NorthWet

But, you know, life's oddities would dictate that a bolt that will snap if you try to remove it would survive an assault be a 2-lb sledge. :-p Pretty sure that aft bolt is still in place. I sure am glad that I have never forgotten about it... twice.

I still have to arrange to verify that spark is occurring instead of just inferring (I hate non-factual ''facts" ), but work schedules have made this difficult. Kind of a pain to have a system that doesn't tell you why it won't start. Thanks nipper. Still seems a little silly to have spark and no injection due to any sensor failure, but there must have been a reason. Gary, dribbling gas into TB airhorn, reseating duct, and starting it for a second or two before gas is exhausted.

There are 9 bolts on the disty-side head: 4 inside and 5 outside. Did you remember the one at the pointy end aft of the disty? Edit - There are only 8 bolts. See later post.

My initial thoughts were crank/cam sensors, except lack of codes (wouldn't occur per nipper), and I would expect spark cut in addition to fuel cut (will run with added gas, so spark exists). Looks like it is time to do some swap-and-see... just that it may not "prove" anything with an intermittent. :-\

Thanks nipper. Pretty sure I have spark. I haven't checked with "Mark-I eyeball" yet, but as stated in my monologue supplemental gas allows the engine to start and run until supp. gas is used up. BTW, when I checked several hours after last no-start it started with a turn of the key.

On the earlier Legacys, there is a small hole in the headliner (covered with a matching plug, of course) near the front edge of the sunroof. Remove this and you will find a place to insert an allens wrench (earlier models kept a wrentch in their center console). This can be used to manually open and close the sunroof.

Only 3 total occurances, so hard to say. But the first restart was after only a mile of town driving.

I would expect that these would throw codes and also not fire the spark plugs... though maybe unreasonable expectations.

Pretty sure this is ECU/connector/sensor related. Wife's 90 Legacy LS, 2.2L (ODBI), 4EAT. Failed to restart twice after picking up gas (from the same station, but I think is just a coincidence). First time was after <1mile drive from cold start, second time was after 6mile (15 minute) drive from cold start. First time by the time I had gotten there she had already restarted it. (She had retried after about 10-15 minutes of letting it sit.) Second time it refused to start without supplemental gas dribbled into TB; w/o extra gas, when first activating the starter, the engine would "catch" for maybe 1 revolution and then crank without further feeling of combustion. With supp. gas, it would run for a second or two before dying. I left it and returned in the morning, when it fired up first turn of the key; son drove it 8 miles home (diff route) without incident. Printed Legacy777's directions for pulling codes, and with black connectors got a 22 (knock sensor; should still let me start?). Reseated K.S.'s connector, still getting ECU code 22. Tried green connector, and failure reoccurred; unplugging green conectors, still no start. Currently, I have the battery disconnected after cleaning and reseating engine harness to chassis harness connections. Decided that while the battery was out I would let the ECU reset/clear. As far as I can tell, the fuel pump was cycling off/on properly while green connectors were together, so I do not think that it is fuel pump or its control. However, I have not checked for pressure or flow yet, but this is low on my list at the moment. My thought is that the ECU is sensing something on startup after the first revolution or two and then shutting down the injectors. Since the engine runs with supplemental gas, I am pretty sure that spark, compression, and valve/ignition timing are still happening/adequate. The fact that the engine (so far) has not quit once it is started makes me think it is something during startup only. Anybody run across this type of failure?

Patience... it is a holiday weekend here. Once I find out why my wife's Legacy keeps dying at a certain gas station, I will look through my parts pile. I don't have calipers handy, so any measurements might be a little iffy.

I feel it is far easier to pull it out to do it (not even sure if it is possible in place). I cut down the plastic connector on th CTS to get better access to the CTS pins. Be aware that once wire (and connector) are added you need a deep socket or cutout socket (like O2 sensor socket) to reinstall the CTS.

+1 on the CTS connector

This is a link that another posted for me when I asked about this problem: http://www.geocities.com/hobiegary/locks.html The basics are that you remove the inside latch/lock handle and make a new stop for a return spring. The article suggests using a wire, but I found that either dental floss of a cotter pin works better; both are flatter than the wire, so it doesn't interfere with the mechanism mount so much.

It is usually an issue with the length of the rod running from the inside door lever to the lock mechanism and its attached switch: The rod moves enough to work the lock but not trip the switch. An easy fix if slightly finicky; have to bend/straighten the rod just enough to unlock while still having enough travel the other way to lock. BTW, do your inside latches suffer the problem of lucking the doors when you try to open the door? If not yet, they probably will soon. Another easily fixable problem.

All replaceable parts. Not too bad if you get a donor vehicle, go to PAP, or get some parts from board members. If no body damage, probably cheaper to go this route than do ad engine and whatever swap.

Sounds like where to concentrate your attention. I took the advice of grossgary and soldered wires at the CTS, leading back to a more accessible and serviceable connector.

A subaru could do much the same if we used separate parking brake cables. BTW, that "finish" reminded me of the time that I lifted the back of a Mini-Moke off of the ground and held it over my head one-handed. The Minis and the Moke are really light in the rear...REALLY light.

Totally agree. These engines were given their flywheel's weight for a reason, and that reason wasn't because FHI was given a terrific deal on the cast iron. Street driveability can be greatly compromised by too low of a rotating mass, and offroad even much more so. For an offroad-only, rock-crawling vehicle I would rather have a flywheel with twice the PMI of stock. Lightened flywheels can feel like lots of fun in the fast and twisties, but a pain in the posterior in day-to-day driving. My thinking is that lightened flywheels go with proportionally lightened vehicles.

First, GD's statements +1. Second, where is the frame bent? In other words, where was the car hit and how? In general, any tweaking of the unibody would economically doom the car, but not all damage would be to the unibody.

Backfiring through the intake almost certainly is not a rich mixture situation... that would tend to cause backfiring (afterburning) in the exhuast. I would agree with this being ignition related. If it were happening all of the time I would seriously suspect valve problems: Either a burnt valve or one that was sticking in the guide and not seating properly. Is the ignition timing adjusted properly? If so, to what value? Is this on your 86 EA82T? Flapper-style MAF and vaccum advance (and retard??) on the distributor? The advance mechanisms might be sticking/failed. The vac advance may be moderated by a thermo-vacuum valve which may have issues. Also, don't overlook sparkplug and wires. Wires can fail or become marginal after very short distance/time. The IAC might be another culprit, at least as far as low idle speed. (And I assume that you know the turbo light is just from the backfire overpressure.)

FYI/FWIW: One of the Fords...Escort/EXP IIRC... used ATF in their manual transmissions. (Also IIRC, they used "F-type" in the manual and Dexron in their automatics.)

The turning radius has always impressed me. I think it is one of the qualities that makes Subarus feel maneuverable and fun to drive. Then I climb in to my Aerostar, which has a worse turning radius than my mile-long (well, 22-ft) Dodge Maxi-van...and for no apparent reason :-\.

Engines produce torque, flywheels just effect the delivery. As stated earlier, the lower rotating mass may effect idle smoothness but may allow the engine to free-accelerate/-decelerate quicker. It also depends on where the lightening occurred. Also, we are really talking about "polar moment of inertia", where an once on the rim has much greater effect than an once at the mounting flange. I am with GD regarding money generally being better spent elsewhere.

That should just be a boss for a dowel pin.

Did this problem just come out of the blue, or was it after replacing the pads? If after replacing the pads, then I would suspect issues with the pistons not being aligned so its grooves match the pads pins. Otherwise, follow GG's suggestions.