Cougar

Have the fuel pressure checked. You may have a bad fuel pump.

I think the engine timing is under the control of the ECU until the green connectors are tied together. If you saw 20 degrees with them apart I think that is normal. The problem you are having may be due to a weak fuel pump. I would have the fuel pressure checked.

Nice car Skip. The view out the back bedroom window should be fantastic.

The car looks fantastic but you better get some Ortho spray weed killer on those dandelions.

If you place an extra battery in the circuit be sure to put a isolation diode into the line so the cars battery doesn't try to charge the lesser voltage pack. You will smoke something otherwise if the battery is connected.

Here is a link to a site that has a good product it appears. One of the testimonies about the engine cleaner is from a fellow '93 Soob owner and claims that the oil leaks cleared up with the use of the cleaner. This product looks real interesting to me. http://www.auto-rx.com/ http://www.auto-rx.com/pages/pov39.htm

Thanks DanO. It is good to know where this is.

What kind of system do you have that replaces the points? They do run the 'minus' lead to the ECU and or a tach also at times. I am just guessing that the lead from the regulator to the starter is the charge lead. If the alternator's main output lead goes to the regulator then I would assume that is correct.

I was refering to one wire that was shielded. Shielding is used around wires to keep noise entering or escaping the wire. For the distributor connection there needs to be at least one wire from the 'minus' side of the coil to the distributor. That wire would tie to the points if you have them. I'm not sure how your distributor is designed. You just need something to signal the coil to fire the plugs as the proper timing occurs from the distributor. In the old days the points would be closed to 'ground' and then open the connection when the time was right to fire a plug. As far as the wire between the starter and the regulator is concerned, I assume that the wire is tied to the battery hot lead and always has power on it. This is most likely normal. It probably is there to make the connection to charge the battery. Why there is no wire to the solenoid coil is a mystery to me also. Is the solenoid integrated with the starter motor? It sounds like you know what to do despite what the diagram shows. The solenoid coil has to be supplied power from the ignition switch somehow.

I would guess that there may be a problem with the connection to the light control wire out of the alarm unit. The problem may be internal to the alarm unit also.

Is that really necessary? Don't all us Sooby guys know where we are at, at all times? Of course if you are needing another techno gadget, then that's different.

That seems odd. Will a socket fit on it?

Usually there isn't a problem with space for speakers in the rear. It may have to do with mounting holes. Crutchfield knows there stuff, I would ask a tech there about the situation.

If the wiring was internal it still could be done but it would make it a little more difficult to do.

It sounds like the wire from the minus side of the coil to the distributor may have a shielded wire. The shield would tie to ground and the center lead would go to the distributor. There needs to be some sort of connection between the points. As far as the starter solenoid lead goes, you need to find the contact on the ignition switch that makes connection to the battery in the 'start' position. Using a test light probe will help with that. Tie that point to the solenoid coil contact connection point on the starter. I assume that the solenoid is built into the starter for this advice to be relevent. If there is a seperate solenoid then just tie the wire to the coil contact on it. In either case, that will be the small contact on the solenoid.

I think I saw a post once where some mentioned using one from a Nissan.

I doubt that the problem with the alarm is due to a low battery but I may be wrong. I would definitely get a new battery. You are living on the edge with that one. The Sears Gold series will last you a long while. Perhaps a new battery will fix this problem and that would take care of two things at once. Sometime down the line the current battery is going to let you down and it may be at a time when you don't need a problem so I would take care of it while you can. If a new battery doesn't cure the alarm problem then I would suspect that one of the alarm switches is causing this problem. You could try bypassing them to see if you can find the problem that way.

I think it can be done fairly easy but you will have to tap into the audio output wires from the CD unit if there are no standard connectors on the output to use, as I suspect may be the case. If I was doing this, I would install a 3.5mm stereo jack in the line. Like the kind that makes and breaks the circuit to a speaker/ headphone jack. Someone that has the ability to know what wires to use and is good with a soldering iron should be able to handle this modification.

The solenoid is a dealer only part and they are well over $100 dollars new. I found out about this some time ago when I broke mine while doing some work. You should be able to get this from places that sell new Subaru parts but the price is not going to be pretty. I would try to find a used one at a junk yard or maybe someone here has a spare one they could sell you. You should be able to block off the lines and drive the car alright.

Here is a link to a place that may be able to help you. You might try contacting them. http://www.carstereohelp.com/

You need a code reader with the OBD2 system. Places like Autozone will do this for free.

If the problem persists it may mean the pump is bad. They can work good for a while then cause those those kind of problems.

It sounds like you found the trouble Paul. You may want to think about replacing the ignition switch so the problem can't happen and leave you stranded somewhere. The amount of current draw you were seeing seemed kind of odd. It makes more sense now. Whenever you do this kind of test you need to make sure that nothing is on and the key should be removed for the switch, and in your case, the switch in the lock position. Will that be with one lump or two?

Well hopefully you will find something when you check the other fuse panel Paul. Three hundred millamps is too much. It is interesting the problem seems intermittant.

I would try and fix it. Hopefully the other side will be ok until you sell it later. It will help the resale value fixing this but you would not get the full value for the repair if you sold it right away. Even if you didn't fix the problem the car would have some good value as is.