87 RX Distributer/Timing

February 14, 201115 yr

ok, so bear with me, i'll start from the begining...

Soon after i bought my RX, i started having power issues and within a day, it would not start, it would crank, but never start. after troubleshooting and checking the ECU code, i found that the ECU seemed to think it was the Crankshaft Position sensor, i think it was code #11. i searched and found no info on the subject, and to confuse things i talked to a mechanic at a subaru dealership and he said subies always flash #11. I gave in and took it to the mechanic.

The mechanic said when using a timing light, they found the distibuter would fire sometimes, but other times wont at all. Wierd. so they replaced the disty, or so i thought and my car could drive.

After a while i realized i could never go above 3000 Rpm and some of the same problems were happening again. this time i assumed the same issue, and advanced the distributer until it ran fine. It ran great but was only getting about 18 MPG tops.

Just two weeks ago my little subie ate the timing belt for dinner. durring the diagnosing process, i managed to remove the distributer.

I replaced the timing belt, and i may have messed up the drivers side belt, missed by maybe one tooth, My car ran, but not above 2000rpm so i figured the timing is off and i need to repossition the distributer. after adjusting the distributer again and again and again it never came back to life, never even start. It at least ran before, even if the timing belt was off a bit, Now i assume that i not only need to pull the belts off and make sure i get them right but maybe i need to replace the distributer, being that the crank sensor problem never seems to have been fixed?

Feedback? I told the whole story in case somewhere along the line i got the wrong info or came to the wrong conclusions.