turboxtman Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 i just bought a 86 subaru xt turbo for $500 and i cant get it running , the car cranks but won't fire up i thought it was starving for fuel cause i couldnt hear the fuel pump when i turned the key so i jumped the pump with a 12v batt and its working , i then did some research on this site and found out when i connected the green connectors it would pulse fuel pump so i removed the fuel line in front of the fuel filter (which is new btw) and i'm gettin fuel the the engine when i connect greens as i put a bottle on end of line to see if it caught fuel.... so my next step was to check spark , i pulled one plug from front left side of motor and am getting good spark there , do i need to check all the other spark plugs now ? or would a good next step by loosening the distributor and moving it back and forth to see if it will start in a different position ? anything else i should be looking for ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboxtman Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 i moved the distributor to other positions and it still wont start , so im gonna go out and check that the plugs are in right firing order Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboxtman Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 btw i checked the codes , not sure if i did it correct because when green wasnt plugged in and also when it was plugged in i got the same code 12 and someone said that just means system is ready ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 You need to check the timing belts, the drivers side could be broke. Remove the disty cap and crank it over. If the rotor doesnt turn, its broken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 You need to check the timing belts, the drivers side could be broke. Remove the disty cap and crank it over. If the rotor doesnt turn, its broken. In his first post he states he is getting spark so if it is a broken timing belt, it'll be the passenger side. Since you know you have spark and fuel, make sure its good spark going to all 4 cylinders. Also, the next step might be to do a compression test. I had an EA82 SPFI that had no compression on 2 cylinders as the engine was overheated and dropped the valve guides thus keeping the intake valves open slightly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboxtman Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 rotor turns freely when dist cap off, i took sparkplug out of #1 cylinder closest to front bumper on pass side ? i used straw and im almost certain that its tdc now and the rotor button is pointing away from #1, do i need to loosen and lift dist then turn rotor until it points to #1 then push dist back in and tighten it ? or do you think the passenger side timing belt is broke ? when #1 is at tdc where are the marks i need to look to make sure they are all aligned? all i can see is like 7 indented circles on a pulley... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboxtman Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 i'm gonna go ahead and tear the whole front of the motor off so i can see the marks on the flywheel and make sure they are lined up and time it all from there if they are off... were the timing belts that came from factory on these cars made in mexico or would that mean its been replaced before and possibly timed wrong ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 maybe someone repaired the belts and installed them wrong, and sold it to you. if so, either the disty is 180 deg off, or the cams are out of phase, which happens when you skip the 360 deg crank rotation after installing the first belt. look up the ea82 timing belt article and follow the motions, start from there. save yourself the trouble and remove all of the t-belt covers and leave them off. remove the inside covers behind the cam pulleys. http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2724 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 rotor turns freely when dist cap off... Please clarify: Does the rotor turn if you grab the rotor and try to turn it by hand? In other words, did the screw that holds the rotor to the distributor shaft fall out so that the rotor is no longer keyed to the shaft? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 until we understand the circumstances how you got this car, and it's history, i could only assume the timing belt alignment or timing may be off if you got the car in its current condition, and off due to an attempted repair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboxtman Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 northwet, rotor is still keyed but it turned well when i cranked car ,,, and miles i bought it in almost perfect cosmetic condition from a kid that was gonna scrap it he said that he thought it was a carb prob but apparently he had no clue what he was talking about because it fuel injected, i can only assume also that he tried to fix the timing belt as it had a made in mexico timing belt and someone had also marked on the cam pulleys where they were supposed to line cams up , tomm im checking the notches on the fly wheel ... i was looking on the front of the motor for the notches until i just watched your video Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 rotor turns freely when dist cap off, i took sparkplug out of #1 cylinder closest to front bumper on pass side ? i used straw and im almost certain that its tdc now and the rotor button is pointing away from #1, do i need to loosen and lift dist then turn rotor until it points to #1 then push dist back in and tighten it ? or do you think the passenger side timing belt is broke ? when #1 is at tdc where are the marks i need to look to make sure they are all aligned? all i can see is like 7 indented circles on a pulley... If it TDC in the exhaust stroke the rotor will be pointing away from cyl 1. The cam spins half the speed of the crank, so only every other time the piston is at TDC will the rotor point at that cyl in the disty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 In his first post he states he is getting spark so if it is a broken timing belt, it'll be the passenger side. Since you know you have spark and fuel, make sure its good spark going to all 4 cylinders. Also, the next step might be to do a compression test. I had an EA82 SPFI that had no compression on 2 cylinders as the engine was overheated and dropped the valve guides thus keeping the intake valves open slightly Yeah, that happens when I read a run-on sentence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboxtman Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 ok so heres update , cam timing was good... when i checked both sets of III notches on the flywheel the cam notches lined up , when i turned flywheel to 0 the rotor was pointing away from #1 cylinder so i lifted distributor and turned it to #1 but car still wont crank . Was I supposed to connect green connectors before i lifted and turned distributor ? I guess next step would be to check the rest of the sparkplugs and make sure they are all getting spark (I had only checked #1 plug) distributor might be bad? I can tell that the rotor button and dist cap are new, and the plug wires are new, the sparkplugs could prob be replaced tho p.s. sorry about run on sentences I never really paid much attention in english class, the girl that sat in front of me was waaaay to hott! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 ok so heres update , cam timing was good... when i checked both sets of III notches on the flywheel the cam notches lined up... "Both sets"??? There is only one set of triple-lines. Do you man that you turned the flywheel until the bellhousing pointer pointed at the middle line of the 3 lines, checked that ONE of the cam sprockets was aligned with its mark, then turned the crank one full rotation until the 3 lines on the flywheel appeared again and checked that the OTHER cam sprocket aligned with its mark? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboxtman Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 yes thats what i meant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboxtman Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 I checked the other spark plugs and the rest either had very weak yellow spark or no spark at all , so i replaced the coil with an accel coil and i'm getting alot better spark and its sparking on all plugs. It got dark before i was able to gap all the plugs and try firing it up again tho. I also discovered when i was testing the #3 plug that there was alot of gas in the #3 cylinder as it came shooting out of the cylinder into my fathers face when i was cranking it and he was watching for spark.... do u think the injector maybe stuck open ? or maybe it just had gotten flooded by trying to turn it over when it has really bad spark ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboxtman Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 installed new sparkplugs and ignition coil and car still wont fire sounds a little bit closer tho , I was looking around engine to see if anything was disconnected and noticed a sensor or something that someone had added butt connectors to so i lifted one of the wires going to it (black and white) and it was barely sitting in the connector. so it prob wasnt working at alll ... would this keep the car from starting ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboxtman Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 the "sensor" is between the throttle body and the flywheel opening to check timing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboxtman Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 so with a lil research I found that this is the knock sensor ? can someone take a pic of their knock sensor plug so i can tell which wire to hook onto which post I guess i will have to use barrel connectors since its seems i'm missing the harness top... If this sensor is bad would it not allow car to start ? I'm getting so frustrated , I got good spark after replacing coil and plugs, getting fuel to the engine cause i checked in front of filter and know for sure its at least getting to cylinder 3 cause it was flooded when i checked for spark, but car wont even sputter or fire at all and its driving me bananas:banana: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I think that may be the engine temp sensor. It is located near the turbo. the knock sensor wouls screw into the block. the coolant temp sensor threads into the intake. Timing should be set at 25 deg btdc for 1986 mpfi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naru Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Knock sensor won`t prevent motor from starting. IIRC,it does not matter which way you hook up the wires. Ignition timing will be off now. I think you have an injector stuck open. I would see if the fuel system holds pressure. Inspect plugs/check wires/compression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruparts Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 installed new sparkplugs and ignition coil and car still wont fire sounds a little bit closer tho , I was looking around engine to see if anything was disconnected and noticed a sensor or something that someone had added butt connectors to so i lifted one of the wires going to it (black and white) and it was barely sitting in the connector. so it prob wasnt working at alll ... would this keep the car from starting ? hi, this is the knock sensor, it won't keep it from starting,,, how old is the fuel in this car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboxtman Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 ok cool, so to change it to 25 btdc i turn flywheel to 25 then move rotor to point to #1? i think ur right about stuck injector on #3 cylinder... how do i check fuel system pressure? and the car was almost empty so i added a gal or so of new fuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 To set timing, you hook the green diagnostic connectors together (the ones back next to your XTs ECU in the trunk), hook up a timing light, start the engine and turn the distributor until the proper timing marks are aligned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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