dave833 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 My dad's '99 Outback overheats occasionally-- I suspect the head gaskets are on the way out- anyway, it was being driven on the freeway a few nights ago and began to overheat so the driver pulled over, let it cool down, added coolant and then attempted to start it, but it wouldn't start. He towed it to my house and I attempted to get it to start. There appears to be no spark coming from the coil pack- I've pulled a plug wire, stuck in a nail, and touched it to metal on the engine-- no spark. I substituted another coil pack which I'm fairly sure was good, and still no spark. I substituted a couple different ignition modules and that made no difference either. I looked at all of the fuses and fusible links I could think of and they were all good. When I crank it over it at least sounds like it has some compression. The timing belt is still on the pulleys-- I replaced it myself for him about 15k miles ago. So I'm scratching my head here-- is there a sensor or sensors involved that triggers the coil to spark that could have gone out? I can't see why the engine overheating would prevent the coil from generating a spark. Anyone have any other ideas? It does appear to be getting fuel-- I even sprayed some starter fluid into the throttle body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 Can you check to see if it has any codes set? There is the ignitor between the ECU and ignition coil, sometimes those go flaky, though if it's just one of the transistor pairs you would probably still get spark on 2 cyls and not on the other 2. The cam and crank position sensors might be involved but I forget which or either being faulty would make it have no spark. Though in that case I would expect to see code(s) set. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 crank position sensor could have been cooked I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PA Grown Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 Check to make sure all your fuse blocks have power, the things the fuses go into. I had a freak accident in my efi 85 Toyota and the fuse block to my ECU lost power so I wasn't getting any spark and I checked everything from the plugs to the ignition coil and nothing... Ecu possibly causing no spark. Weird spoob can happen time to time. It took me a month to get the problem finally tracked down. So I hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bushwick Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 Assuming all fuses are good, I'll 2nd the crank position sensor. If they fail or short out, either the engine won't run, or it'll run roughly to intermittently. Worth checking the harness wire running to it. The fact the engine was overheating might just be coincidence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave833 Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 I pulled 4 CEL codes and there was one for cylinder 4 misfire, one for something to do with the evap system, one that was "manufacturer control" or something, and one other generic code of some kind. Nothing that related to the crank sensor, but I'll probably replace it anyway just to see what happens. New ones are pretty cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 do you recall the numbers? - P0xyz w'ever? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bushwick Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 (edited) It could still be the CPS. It's a vital sensor to getting the engine to start and it's needed to provide spark. If you have a volt/ohm meter, you can verify if yours is working or not. It should have certain values across it's pins (sensor side, unplugged). If the ohms are off, replace it. Get the no-spark issue sorted and do a hard rest with the neg battery terminal pulled. Once the engine starts and runs, see what codes are left. Also, the head gaskets on these engines are very to replace. rockauto.com sells them for next to nothing. It's not worth warping the head, having coolant in the oil, and toasting the engine to ignore as the alternative will require new heads, shaved heads, new engine, etc. Edited November 5, 2014 by Bushwick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave833 Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 I've done head gaskets on these before, but to be honest this car's a beater on its last legs and isn't worth investing much more time and money in. It hasn't been taken care of, and replacing the head gaskets won't change the poor condition it's in otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave833 Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 Gone to the junkyard today-- never did find out what was wrong with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bushwick Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 That stinks. Around here the EJ2x engines are a dime a dozen and go for less than $150. Swap in a new block and/or heads, and you could have more life out of it or sold for 2-3 times easy what scrap prices go for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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