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97 obw wont start after airbags deployed

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i have a 97 obw w ej25. it hit a tree this winter. both airbags came out and the tree hit dead center. put the a/c conderser and radiator into the motor.. i have a donor car to fix this one.. as i ripped all the scrape metal out i found out it crushed the timing cover and put the timing belt behind the lower pass. side pulley.. i replaced all the pulleys and put the car back into time and replaced both pass and driver side airbags... when i tried to start it up it couched and sputtered and wouldnt stay running. also the cel is flashing and a ticking noise that seems 2 corasponed w the cel light flashing coming from inside the driver side dash.. do i have 2 reset something HELP im lost

It bent all the valves. It's an interference engine. If the belt comes off, the valves hit the pistons.

It bent all the valves. It's an interference engine. If the belt comes off, the valves hit the pistons.

 

Here is your reason.

  • Author

the belt never came off just got pushed behind the lower ideler pulley.. both the upper and lower cam pulleys had spring tension on them when i relased the timing belt.. do u still think this is my problem.. is there anyway 2 tell if the valves are bent w o pulling the heads

It was still running when the impact with the tree caused the belt to jump. This made the pistons, which were still moving, hit the valves which had stopped moving.

  • Author

what is the best way 2 fix this problem.. new valves.. are the heads bad now or cams? not sure what 2 do now?

Easiest option is to find a replacement engine, you can probably get one from Japan for less than 1200.

 

Or, you can pull the heads, replace the valves and make sure the pistons are happy. which will cost you about the same.

One other simple thing to check; if you hit a tree that hard you would likely have tripped the fuel pump reset switch. Turn the key to the run position, and make sure you hear the fuel pump cycle for a second. If it does not, reset the switch (not exactly sure where it located on these cars, usually under a plastic panel in the rear, or in the passenger kick panel).

Subaru doesn't have a fuel pump reset switch of any sort. If the belt came off it bent valves. Sorry.

the belt never came off just got pushed behind the lower ideler pulley.. both the upper and lower cam pulleys had spring tension on them when i relased the timing belt.. do u still think this is my problem.. is there anyway 2 tell if the valves are bent w o pulling the heads

 

You can do a leak down compression test. You might have got lucky and only bent valves on one head.

If you want a good set of heads I have some off a 97 that I can send to you.

 

Do the leak down test first and see which valves are bent and then get back with me.

I broke a belt and ended up having the valves from the 1st and 3rd cylinders getting bent. So rebuilt side halves of the engine... The bottom end was in decent shape :rolleyes: I'm not adding any boost or juice so hopefully I'll get another 200k before the bottom goes...

 

I documented the entire thing if you're looking for some encouragement :grin:

 

http://edwardsatterfield.com/car/

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