uncutchemist

I'm going to call this one a closed case. I put over 50 miles on it today, and it is running fine. I am getting the front oxygen sensor code. I will replace that ASAP. Thanks to everyone who provided insight. You are appreciated for every amount of effort.

I did test light the coil. That is why I originally changed the coil thinking it was the issue initially. I tested lighted the cam position sensor, the crank position sensor, the ignitor (and multimeter tested the ignitor since test lights won't work on two of the four wires even if functioning), fuses and relays. I didn't check compression or fuel pressure. Here is what I did. Pulled the air intake manifold. Disconnected any connectors. I did not find any melted or frayed wires on anything anywhere under the intake manifold. Reconnected everything and re-installed the air intake manifold. Check the Main Wiring Harness coming from the O2 Sensor I followed the positive wire from the oxygen sensor. It eventually tied into two other paths. One lead to a connector that led towards the transmission. (Didn't check it further.) The other led towards a main connector that connects to many things under the air intake manifold. In particular this positive wire leads to (I think it is called) the purge control solinoid valve. All wires are intact. No fraying. No melted wire. No shorts. I reconnected everything. I checked the O2 sensor for the 20th time. I got curious and switched the two white wires at the front O2 sensor where it is housed in the plastic connector. I tried to start the car: IT WORKED! I let it run for awhile and warm up. I threw the code: P0135 It ran for the next 35 minutes without dying. Previously, once warmed up it would stall and day. Eventually, it stopped working entirely and stopped giving any spark. I cleared the code, restarted it again, and waited. No code was thrown again. Thinking that it could be due to the switched wires, I tried switching them back to before. It still started up fine. I switched them once again for superstitious reasons. It still starts up. Preliminary Conclusion Either some connector was not connected well or not at all. By taking everything off and on again, I seated a connector that was not previously seated properly, or I cleaned the contacts just enough by removal and re-instillation. Sadly, I have not pinpointed what the issue was that causes the no spark issue. I NEED to test drive my car and will as soon as I can get it out of the garage. (I'm blocked in.) I will update as soon as I confirm it is working properly.

Thanks to everyone who is posting and helping out. It is a big help in big ways. I had previously disconnected the MAF hoping it would start. No start, no spark with the MAF disconnected. I did check for the fusible link. I don't have one. I do have fuse that is bolted in. It tested good with the test light. I rechecked all of my fuses with the test light. They all checked good. Relays tested well. (Switched them to the horn position and honk tested them.) I light tested the fuses under the dash with a test light. They work fine. There are three wires on the O2 sensor. One black and two whites. A white and black one was crossed. This weekend I am going to pull off the intake manifold so I can see the wire harnesses underneath. I am going to follow the O2 wires and see if there are any melted or crossed wires. After that I will pull off the timing cover and check the timing. I did pull it off to make sure it didn't snap. It is not an old timing belt, so I think it should be good. Then again, I don't fully understand what would cause it to potentially skip a tooth in the belt. I will recheck the fuel pressure and figure out a way to test vacuum to the valves. (I don't understand how this would give a no spark, but I'll do it.)

I had credit at a local junkyard so I picked up a MAF sensor. No change. I had it looked it by someone who supposedly knows Subaru's. He said he thought the ECU was bad. I ordered the ECU and replaced it. No change. I re-installed the original ECU sensor. (Added this as an edit for clarity.)

Hey FairTax4me, thanks for the input. I met a Subaru technician and he is coming to look at it this weekend. I'm convinced at this point it is the ECU, but I'm going to let him put in his 2 cents. I will update as soon as I have it figured out.

1998 Subaru Forester I had recently replaced the front axles and after the first test drive, I started having the following issues. It should be noted that I did get my wires crossed to the front O2 sensor during the axle change. (Accidently got pulled and switched one of the grounds and power wire! Dohhh!! Didn't notice until after the following issues.) Car was stalling and not getting power. During the stalling giving it gas through the pedal caused no response. (It would not run long enough to get it somewhere to get it coded for the check engine light.) Tested fuel pressure and it was a little low at 28 psi. Installed New Fuel Pump and Fuel Filter After Fuel Pump and Fuel Filter change, the car still had the stalling and dying issues once warmed up. You can smell the fuel being injected so it is getting fuel. The coil pack was getting intermittent spark. Tested spark using a plug wired to the coil against the engine. Bought a crank shaft sensor and ordered an ignition coil. Installed New Crank Shaft Sensor Still getting intermittent spark. Ordered new ignition coil. My diesel mechanic father in law fiddled with it a bit with a test light. (I've been told this is a big no, no after the fact.) Now, car will not start at all. Now, there is no spark what-so-ever. Still could not get anywhere to get it coded. So, I ordered a Vgate Bluetooth OBD2 reader and Torque Android App. Installed New Ignition Coil Did not resolve the issue. No start. No spark. After 3 attempts to start, battery died. Recharged battery. Checked codes. (Should have done this before the ignition coil install.) No codes, maybe due to disconnecting battery. Installed Junkyard Igniter and Cam Position Sensor (Tried 2 different Igniters and Cam Sensors) No change. Tried reading stored memory codes by connecting black connectors under dash No stored codes. ??Maybe from disconnected battery cleared ECU?? Connected Green connectors for Diagnostic Test Mode The car will not start at all, so I do not think this will do much good, but I thought I would test it out. This showed up the usual codes for this action: (Really don't think this was useful, but I don't know.) P0130 P0136 P0500 P1100 P1101 P1120 P1121 P1540 Is my ECU fried? How can I test this using a multimeter or any other test. I'm freaking out, and I do not know what to do at this point. I have put in $150 so far, but it seems it is probably cheaper than a diagnostics at a repair shop. I'll have to get it towed to a repair shop soon if I can't get it running. Any help is super appreciated!