jim milewski

I would never buy new at this stage, good advice on the used parts yard, ebay has nothing for a 98 MT right now

those were good explanations, not convuluded at all, but i think the wasted spark holds true as there are two leads per coil. Fuel injection on my sons IROC is pretty unique, two pulses every 720 degrees, one on the back of the valve, the other when it's open

is it to check for jumped belt/tooth on valve timing?

thanks about the horn test.t does work, it seems the culprit is the CC ECM unit itself, a test procedure that I obtained tells me that pin 9 on the unit which goes to the MT clutch switch should have 12 volts on it (voltage supplied by CC ECM itself live on pin 9), well there is no voltage even with the switch removed, until I get that rectified there is no use testing further (everything else seems to be in order). If anyone else has a 98 Forester with MT I would appreciate what they find on pin 9 of the CC ECM unit because the clutch switch when clutch is up, driving position, engaged, is in closed postion to ground which would give 0 volts and not 12 volts at pin 9 (BTW is a blue yellow wire), but as I say the switch whether in or out makes no difference, cruise control still does not work. I just don't want to buy a new unit until I'm sure.

put a good penetrating oil to it first (I used Blaster), a couple days in advance and hit it again and again. as it is in a difficult place at least make it so you can break it, I was just able to get a 7/8 box end on it and was only able to do a few degrees at a time, but it came

ya, the brake switch I'm getting to that today, I found the exact wiring diagram and can check the pin on the CC ECM connector and activate the brake to make sure I get the right condition at the corresponding pin at the CC ECM, one thing I did find was a document stating pin 9 at the CC ECM (clutch switch wire) should have 12 volts with clutch engage, up, driving condition, no way do I get this with the clutch switch open or closed, actually right now the switch is out and I'm using a jumper in the connector socket

Wow!, thanks ocei77, this is great, now I can read the diagram (instructions are given to interpret what they are saying, color code, connectors etc. where did you find this, amazing! again, THANK YOU

Hi, looking to see if anyone can direct me on things to check as far as getting my vacuum cruise control to work, it is factory installed activeted on the lower right of the steering column with a lever. Here is what I have done so far, the switch seems to work as the LED light comes on, the vacuum line goes from the cable drive unit (passenger side firewall), to a nipple on intake runner cylinder three nice and tight both ends, I removed and tested the clutch switch (this is the one lower down near the pedal, blue connector), the switch is in closed position clutch engaged (driving) and open with clutch disengaged (pedal down), I even removed the switch and shorted the two leads with a wire. I unplugged and replugged the CC ECU. Is there an available wiring diagram with switch logic legend, any help very much appreciated.

Today I installed the IAC valve I got off ebay because I broke the original, also installed the front O2 sensor because I broke the original (I went with an inexpensive $30 free shipping off Ebay) where you use the connector from the original, I rewired the coil connector so the yellow wire from the main harness mates with the red wire on the coil pigtail and vice versa, I had to rewire because I rewired the first time wrong. The update is my high idle and full time open loop running is fixed, now I'm close loop after warm up and idle is 700 rpm. It all started last fall with a blown head gasket, I went with the newer revised three layer Viton coated Felpro and got the heads resurfaced and new exhaust studs, short test rides and no overheat problems (before I could not go three miles and I was way too hot). Possible power steering problem with an occasional shudder (I put in ATF like the cap said, does it require some sort of bleeding or does it work itself out?), at any rate I'm getting real close to finish, thanks to all the good advice I got here, what a great reserve of knowledge!

yes, they are different, the blue is blue, the yellow and red are swapped, yellow (12V) on frame harness goes to red on coil pigtail, thanks, I'm going to go out and switch them, I rewired red to red and yellow to yellow, thanks again

thanks Gloyale, I have two coolant sensors, my temp gauge works, is one for the gauge, the other for the ECU? Can a test be done with a voltmeter. All temp sensors I have seen are the thyristor type which changes resistance with temp change. Would you happen to have a wiring diagram for these two sensors so I can access the wires by piercing them at a workable spot and take cold and warm readings to see if the sensor to the ECU is working. Another thing that you pointed out and I want to see if I understand, when the ECU detects a "coast" condition it goes into an open loop mode and cuts fuel as it is not needed? This is very clever!

well...the correct answer is what I'm looking for....but I can say that my 97 Legacy has the red and yellow wires swapped, I'm guessing that one wire is voltage, the other two are pulse signals and ground is through the mounting, so as I have my connections color to color on the forester right now, I have not tried turning it over, well not until I get a definitive answer, I doubt it will run. It seems one wire (red would be my guess) is 12 volts, and common to both coils, and the blue goes to one coil and yellow the other

so it goes like this, in checking my connection at the coil pack I see some wires are nearly pulled out, so in trying to put the right wire in the right place I look at the other connector and see blue yellow red in that order, oh, this is easy, I'll just match color for color on connector to connector......even though it seemed like the red and yellow were swapped, but that couldn't be, just my eyes playing tricks....what is the correct connection....you might be surprised!

thanks Mike, it's becoming clear, good to know what these devices with the connections are called and what they do, I did an engine pull and there may be a "T" in my rather large unused parts bin

I also forgot to say that I did not replace the IAC valve "on a hunch", but rather because I took it off and took the plastic cover off and put a pair of pliers on the soft (very easily breakable, really very easy) ferrite magnet seeing if it lifted out, don't ever try this, leave this section alone and clean down below and apply voltage and test it that way......Ebay for $50

forgot, yes, using a scan tool, it is OBD.com program for my laptop with that special cable, so it does code reading and dynamic run time monitoring. I think I might have damaged the O2 sensor by having the engine removed, the hood off, the car outside, the uncovered exhaust headers open pointing up drinking in lots of rain water.....pretty stupid..huh

thanks Josh, ya, big changes, I pulled the engine, planed the heads, new headgaskets, timing belt, pulley, water pump, seals, clutch. It runs strong and no metalic noises (praise the Lord!), but the idle is high, I replaced the IAC (had codes for it), so will see today if that helps, it was staying in open loop so I replaced the front O2 sensor yesterday as well, so today I will see if there is a change, just have a few vacuum line issues (my other post), I went around with starting fluid spraying for intakes leaks and everything seems tight best I can tell. This is my first Subaru and have heard people say negative things about the 2.5 dohc, but I like this engine, if i get this idle straightened out and the overheating doesn't return I'll be really happy!

my problem is upon ressembly I have more hoses than nipples for the small vacuum lines, one is the device located right next to the IAC valve, it is black, takes a two connector plug, fastened with a single 8 mm bolt into the intake casting, (it is a solenoid), one line loops back and down a few inches to a metal line under the intake runners, the other line has a longer hose that I cannot figure out where it goes. There is also a device mounted on the passenger side inner fender that has a line which is different than other lines, sort of a grey or green color with looks like an inline filter, I have no clue on that either, again any help much appreciated....thanks

in trying to get this to idle at at lower and correct rpm could it be the O2 sensor having a problem preventing it from going into closed loop operation, I read a post saying that open loop will idle high, which means I should not even be looking at the IAC until I resolve the open loop and get it to run in closed loop. I'm not getting an O2 sensor code though, is there anything else that could prevent closed loop operation. I have a new pre cat O2 sensor on the way

thanks, I did find out (the hard way) on my own a little more about the IAC valve before reading up much on it, taking off the two philips head screws thinking that part was the whole valve and grabbing the soft round magnet with pliers to pull it up thinking it was a plunger then crushing the magnet into several pieces, found one on ebay for $47, the kicker is that I think mine was ok because it spun freely after I got the complete valve out. As for the O2 sensor I found one of the three wires pulled out, but after putting it back in still will not go into closed loop operation, there is an ohm or two across the heater element so that appears good, or at least tests good, the heater element does receive 12 volts so that part is good as well. I did the cable first and the throttle does bottom out against the stop, also reset the computer quite a few times, this is a definite learning experience! First time I ever pulled an engine from a car, I'm really getting attached to this Forester!

After head gasket replace and fixing the camshaft oil seal I have a high and rough idle, I have code 1507, (idle control system malfunction) and 0507 (high RPM at idle) also it won't go into closed loop, I did have a bad heater circuit code but it's out now, I think it's just a matter of time until it comes back. With the high idle I unpluged the IAC connector and no change, I sprayed WD 40 around the intake looking for a change indicating an intake leak but found nothing. The voltage at the O2 sensor is right around .3 volts. Is there a diagram availabe for vacuum hoses, is there an idle adjustment, is the TPS the device with a black cover and slots where the screws go through so you can vary it a few degrees and the IAC right near it both on the passenger side of the intake, both have three wires, is there any wiring and connection diagrams available for this section. Any help appreciated, I'm almost there after this top end rebuild, thanks

well I replaced the head gaskets, put the engine and it started up ok, but leaked .5 qt oil in fifteen minutes on the driver side, looks like possible intake cam seal, is there a special method to install these seals, should a compound like permatex be used or dry, should I install the seals with the caps on, or put the caps on after the seals, any help appreciated, thanks

thanks, it looks like I will cut the lines right under the seat, use compression fittings there and run new metal lines to the hoses on each wheel. The reason for the gas tank removal (which I'm not up to) is because of a leak if it gets filled (which I'm not up to)

is there a diagram online somewhere showing the routing of the rear brake lines, it looks like a channel going down the right side inside the unibody best I can tell, am i correct, is it best just to run your own route cutting back to where it's good...thanks....wow, fuel tank removal looks like a big job, looks like I better get used to filling it to half way only!

I have the clutch out and can see the "lines" on the friction plate ok, should there be a thickness minumum, the flywheel looks good and the pp looks good, is it advisable to "roughen/deglaze" using a disk sander carefully, (I've done that a lot with motorcycle plates). The clutch was not acting up, the engine is out for HG replacements, also got new belt and pulleys, will reseal that black plastic plate in rear, also heard something about oil pump gasket, where is that??? thanks