My Subary died and I need help to fix it

[Louise the ferretlady]

Hello all!
I'm calling on your expertise to help me diagnose and fix my 95 Legacy
Wagon.
My brother is a mecanic without a garage, and not a Subaru expert, but
if he can be pointed in the right direction,
it would really help.
The Story: I was driving home from an outcity trip. Stopped to pee,
get back in the car, reverse from the parking spot, bet back in first
gear, go about 2-3 feet forward, and the car just dies. This was not a
stall. Engine was warm. Tried to restart, but not even a cough, nada.
The starter is almost new. Had her towed home. (Thank goodness for
CAA) Once we were home, we checked the gas pump (Had issues with that
on my previous Subaru.) The gas makes it to the engine just fine. My
brother pulled a spark plug and checked, no spark. He looked at the
fuse boxes, and they are fine. He's wondering about a dead relay, and
where it would be. I just hope it's not the timing belt! The car has
over 300 thousand Ks on her, mostly hightway.
I appreciate any help provided.
Thank you!

Louise the ferretlady

 

[Tony Hwang]

Hello all!
I'm calling on your expertise to help me diagnose and fix my 95 Legacy
Wagon.
My brother is a mecanic without a garage, and not a Subaru expert, but
if he can be pointed in the right direction,
it would really help.
The Story: I was driving home from an outcity trip. Stopped to pee,
get back in the car, reverse from the parking spot, bet back in first
gear, go about 2-3 feet forward, and the car just dies. This was not a
stall. Engine was warm. Tried to restart, but not even a cough, nada.
The starter is almost new. Had her towed home. (Thank goodness for
CAA) Once we were home, we checked the gas pump (Had issues with that
on my previous Subaru.) The gas makes it to the engine just fine. My
brother pulled a spark plug and checked, no spark. He looked at the
fuse boxes, and they are fine. He's wondering about a dead relay, and
where it would be. I just hope it's not the timing belt! The car has
over 300 thousand Ks on her, mostly hightway.
I appreciate any help provided.
Thank you!

Louise the ferretlady

You say your brother is a mechanic, Eh?
Is he real mechanic?

 

[Louise the ferretlady]

You say your brother is a mechanic, Eh?
Is he real mechanic?

Yes, and at least I know he won't overcharge me for inexistent repairs. I just moved and had to leave my trusty regular mechanic across the country.

I was advised to add to my description that the engine for this car is
a 2.2l with an ignition module.

Louise the ferretlady

 

[Bob Noble]

I was advised to add to my description that the engine for this car is
<a 2.2l with an ignition module.

What Louise means is there isn't the normal distributor.
I drive the older ones that still have the normal destructor and am not yet
familiar with these newer units.
--
Bob Noble
http://www.sonic.net/bnoble

You say your brother is a mechanic, Eh?
Is he real mechanic?

Yes, and at least I know he won't overcharge me for inexistent repairs. I
just moved and had to leave my trusty regular mechanic across the country.

Louise the ferretlady

 

[houndman]

Hello all!
I'm calling on your expertise to help me diagnose and fix my 95 Legacy
Wagon.
My brother is a mecanic without a garage, and not a Subaru expert, but
if he can be pointed in the right direction,
it would really help.
The Story: I was driving home from an outcity trip. Stopped to pee,
get back in the car, reverse from the parking spot, bet back in first
gear, go about 2-3 feet forward, and the car just dies. This was not a
stall. Engine was warm. Tried to restart, but not even a cough, nada.
The starter is almost new. Had her towed home. (Thank goodness for
CAA) Once we were home, we checked the gas pump (Had issues with that
on my previous Subaru.) The gas makes it to the engine just fine. My
brother pulled a spark plug and checked, no spark. He looked at the
fuse boxes, and they are fine. He's wondering about a dead relay, and
where it would be. I just hope it's not the timing belt! The car has
over 300 thousand Ks on her, mostly hightway.
I appreciate any help provided.
Thank you!

Louise the ferretlady

Had the same thing happen to a Chevy. Ignition coil quit. Did he
check for a spark back to the coil???

Would like to get a few ferrets, till I can get more Afghan Hounds.
They would probably make a Great team, entertaining, and making me
crazy.))

VF

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Hello all!
I'm calling on your expertise to help me diagnose and fix my 95 Legacy
Wagon.
My brother is a mecanic without a garage, and not a Subaru expert, but
if he can be pointed in the right direction,
it would really help.
The Story: I was driving home from an outcity trip. Stopped to pee,
get back in the car, reverse from the parking spot, bet back in first
gear, go about 2-3 feet forward, and the car just dies. This was not a
stall. Engine was warm. Tried to restart, but not even a cough, nada.
The starter is almost new. Had her towed home. (Thank goodness for
CAA) Once we were home, we checked the gas pump (Had issues with that
on my previous Subaru.) The gas makes it to the engine just fine. My
brother pulled a spark plug and checked, no spark. He looked at the
fuse boxes, and they are fine. He's wondering about a dead relay, and
where it would be. I just hope it's not the timing belt! The car has
over 300 thousand Ks on her, mostly hightway.
I appreciate any help provided.
Thank you!

Louise the ferretlady

The 95s just MIGHT have OBD II and a code reader may provide some clues.
Do you get dash lights? Is the CEL lit?
I would try to get a code or a 'blink' code.
There are many possibilities, bad crank angle sensor, bad ECU, igniter, etc.

Carl

 

[Sam]

Use a multimeter to check the leads going to the ignition module. If
there's power going there, but no spark, then you've got a faulty
ignition module (coil is built into this). Did you check for spark
properly? you need to put a hose clamp around the base of the spark
plug and attach a wire between that and ground so that the plug will
spark.

 

[AS]

The 95 had issues with the crankshaft position sensor. Go straight to
that one and check it. Hope this helps.

Good luck!

AS

 

[Dominic Richens]

I take it you _don't_ have the check engine light on? You car _is_ OBDII
compliant (I know, I have the exact same car) and will tell you what it
thinks the problem is.

However, just last month I had my ignition coil go - but only one cylinder
so I drove it to my neighbourhood mechanic (about 2km).

In my case, I got a misfire code from the computer, but they can fail all
together and in that case I can't see you getting any code.

Louise the ferretlady

Dominic the beejock