Just pulling into the drive and it died. No noises or smoke. Pulled the disty cap off and it doesn't turn when the engine is cranked, but it is attached with the screw. Pulled the driver's side t-belt cover and the belt is in place with all teeth attached. when car is turned over, the belt moves a little (1/4"), but no other movement is seen. Any help on diagnosing this would be great. I haven't had experience with this part of the suby yet (just cooling and cv's so far) so I am not really sure what to look for.

turn the engine over (preferrably by hand using a socket, but you can use the starter) and see what the timing belt does.

 

you want to verify that the cam sprocket is indeed turning with the belt.

 

most likely the drivers side timing belt is hosed. you pulled the side cover and since you were just pulling in the driveway the belt snapped but the car wasn't driven enough to really tear the belt up. it's now broken down by the crank shaft (which you can't see), so it "appears" okay by the cam sprocket - where you pulled the cover off. check the entire belt and the tensioner. turning the engine over will tell you whether the timing belt is functioning properly or not.

 

i suppose the distributor/cam gear interface could be hosed but that would be odd.

It sounds like a broken timing belt alright.

Easy fix. I have to replace mine twice, the drivers side anyway. The idler pulley froze up and killed the belt. Luckily the car never missed a beat, and belt did not come off, it allowed me to get off the road and turn the car off.

sounds like I am gonna replace the t-belts. What is the best way to remove the crank pulley on at AT EA82

Look at the timing hole on the bell housing. There should be a spot where you could put a wrench on a tab and hold the flexplate/torque convertor in place. Then a breaker bar with a 7/8" or 22mm socket.

Concur on the timing belt - mine (92 EA82) failed due to age and seized idler last month. Of course it did this at 120 kmh on the freeway at 4 PM Sat. a hundred fifty klicks from home. Lost weekend indeed!! I guess I was lucky to coast off the exit and find a shop willing to stay open and wait for the towtruck, as well as having the shop owner pull the covers to diagnose the problem. Not to mention the fact he was OK with working on Subarus, and had me on the road Monday afternoon. Yes this is a plug for Total Automotive in Chilliwack BC. An honest shop.

sounded wise-assed so I deleted it.

yep - on the top of the transmission bell housing is an access hole (sometimes covered by a roughly 1"x1" black rubber plug if it isn't lost to time). rotate the engine until you see a good spot in the flexplate to insert a socket extension. then crank the 22mm pulley bolt loose. you will almost certainly need a pipe over your socket, a breaker bar, or if you're unkind to your sockets and have nothing else a hammer will suffice as your new "impact socket".

 

inspect all of your idler pulleys and seals while you're in there - crank seal, oil pump seals, cam seals, cam cap orings. replace any noisey pulleys or leaking seals.