Cougar

The pedal should be left alone while the ECU does its' routine. You may have to redo the procedure. The CTS is the coolant temperature sensor for the ECU. It is not the same sensor used for the temperature gauge in the dash. It is there for the ECU to determine what the engine temp is so it can adjust the fuel mixture correctly. One of the most common problems for bad fuel economy. You are right about a leaky injector making the engine hard to start. The injectors are most likely fine but they are just another possible area of trouble.

Hope the gauge continues to work okay. I think you have that problem whipped. For the cruise control problem check the adjustment of the disconnect switch(es) on the brake, and clutch pedal if you have one. They can make the CC think the pedal is down all the time if not adjusted correctly.

Another thing that can cause poor gas milage is a bad CTS, coolant temperature sensor. Also a leaky injector.

I suspect the ECU is going through a learning process after the reset and eventually gets things to run smooth, but it takes a number of run cycles to do that.

I suspect the battery has a shorted cell. With a shorted cell the voltage of the battery drops by about 2 volts. If the cell is shorted do not let the alternator keep trying to charge the battery. The alternator will get damaged.

Another happy Soob owner. It's a good thing.

You may change your mind about getting two pickups when you find out the price of them. Here is a link to a previous thread that has some prints and info that may help you out. Looking at the print it does appear the ignition relay makes a ground connection. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=79249

By placing a test light probe on the minus side of the coil and ground you should see light pulses as you crank the engine. It sounds like the pickup in the disty is bad.

There may be a couple of problems going on here. The starter solenoid contacts are at the right age where they start giving intermittent problems like you stated. You can replace the contacts for around $12 dollars or replace the whole starter with a rebuilt unit. You also stated that the starter works but the engine doesn't fire up. There may be a problem with the ignition switch or wiring causing this trouble.

Thanks for the confirmation TY. I appreciate it. I can only think of a couple things at this point. First thing is just to satisfy me really and is pretty simple to do. Since the disty was pulled and to verify that the disty position is correct could you set the engine to TDC and then check to see if the disty rotor position is where it is supposed to be? The second thing is I think some carbs need a spacer to work correctly. Since I don't really have a lot of carburator experience I am not sure if that will help in this situation or not.

Brake cleaner will do the job alright but be careful using it around the seals. I would recommend using regular cleaning solvent with a brush.

The front passenger switch still may have a problem since it has to pass the power also from the switch on the driver's side. Without checking for voltage at the switch it is just a guess as to where the problem is. You could try swapping the front switch with the rear ones to see if that helps. Most likely those switches are dirty also put broken wires in the door jamb is another common trouble.

Good picture there Kellen. Another one bites the dust. I doubt there is any internal damage due to this.

Amen. I think that could be said for most of us here. And so ends another Subaru repair saga that ends well with another happy Soob driver back on the road.

Using a prybar on the flywheel to hold the shaft will work fine.

Looking at the somewhat low vacuum reading of 14.5 inches caught my attention but I forgot where you are located. Since your elevation may be around 5,500 feet I needed to adjust the reading. By adding 1 inch per 1,000 feet from MSL the reading then looks better. In order to get my story right on this dilemma, am I correct in thinking that the only thing worked on or changed (besides the CAT) since the engine was working correctly is the carburator? The disty wasn't removed and replaced, or anything else?

Thanks for the notice about the spacer Cookie. It may help someone else down the road.

Glad to hear you made some progress at least. I still feel the problem you are having is due to either the valve timing is off or the disty position is off by a tooth. Did this problem start happening after either of those areas were worked on? We may be able to prove if this really is the problem by checking each cylinder while it is in the firing position. Then force air into the cylinder through the sparkplug hole, like you would on a leak down test. If you get air back up the intake you will know what to do. Edit: Looking at your last vacuum test reading of 14.5 pounds seems to confirm that there is something wrong with the valve timing or a leaky valve.

I agree with you Calebz. For the cost and time it takes to really rebuild a alternator I think you are ahead of the game just getting a rebuilt one that also includes a warranty if something goes wrong.

Ditto on the ditto for the alternator.

It sounds like the motor is stalled to me. Try disconnecting the blower motor connection and then turn on the power switch. If the problem is within the motor the lights will work normally and not dim now.

The problem may be with the motor but my bet is with the relay.

Well, this was the first time I tried to send a PDF file here so I got some training info at least out of it. :-p

Under the car near the right rear wheel area.

Here is a file for a '88 model I copied from my manual. It should be close to yours. '88 Subaru Lighting.pdf Edit: I see that in the time it took me do this someone else got to it.