Blair D Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 Right, so, I have a 96 Legacy Outback, 2.2 liter 5 speed. 274K on the clock. I will be making a very long story short. So please ask anything I may leave out. This all took place over the course of a few weeks. -Car randomly wouldn't start, after some time and a check engine light, it started. I had the codes read. P0340, Cam sensor fault code. -let it act up again with the same code. -after some research, I started with the cam position sensor. The car started, I went about my day. -random no start again. This time, cam and crank sensor fault codes came up. bought a crank sensor, car started before I put it in. -random no start once more, install the new crank sensor, car started later than normal, but started. -both cam and crank sensors are new now. The car is now not starting again, within ten minutes of the crank sensor install. Only this time, its not starting at all. Trying it a few times over the course of 2 hours or so. When it starts the car runs flawlessly. No knocks, makes good power, idles smoothly. So it really feels like an intelligence/electrical problem. Either way, I am stumped now. Anyone heard of this at all? Any suggestions?
johnegg Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 check the timing . remove the cam sprocket timing covers, 3 bolts each , turn the crank with a socket / ratchet until the cam timing marks are straight up. do they match?
Blair D Posted May 22, 2015 Author Posted May 22, 2015 Ok, so, ignoring the white painted marks and going by the hash mark in the steel on the cam sprockets they both are now pointing straight up. Going by a little cutout on the rear timing cover that is identical on both sides. They are a little off from one another, but its barely visible. Like a degree or two maybe.
Blair D Posted May 23, 2015 Author Posted May 23, 2015 *update* I took it all apart and set the timing on its marks. the drivers side cam I couldn't get exactly on, it is about the hashmarks width off, everything else is spot on. It still wont start. I managed to borrow a code reader and it had stored P0340 and P0335. I cleared them and tried to start it again and it sits now not starting with P0340. I have left the nose of the engine apart, just the essential stuff is there, but that shouldn't have any impact on whether it starts or not right? I am lost. Starting to wonder if I got bad parts or something.
Blair D Posted May 24, 2015 Author Posted May 24, 2015 Ladies and gentlemen, you are going to freaking love this. After I struggled along trying to make sure I had in fact put the engine back in proper timing and all that, the car wouldn't start as you know. I had some ugly words with the car and sat down to think about it. On a whim I put the old cam position sensor back in it and the car started immediately. It has started3-4 times in a row since then. Both just sitting and after a longer drive. I have warrantied the cam sensor and I should get the new one tomorrow. This whole situation means I should be Ohms testing the sensors I have. Does anyone know what value I should be getting from a good working cam or crank position sensor?
doublechaz Posted May 25, 2015 Posted May 25, 2015 I don't know the sensor test procedure and numbers. I will add, probably not related but I'll put it out for the world to hear, that I had a random no start problem a while back. I was getting really strange key in behaviour with no start perhaps every 20 or 30 starts with no detectable pattern to hot/cold start, driving conditions, weather, etc. Around the same time I was getting sometimes a radio reboot and headlight dim for just a blink every time I touched the brake pedal before any braking force was applied. This all turned out to be that the positive battery connector had corroded through and was making sometimes a weak connection, other times it seemed fine. So probably not related to your problem, but when it comes to electrical weirdness it pays to start at the beginning and make sure things are good. If your cam position sensor doesn't fix this I would say follow its wire back and see if there are any rubs/fatigues/pinches/corrosions.
johnegg Posted May 25, 2015 Posted May 25, 2015 check the wiring connector. it is odd that the new sensor is bad but it dose happen sometimes. but to have it run so well with the old one back in, it could be a wiring / connector problem.
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