Nathany

You definitely have the timing incorrect. It is very common for one of the cams to turn once the tension is released from the belt and unless you were very careful to see exactly how much and which direction it spun in you probably put it back wrong. At this point the engine will need to be completely retimed by making sure both cams are on the correct stroke with the #1 cylinder at tdc and the crank in the correct position. Also, if this is the same car that had a slipped crank/bad keyway you need to make sure it did not move AT ALL! on the shaft. This could account for the bad cylinder, however I would maybe guess somethng else. Don't start grabbing at straws, though, get the car running then do a spark and compression check on all cylinders, that will give you a much better place to start once it is running. For one cylinder to stop working it would have to be no spark on that cylinder or no compression via bad intake or exhaust valve, bad compression through the rings or a gasket leak.

The last time this happened to me I took it to a tranny show and had them disassemble the rear of the trans where the clutch pack is. They cleaned it and blew out all the ports/etc. and reassembled with a filter/fluid change. It fixed the situation and didn't cost too much. Next car that does it I will do myself, but worth a try if you already made sure you have the same size tires (even a newer tire on one or more wheel will cause problems).

I am sure that those with enough experience in subarus have found this to be becoming a very common problem. Someone pulls the crank pulley for whatever reason(timing belt/water pump etc.)and doesn't retighten the main crank bolt enough. Over time the pulley begins to wobble and ruins the pulley /the key /the timing gear and usually the crank at least a little sometimes a lot. I have bought three cars with this problem, the first without knowing. The others I actually got extremely cheap because the owners didn't know what the problem was with their car running like garbage. Turns out the wobble had happened which led to timing gear spinning and timing getting off. There is a link somewhere on the usmb to a company selling a modified timing gear and pulley effectively locking them together. This is just an expensive alternative to just replacement of the oem parts if the key isn't ruined but if it is you are out of luck. First get all the necessary parts from the junkyard. If you are lucky the keyway is only slightly damaged in this case use brake cleaner to get any oil residue out of the keyway and the crank bolt threads. Use Threadlock Quickmetal(find it online, expensive but worth it) to fill any gap in the keyway and key and reinstall everything. When putting the crank bolt back on use red threadlock or the strongest stuff you can find. Torque the bolt to at least 90 ft/lbs. Hold the engine from turning by placing a long bar in the torque converter inspection hole on the top passenger side of the tranmission to engine bellhousing. Don't try to use a strap wrench or chain wrench on the pulley, you will damage the pulley or won't be able to get as much torque on the bolt as you need. My brother did this fix and his has lasted 60000 miles so far. If the crank keyway is ruined, you don't need a new crank or new engine like the dealer or garage mechanic will tell you. Clean the crank and keyway well. Place the key in the slot (make sure it is in the right place if the keyway is really messed up). You may need to use a little tape to hold it in. If you have a welder you can do this yourself or take it to a welding shop. Run a bead of weld along the key just enough to fill in the ruined keyway. Do not weld the key into the keyway just run it along the key. If you tack the key in place knock it out with a punch. If the key gets welded in you can never replace the front seal or oil pump. It is not easy but can be done. Using a dremel tool with a reinforced cutting disc grind the weld until the timing gear slides on fairly easily but with a tight fit. Reassemble everything per the previous steps using the quickmetal and threadlock. Yes this does entail using some tools you may not have but buying them will still save you a ton over the alternative options(new crank or new engine)

Do the flex plate thing. I am not sure why anyone tries to hold the pulley, there is too much risk to damage it. Subaru actually makes a piece that fits into the flexplate just for this purpose but anything strong works.

Everybody has some good tips but some are unnecessary. Prop the hood don't remove. Leave the a/c and p/s connected just move out of the way. Don't take off any body parts just cover if you don't want to scratch anything, use rubber mechanics guards or truck mudflaps. Don't drop the tranny, unhook everything on the engine then slightly jack up the tranny and engine together you will be able to get to the torque converter bolts from under the engine(this is much easier than any other way). Place a jackstand under the tranny while it is jacked and you will have it in the right spot to reconnect when you drop the engine back in. I usually just leave the engine hanging from the lift while I do seals and such instead of on a stand so that you can get to all of the engine. When unhooking all of the engine connections look for the simplest dissconnection point even if it is farther away from the component that you are unhooking. I use tape with numbers on each side of each thing I unhook and have a master list that I write down what was disconnected so I can check it off when I reinstall.

Thank you guys for the offer but I ended up finding some at Aarons Auto Wrecking in Seattle for a good deal. They are a subaru only wrecker and seem to offer most anything you need at a good price.

Hi, I am a old member that hasn't used the site in a long time so I had to re register. I recently bent two wheels on my 93 legacy wagon and am looking for OEM alloys (the ones with 18 small teardrops around the outside edge and a center cap to cover the lugs they are 14". The only places I can find want about $180/each. Does anyone have a resource for used rims such as a subaru only wrecker or ?. Or if anyone has some that they upgraded from and want to make a deal on. I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks