rztaylor

Found this on another forum. Sorry to the mods if that's not cool, but I didn't find same issue here.. Worth a look maybe on the crank sensor. http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/66-problems-maintenance/43911-99-legacy-wont-start-no-spark.html

I assume you verified fuel and spark?

That left camshaft should be springloaded. Assuming the rest of the marks were on or near the right timing mark, it springing one way or other shouldn't have hurt anything --and besides I think the '96 is a non-interference, so I don't think it's even possible for valves and pistons to meet. When you say, "car will not start", do you mean it sputters and dies, or will not crank at all? I assume you checked all the other connections, didn't unplug the coil, battery is good, etc.?

SOLVED: Put it all back together, started it -- same issue, running rough. It was misfiring, stuck a piece of paper on the exhaust and it was sucking air. So I decided to pull the plugs and do a compression test. Inspecting the plugs as I was pulling them the #1 cylinder plug was bent, no gap. I said a few cuss words. So I continued the compression test, just to confirm things. BUT, compression was great and consistent on all four cylinders. Straightened up the plug, put it back in and it ran just as smooth as it ever has! Yay. The only thing I can figure is when I removed the plug at the beginning to help verify TDC, I must've somehow bent the plug?? I can think of anything else to make it happen. Bottom line, I can change timing belts just fine, but changing plugs is beyond my capability.... Thanks everyone for the help.

That's a good idea, I'll give it a shot thanks! Here's a pic of my left side cam after tension and several rotations. The crank and right side cam are dead on...as you can see it's a little off, like half a mark. If I move the cam back on tooth though, then it's a 39.5 teeth from crankshaft mark. So is this enough of a problem?

No codes, cranks up just fine. Just runs like crap, idles like crap. I would think any idle sensor or ecm problem would throw a code, but I'm scratching my head on what else it could be... It runs like timing is off, but the all three marks appear to align. Tonight I"m going to stop by the store and pick up another belt, just to compare. The belt that I put on was a Gates belt, not sure if people like or hate them. But with the teeth seemingly matching up to spec don't think that's it, but at this point I'm ready to look into anything.

I checked all the hoses, etc coming off the intake, but it certainly doesn't hurt to run through it again, maybe in the shuffling something got pulled off. Thanks. I can take a gander at the cranks sensor too. By cleaning do you mean wiping it off and making sure the connection is good? Does the 2.2L have a camshaft position sensor? I've seen that mentioned in other places, but not sure how that might come into play? Thanks for the suggestions!

The mark is on back side of the crank (on the plate thing..forget what it's called), the keyway being at 6 o'clock. All three marks are lined up before and after tension release. After a couple revolutions (pre-startup), the marks appear to all be aligned. Same with after starting it up. I mean it *might* be an extremely small amount off, like 1/4 tooth on one cam after running a bit. But there wouldn't be anyway to get the cam or belt to be any different. It's goofy.

So I have a 1998 Legacy 2.2. This is my first subaru timing belt change, but I've change half dozen timing belts on other makes and models. This thing is driving me nuts. Car was running great previous to timing belt change. I've taken off and have redone the belt three times, all with it ending with a rough idle and a motor vibration. I align the cam sprockets to rough noon (using hash marks, not the arrows), and put the crankshaft at the right spot too. I'm using a belt with marks, but I always make sure the tooth count is correct 44 on rhs (passenger), 40.5 on lhs(driver). The alignment is good, both before and after turning it back on. I've watched videos, read many forum post and nothing seems to help it smooth out. It sounds and runs like the timings off, but everything is aligned. Can the cams be 360 out of sync? I dont' think so, because the mark is the mark, right? But maybe not. When I put on the belt the passenger side cam is 'unloaded' no spring action when the hash mark is at noon...but the driver side cam is loaded (likes to jump off if I'm tweaking the belt too much without holding it in place). The only other thing that comes to mind is with the battery being disconnected it reset the ecm, and thinks it has a clean throttle body, when it doesn't. So the mix is off. I've had other cars with that problem, but not sure about subarus. Does that happen with Legacys? I've seen conflicting posts with regard to cleaning throttle bodies. This would explain the rough running, but maybe not the motor vibration Any help would be much appreciated.