DaveT

I had a wire in the engine harness fail - just in the middle of it's run. No kink, no external damage, it had just snapped inside it's insulation.

Where is that link to the factory service manual when you need it? iirc, they listed ohm tests. Nothing you did should have hurt it, unless somehow mixed up pins when supplying 12V?

I have used Toyota solenoids since around 1990. I am still using the same ones I bought back then. There is a link to my Web page on other threads about the egr or purge solenoids. It's possible that Subaru figured out how to make outback ones that are more reliable also.

Subaru may have reseal kits, I recently bought a few for the 3AT. But they didn't have many left.

1 Meg or greater is saying open circuit or no continuity, which is normal. If the cts ohm reading is bouncing, that is bad. The reading will be different depending on the temperature, and will drift as the parts cool down, but it should be smooth and steady, not bouncing around.

Any decent auto parts store will have a vacuum gauge for testing intake manifold vacuum. It should come with instructions. You may want a T fitting also. No load revving is completely different than getting power with a load. Could be starving for fuel, partially blocked exhaust among other things. Almost all of my experience with these EA82 engines is with the 3AT automatic transmission. They don't really start feeling peppy until they get over 3000rpm, closer to 4000. Yes, if you floor the gas pedal with a 3AT, it triggers a switch that energizes a solenoid on the transmission to downshift 1 gear.

Under the steering column, above the pedals , there is a plastic panel. Remove it. The ECU is bolted to the steering column. It should be a galvanized gray color flat box. There is a hole about center , open towards the driver's seat. A red led blinks the codes when the car is running. Write down # of long and short blinks. It will repeat endlessly, so you know when you got them all if there is more than one.

Something is wrong with it. Mine go 65mph at 4000rpm with a 3 speed auto.

Plan on going through the entire cooling system, it must be 100%. All of the several hoses, radiator has all fins, not clogged etc.

How old is the battery? How many miles on the alternator?

Crank angle sensor is in the distributor. Spray a second or 2 of carb cleaner into the throttle body. Hold oedal down. Crank. Does it fire?

Low oil. Low coolant. Run on highway until poor running. Then dies. Not good.

There might be a link for the schematics somewhere on the forum. Or maybe the whole manual? Am am not sure, since I've had them since I bought my first GL. I have not seen this as a common failure, or read about it here often, if ever.

I've towed 1000lbs with a GL. That's about the limit. Never went more than a few tens of miles. If you consider it, a very thorough cooling system inspection and maintenance would be a good idea.

I have not had that particular failure. Yes, some parts you are better off with oem.

I've ocasionally ended up with odd pairs of tires. I ran them during non snowy months mostly, switch the 4wd on momentarily if I wanted extra traction on rain for a quick start, then right back off. An advantage of switchable 4wd over awd. But it's definitely better to have all 4 the same.

The 3.7 vs 3.9 mismatch is hard to miss. I drove mine with that for a while before I had time to swap in the correct transmission. Are the 4 tires the same model and wear? That can make drag also, but not as bad as the gear ratio miss match.

+1 what grossgary wrote. When I added 4WD to my 87, I made that mistake. It would bind a lot on dry pavement. It would be squirrely in snow. I swapped the transmission with another, and it's normal now. In my case, the 4wd transmission that had the odd ratio was from my 86 carbed 4wd. All of the others I gave are 87 and newer version, and have the same ratio, but different from the 86.

One of the original Subaru selling points was shift on the fly into 4WD. I do it frequently. Get used to your car first, to be sure everything is correct. Hard turns are not the best time to switch. But straight cruising along, not heavy load, is no problem. Everything is already turning at the same RPM anyway.

Another possible path is through the main alternator output wire. Partially failed rectifiers can do things like that. Simple to check, just un bolt it. But it is live if the battery is connected, so pull the GND (-) side first.

If I'm following correctly, the timing belt was done at 75k. The engine is now at 160k. It's now close to 80k on that replaced belt. So you replaced it just now? (Which is good).

Tires all the same size and molage? Did you just get this car? Did it used to work normally? You should be able to switch 4wd on and off at will going straight. No noticeable change in loading, if everything is correct.

On interference engines, I have only used OEM for timing parts. Not worth the risk..

I don't know anything about alldata. Go by the FSM, plus experience from people on the forum. Details needed. Which engine? Did you replace all of the idlers and tensioner? Did you use OEM or high quality kit? Did you work ALL of the air out of the cooling system before going for a drive? This is not a simple process, and a large air pocket is a likely cause of the overheat. Wouldn't hurt to know mileage. Have headgaskets ever been replaced?

The CTS tells the ECU what temperature the engine is at. It's the one with 2 wires. The sensor for the dash gauge is a one wire sensor. They are separate. See what comes back when you clear it. Check the connections and wiring in addition to the sensors. The FSM has testing details. If a sensor is bad, it's pretty much done, unless it's a wire broken off kind of thing. Possibly some failures of the Throttle Position Sensor could be fixed.