Cougar

Since you sprayed starter fluid into the intake and that made the engine fire this means you have a fuel problem. The fact that your starter works well means the charging system and battery are most likely fine. There may be a problem with either of them (though I doubt it) but it is not causing the starting problem. There may be a problem with the plug wires also since the engine is running rough and it may be due to the wires age. Since the wires are over 100k miles old it would be good to replace those with new ones and I would get OEM ones from the parts department or order them from a Subaru parts discount website. It would be nice to know what each of the old plugs looked like as you removed them and check from signs of a problem. If they all looked about the same then things may be ok with the ignition wiring though they still should be changed due to age. Another problem may be with the fuel injector or the wiring to it. You may also have broken one of the timing belts and the engine is only running on one side. A compression check would sort that out.

You may be able to measure the duty cycle by using a meter like the Fluke 87 which measures duty cycle. Using a O-scope, you should also be able to figure out the timing cycle.

I would recommend you purchase a service manual for the car so you can locate the wiring colors and routing. You first need to find the short on the parking light circuit. You may be able to find the problem near the rear lights. After the short is cleared then you can check for a problem with the power to the lights.

I would hookup the radio back the way it is supposed to be. You could then add a switch to direct power and turn on the switch when you want the radio on but not the accessories. Not sure why you want to do it this way but I guess you have your reasons. You may need to replace both the alternator and the battery. If the battery is fairly old it not a good idea to put in a new alternator and not replace the battery also. This can save your new alternator from working harder than it should. Always charge a weak battery with a charger first before placing it in service.

Glad to hear nobody got hurt. Too bad about the car. I would have a test probe handy so when this problem appears again you can check things while the problem is happening. This way you won't have to guess at what is wrong. Edit. If the dash lights don't turn on when this problem happens now then you need to check the fusible link or the ignition switch. If only the starter is having a problem then I would check the repaired bad connection again. You may have to reterminate the connection and bypass the plugs.

Welcome to the forum Subygrl. Lots of good Sooby members here. Your in good company.

I'm not sure how the circuit is wired but if you measure 12 volts on both sides of the resistors with the meter common referenced to ground then that would mean there is no current flow through the resistors and a possible open wire in the circuit back to the ECU.

Sounds good. Hope you find the problem.

CAS stands for camshaft (or crank, depending on the situation) angle sensor. It tells the ECU (engine control unit) where the position of the cam or crank is.

Also check for bad grounding problems. You can make a long jumper and tie one end to the negative side of the battery. Then place the other end on suspected bad ground points. If things clear up then repair the ground. Also make sure the battery connections are clean.

It sounds like you got it solved now. Another thing you can do to fix the connection is to just bypass the connector. Cut off the old contacts and crimp on some some new terminals and a little wire extension if it is needed to make up the distance.

I would spray some starter fluid into the intake as was suggested. If that makes the engine fire then you have a injector problem most likely and need to measure the voltage to the injector and check the resistance of the injector coil if there is voltage getting to it. If the engine doesn't fire with the starter fluid then you need to check the compression on both sides of the engine. One of the timing belts may have broken.

Good job. Thanks for the feedback.

To Camelwagon and SubbieDoo, To see if these problems are caused by a bad ground connection to the car body you can run a jumper lead to a good common ground point. Get a long piece of 10 or 12 gauge wire and connect one end to the negative battery post. Then touch the other end to suspected bad ground areas like the dash and see if things work better. If the problem clears then you need to clean up the ground connections. If the ground connections are ok then you may need to check the main power lead to the accessories and the fusible links for a connection problem.

That should have worked. I suspect that you may have a wiring problem to the ECU for that circuit. Did you measure the resistance of the coil to see what the resistance is?

You can't just look at the ground connections and know they are ok. You need to test them with an ohmmeter to be sure of the condition. The high voltage is looking for a ground. If plugs were grounded to the coil body like they should be you wouldn't have the leakage like you have. The lowest resistance would be through the plug gap. The problem may also be in the coil itself. If you have a spare to replace it with I would try that.

You should be able to just change out the CAS in the disty. Check with the parts department at a dealership.

I have seen a new PCV valve fail and it smoked just like your did. If you still have the old one I would try it out.

If the filter change doesn't work then it may be time for a new fuel pump. You have the symtoms of a weak pump.

Have you checked yet to make sure that spark is getting to the plugs? If spark is getting to the plugs then try spraying some starter fluid into the intake to see if if that will make it fire up.

It sounds to me that the ignition pulses are looking for a good ground. The arc isn't going to the plug gap because there is a break in the ground to the coil. Check to make sure there is a good ground to the engine block and the coil body and the bracket has a good ground connection to the block.

If your friends really knew then they would'nt wonder why.

If your alternator is bad I would get at least a ninety amp model next. The higher power used by the stereo isn't helping at all.

Your welcome.

Another easy test to do is the dollar bill test to check for a valve problem. You hold one end of the bill while you let the other end wave in the exhaust near the tailpipe. If the air from the pipe tries to suck in the bill at times then there is an exhaust valve problem.