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96 Outback died wont run

Featured Replies

DOuble check the timing. Before you buy any parts make sure you get a heartbeat from the cam and crank position sensors.

 

nipper

  • Author
DOuble check the timing. Before you buy any parts make sure you get a heartbeat from the cam and crank position sensors.

 

nipper

is there a way to test the cam and crank sensor?

Yes there is, get yourself a haynes manula it will tell you how. I would type it in but twice the site has crashed on me when i went into detail and lost the response.

 

grrrrrr

 

Msg me with your email and i can scan you the pages, but the if that doesnt work your going to want the manual anyway..

  • Author
Yes there is, get yourself a haynes manula it will tell you how. I would type it in but twice the site has crashed on me when i went into detail and lost the response.

 

grrrrrr

 

Msg me with your email and i can scan you the pages, but the if that doesnt work your going to want the manual anyway..

i took the cam sensor out and put the meter leads across the 2 terminals and got a 2.021 k ohms resistance,does this seem acceptable?

Thats one part of the test. Get the haynes manual.

The sensor is an hall effect sensor. As a metal tab passes by the sensor and makes an AC pulse. You need an analog meter to check for the heartbeats as you turn the engine over either by hand or with a breaker bar. You need to check both sensors. A digital meter will not pick up the pulse. The pulses should be of the same voltage. They are not evenly apart (hence why you should have the manual). to see the pattern. The crankshaft pattern is not evenly spaced.

You need to rotate the crank 360 degrees to make sure it reads all the pulses, as this will rule out any missing tabs.

  • Author
Thats one part of the test. Get the haynes manual.

The sensor is an hall effect sensor. As a metal tab passes by the sensor and makes an AC pulse. You need an analog meter to check for the heartbeats as you turn the engine over either by hand or with a breaker bar. You need to check both sensors. A digital meter will not pick up the pulse. The pulses should be of the same voltage. They are not evenly apart (hence why you should have the manual). to see the pattern. The crankshaft pattern is not evenly spaced.

You need to rotate the crank 360 degrees to make sure it reads all the pulses, as this will rule out any missing tabs.

i have a manual but no ocillascope

  • Author

my friend just came over and hooked his obd2 scanner up to the car and there was no power to his scanner from the ALDL,also when i turn on the car the check engine light does not come on and it should when starting it.does this sound like a bad ecu?

i have a manual but no ocillascope

 

 

You dont need a scope, you just need an analog meter, Follow what the Hayens manula says, they literally spell it out for you.

 

 

nipper

my friend just came over and hooked his obd2 scanner up to the car and there was no power to his scanner from the ALDL,also when i turn on the car the check engine light does not come on and it should when starting it.does this sound like a bad ecu?

 

Your jumping to conclusions again. KISS (keep it simple.....). Check the fuses.

 

nipper

  • Author

i checked the fuses and all are good.im now thinking the computer might not be any good.

Make sure there is power getting to the ECU, as there are two power feeds to the ECU. one via the fuel pump relay. Check the fuel pump relay coil to make sure its not open.. The power to the ecu SHOULD be wht/blu and VIO(let).

 

nipper

  • Author
Make sure there is power getting to the ECU, as there are two power feeds to the ECU. one via the fuel pump relay. Check the fuel pump relay coil to make sure its not open.. The power to the ecu SHOULD be wht/blu and VIO(let).

 

nipper

i checked the fuel pump relay and it has power with the key turned on,tomorrow i will see if the computer is getting power.i took the covers off the computer and it looked good inside.

the relay is getting power, but is it passing through the relay coil (which then goes to the ECU).

 

Yel/Vio and Yel/Blu go to the coil ignitor from the ECU. Check to see if there is a signal coming out of those. If that all checks out, then its worth looking at the ecu.

 

nipper

  • Author
the relay is getting power, but is it passing through the relay coil (which then goes to the ECU).

 

Yel/Vio and Yel/Blu go to the coil ignitor from the ECU. Check to see if there is a signal coming out of those. If that all checks out, then its worth looking at the ecu.

 

nipper

i checked the yellow violet and yellow blue wire going to the ignitor with the key turned on there was no power on the test light.There was power to the red green wire and blue wire going to the ignitor.

You need to crank the engine to see if there is a signal in those wires. Those are the wires that tell the ignitor to fire the coil, so they will be a pulse.

 

Out of curiosity, check to see if the fuel injectors are getting signal.

 

 

nipper

  • Author
You need to crank the engine to see if there is a signal in those wires. Those are the wires that tell the ignitor to fire the coil, so they will be a pulse.

 

Out of curiosity, check to see if the fuel injectors are getting signal.

 

 

nipper

i checked the wires while cranking it over and still no power from those wires.i will try and make a noid light to see if any power is going to the injectors.

i just want to rule out everything before you chase down an ECU. Its sounding more and more like an ecu. If:

 

Crank Sensor tests good

Cam sensor tests good

No signal to the ignitor

no signal to the injectors

ECU is receiving power from both sources

ECU ground is good

 

then i would agree its the ECU.

 

nipper

  • Author
i just want to rule out everything before you chase down an ECU. Its sounding more and more like an ecu. If:

 

Crank Sensor tests good

Cam sensor tests good

No signal to the ignitor

no signal to the injectors

ECU is receiving power from both sources

ECU ground is good

 

then i would agree its the ECU.

 

nipper

i opened up the ecu and it looked good,i didnt see any fried parts.what about the fuel pump regulator could it be that?

i opened up the ecu and it looked good,i didnt see any fried parts.what about the fuel pump regulator could it be that?

To be honest, unless the ecu cooked something, i couldnt tell from looking at it either.

 

You said the fuel pump realy is working.

 

you need air fuel spark to start a car. You have air. Without spark fuel is useless. Spark comes from the cam/crank sensor, sends a signal to the ECU, the ECU tells the ignitor to send a signal to the coils.

 

The Fuel pump relay coil low side goes to the ECU. You said there is power on the low side.

 

You said there was no power for a code reader. You checked that the ECU has power.

 

Last check assuming you checked the position sensors is are the fuel injectors getting any signal.

  • Author

i just checked the injectors and there was no power to them.

The way the injectors work is that they get power from the ECU, and the low side goes back to the ecu to switch the injectors on and off.

 

Time to look for an ecu.

 

nipper

  • Author

there is a 96 outback at the wrecking yard but it has the smaller ej22 motor.will the ecu work out of that?i know with some gm s the ecu s where interchangable but you had to change the prom.

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