I have a 96 legacy outback wagon. I was driving and lost power. I pushed the gas and nothing. It was running a little rough before that happened. I checked the fuel and i have fuel (so it is not the fuel pump) and i have spark.

My question is could it be a sensor of some sort or is it more than likely a timing belt?

Also, i have noticed that i have oil in the coolant. I thought that may be a head gasket issue, but i wasn't sure.

 

I have it at a shop, but want to know if i should just get a used motor and replace it or if it worth it to find out if it could be a sensor or something small. It has the 2.2 L 4 cylinder motor in it.

 

Thanks,

 

Jason

How many miles? Is it an auto trans? Has it ever overheated?

 

Oil in the coolant isn't a good sign. Usually that means a head gasket, which isn't common on the 22. But it could also be a leak in the transmission oil cooler which is inside the end tank of the radiator.

Is the CEL on? How many miles are on the vehicle? As mentioned HG's arent nearly as a common problem on the 2.2 as the N/A 2.5's however its not out of the question...Do you notice any external leakage from the HG area? Has the car overheated at all? Does the vehicle start?

220,000 on the car. No, the engine will turn over, but will not start. Auto Tranny. The car has been real good as far as not overheating since i have had it. The temp actually stays really steady. The other interesting thing is that there is no oil or coolant leaks. The car doesn't leak anything.

 

CEL is not on. Since the car lost power it will turn over, but not fire. I do have spark and fuel. CEL and all the other dashboard lights came on when i lost power, but it isn't on right now when i try to start the car.

Yeah that's normal for the lights to come on if the engine stalls. I'm gonna guess at maybe a broken or jumped timing belt. Unless you've had it replaced in the last 20k miles?

Yeah that's normal for the lights to come on if the engine stalls. I'm gonna guess at maybe a broken or jumped timing belt. Unless you've had it replaced in the last 20k miles?

 

that's what I'm thinking too

When mine jumped a few teeth it kind of puttered to a stop. would crank over and nce in awhile it almost sounded like it would start but didn't

Agree with others, my money is on a broken timing belt. I can't remember but I think in 96, the 2.2 motor was non-interference, so your valves may not be damaged.

How long have you owned the car? When was the motor swapped? What year is the motor? Do you know who did the work and when it was done?

 

The reason I ask is in a 96 OBW only the 5-speed had the 2.2 The autos came through with the 2.5. Double check and report back.

 

IF you do indeed have a 2.2 the 95-96 were non-interference, the 97-up are interference but people have gotten lucky with them.

 

Sorry but MY first thoughts were of an unknown mileage motor bieng dropped in without doing any of the maintanance (like a timing belt and idlers) by the previous owner then unloading it in a hurry.

My guess is the airflow meter. Had the same symptom when the one on my wagon failed. Replaced it with a $5 used one 4 years ago and still running strong.

My first bet from the info you've given is skipped/broken t-belt...

Oil in the coolant isn't a good sign. Usually that means a head gasket, which isn't common on the 22. But it could also be a leak in the transmission oil cooler which is inside the end tank of the radiator.

 

How do i determine if this is the issue? Do i need to pull the radiator? So the tranny oil cooler is inside the bottom of the radiator?

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

Jason

How long have you owned the car? When was the motor swapped? What year is the motor? Do you know who did the work and when it was done?

 

The reason I ask is in a 96 OBW only the 5-speed had the 2.2 The autos came through with the 2.5. Double check and report back.

 

IF you do indeed have a 2.2 the 95-96 were non-interference, the 97-up are interference but people have gotten lucky with them.

 

Sorry but MY first thoughts were of an unknown mileage motor bieng dropped in without doing any of the maintanance (like a timing belt and idlers) by the previous owner then unloading it in a hurry.

 

Here is what i know of the engine. I know the guy i bought it from and the guy who owned it before him for about 7 years. So i know the history of this car/motor for the last 7 years. I know the motor was not changed in that time. I believe it is the original motor, but again reading the statement above it sounds like the 2.2 wasn't common in an auto version and this car has always been auto.

 

I do see where you are coming from on the data that i left, i think as far as having a half-rump roast job of putting the motor in i think the Timing belt would have failed alot quicker.

 

I am going to check the AFM today and then if it isn't that is it pretty safe to assume that it is a timing belt? If it is an original 2.2 that is a non-interference motor? (just to double check per your above post).

 

One more quick question in regards to the oil in the coolant. I know the guy before me noticed this and i noticed it when i bought it (Which allowed me great bargaining ability). I assumed it was a head gasket, but could it be a leak from someplace else? I saw a posting that it could be a leak in the tranny cooler? The weird thing is that if it is a head gasket i haven't had any leaks at all.

 

 

Thank you very much for all your help. I really appreciate it.

 

 

Jason

Trans oil cooler will be in the side of the radiator. Drivers side end tank IIRC from looking at cars in the junkyard. There will be two small hoses (1/2" dia.) one about 1/4 of the way form the top, the other down near the bottom for the transmission fluid.

 

It's pretty easy to check with a vacuum gauge, or a cooling system pressure tester. You'll need to remove the lines, and apply vacuum to one side or the other while the opposite side is capped closed. Or you can remove the lines and put pressure in the cooling system and watch for antifreeze to drip from the lower line.

 

I found a picture.

Well here is the update. I was incorrect it is the original 2.5L interference motor in the car. Found a scanner and found the following codes that were stored:

Injector Code

Knock Sensor

Catalytic converter code

 

Not sure where to go next, any ideas? Car turns over and sounds like it is firing ok, but won't start. I figured if it was a timing belt issue i would have had a code indicating something along those lines?

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

Jason

One more thing, i also unplugged the MAF and it still did not start.

First thing, stop cranking it. If its interference with a broken tbelt you're likely to be bending valves depending on where the cams landed. Second, some tbelt covers have small access ports in them for probing. Or pull the cooling fans so you can get access to remove the outer tbelt covers. Go easy on the bolts for the covers as some have captive nuts that spin out if siezed.

Everyone responding here is giving good guesses, however, pulling the codes is really the first thing to do. With a code read out, a lot of guessing is eliminated, when the problem gets defined.