness…

 

put the ohmmeter on each sensor and the old one was lower by about .2 kohms…

here’s a pic of the sensor, a little dirty with rubber from the belt presumably…

 

thanks for all the help!!! 
 

hoping to avoid “How do I fix bent valves after timing belt destruction” post but this prolly won’t be the last call for advice…

 

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

if you clean that stuff off the bottom of the sensor, I bet it will stck to a magnet. I have 2 bits that says it is particulates from a failing bearing. Most likely the cogged idler's bearing.

you may have dodged a bullet.