So I am lost. My car just had to be towed home. It runs, but extremely roughly and with no power.

 

At first I thought it was a timing belt skip, but I just took the covers off and verified the belt is on time.

 

So, I checked for spark by using a timing light on all 4 plug wires. The light works for cylinders 1 and 3, but not for 2 and 4. What the hell?

 

What's confusing me is that these cylinders have 2 seperate coil packs. If a coil pack was bad, I would expect 1 and 2 or 3 and 4 to not be firing.

 

What the hell would cause this? Ignition module?

Found my answer. 0 compression on #2 and 30 psi on #4.

 

 

Engine has fresh oil, spark plugs look unmolested. I have no idea what could have happened.

 

And, knowing that a motor off time can create low compression, I checked the timing belt AGAIN. Its spot on. The mark on the back of the crank sprocket is straight up, both cam sprockets right in line with the marks on the case. WTF?

So is this a bad head gasket? I'm not hearing any ugly noises from the lower end, and that is all I can come up with.

 

I need this car (or go buy another one) to take a trip in less than 2 weeks. What can I expect a head gasket repair to cost?

Sorry you guys but i couldn't resist....

sorry to hear about the head gasket problem :cool:

DO a wet and dry compression test. Let us know if the number change. DOuble check the valve timing, even if the belt looks good. Its unusual for a subaru to toss a HG in this manner, usually its just one cylinder that craps out.

 

nipper

Here's the deal. I did a new timing belt 2 weeks ago. I've put about 200 miles on the car since then. It ran fine (and was without a doubt timed right) until it died today.

 

I was sure that I had screwed up the tensioner and that it had skipped teeth on me, but when I took the covers off, it was right on. I checked it, spun it around again, checked it, did it 4 or 5 times to make postively sure it was still on time.

 

I'll try the oil test. However, what will that tell me? If it is still zero when I add oil, does that point to a bad HG?

Oil test will tell you rings or valves. Its just so rare to see numbers that low. The wat Soobies blow HG's is that its just one cylinder that gets a big drop.

 

Are you putting out any smoke? If it was a HG with a joint cylinder failure you should be putting out smoke, or at the very least pushng out a ton of antifreeze.

 

I wonder if the engine ate something.......

 

Or if the cam seized .....

 

Can you put a vacume gauge on the engine and tell us what the needle is doing.

 

nipper

It isn't smoking in the driveway.

 

Antifreeze was about 1/2 gallon low, and it was just filled recently.

 

The cam isn't siezed, or the cam sprocket wouldn't be spinning, unless the cam actually broke, which I seriously doubt.

 

The motor isn't making any scary noises.

 

There is not coolant in the oil either.

 

It was driven about ten miles trying to nurse it home. Finally it got stuck on a hill, died at idle, and would not restart. However, back in my driveway, it starts and runs again, at least on 2 cylinders.

It isn't smoking in the driveway.

 

Antifreeze was about 1/2 gallon low, and it was just filled recently.

 

The cam isn't siezed, or the cam sprocket wouldn't be spinning, unless the cam actually broke, which I seriously doubt.

 

The motor isn't making any scary noises.

 

There is not coolant in the oil either.

 

It was driven about ten miles trying to nurse it home. Finally it got stuck on a hill, died at idle, and would not restart. However, back in my driveway, it starts and runs again, at least on 2 cylinders.

 

If this car was in my driveway, i would start tearing it down, but its not, and i want to rule everything else out before i tell you the same (but i think thats what is going to happen).

 

Top off the cooling system. Look for bubbles in the coolant. YOu should see lots and lots of coolant getting pushed out of the radiator.

 

If you can pressure check the cooling system, that would tell you the same thing.

 

nipper

I did fill it, and ran it, and it wasn't very conclusive. Yes, there were some bubbles, but it could just be a normal settling.

 

The tailpipe wasn't wet either.

 

Bottom line is, I can't tell if its a head gasket or if I have holes in 2 pistons.

 

With my trip, I don't have time to tear into it now, and I'm not going to take it to a shop just for them to tell me the motor is shot. I'm looking for another subaru. Later this summer I can open it up and see what's wrong.

 

I agree that I should be seeing coolant leakage if a gasket blew between the cylinders. However, I'd think I'd be hearing a lot more in ugly noises if if the rings/pistons were destroyed.

There should be zero bubbles in the coolant.

 

there is your answer

 

 

nipper

You wouldn't hear any bad noises if your rings were shot. Just a lot of blue smoke.

 

It does indeed sound like a joint cyl head gasket failure. The 91 T-leg I have did this on the way home when we bought it. It wasn't smoking much at all. But 2&4 were both wet inside when I pulled the heads off.

it would have signs of overheating as well...i see no mention of that?

 

have you checked the timing belt pulleys and tensioners? maybe one is loose or jacked up and causes a problem under load? i'd still expect it to be off teeth but what i'm reading seems scattered.

it would have signs of overheating as well...i see no mention of that?

 

have you checked the timing belt pulleys and tensioners? maybe one is loose or jacked up and causes a problem under load? i'd still expect it to be off teeth but what i'm reading seems scattered.

 

Everything related to the timing belts is right.

 

It never showed that it was overheating on the gauge. However, I did remove the radiator so that I could get an impact wrench on the crank bolt when doing the t belt. Its possible that it had an air pocket in the cooling jacket that allowed it to overheat locally and blow the gasket.

Everything related to the timing belts is right.

 

It never showed that it was overheating on the gauge. However, I did remove the radiator so that I could get an impact wrench on the crank bolt when doing the t belt. Its possible that it had an air pocket in the cooling jacket that allowed it to overheat locally and blow the gasket.

 

That would do it.

 

nipper

is it possible you just don't have all the air out of it yet? i guess it's loosing coolant you say? or maybe it's still settling?

you reattached everyting to the radiator properly...hoses, fans, wires/sensor....