Start the Subaru Impretz AWD 1997 2000GT after a flat battery

Tiny
HIGHLANDER1948
  • MEMBER
  • 1997 SUBARU IMPREZA
  • 100,000 MILES
There is fuel getting to the engine and a spark at the plugs but it still won't start.

If you help to get the car going I will make a donation
Friday, December 30th, 2011 AT 10:37 PM

9 Replies

Tiny
RIVERMIKERAT
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Was the battery fully recharged or just partially? What was done or happened besides the battery going flat?
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Friday, December 30th, 2011 AT 10:53 PM
Tiny
HIGHLANDER1948
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We were doing body work repairs. Replaceing the four doors, fixing the sills and wheel arches renewing the brakes pipes and a filler hose to the fuel tank and the car was not started or moved for a month. The battery was fully cherged and tried what we could see like the fuel and a spark getting to all four cyclinders
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Saturday, December 31st, 2011 AT 8:48 AM
Tiny
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Check compression. Check fuel pressure. What kind of spark is it getting? Can you hear it as well as see it? Is it bright blue or white?
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Saturday, December 31st, 2011 AT 10:53 AM
Tiny
HIGHLANDER1948
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I don't have the equipment to check the compression, the fuel pressure is there and a blue spark from the plugs that you can hear
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Saturday, December 31st, 2011 AT 1:02 PM
Tiny
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Do you live anywhere near a store like Autozone, Advanced, O'Reilly's, or Pep Boys? They rent cheaply and loan for free.

You said the fuel pressure "is there". What does that mean? 26-31 PSI? Or that fuel is seen coming out of a line?
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Saturday, December 31st, 2011 AT 7:11 PM
Tiny
HIGHLANDER1948
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First let me say the car was running fine before the battery went flat while I did the body work.
I live in Scotland and there is no where in this Country that I can hire equipment that I need.
Speaking from experience with other cars I would say that the fuel was being pumped out like it was comming out of fire truck hose
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Saturday, December 31st, 2011 AT 7:27 PM
Tiny
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Well, that sucks. It makes diagnosis a wee bit more difficult.
You said the car sat for over a month; just because it ran great prior to sitting, doesn't preclude a problem developing in the interim.
Not being able t check compression makes it difficult also, because varnish buildup while sitting could have caused one or more of the piston rings to stick to the cylinder wall. When you cranked it over, these rings could have cracked or snapped, causing a loss of cylinder compression. Pull the plugs(one at a time) and stick you finger in the plug hole and have the engine cranked over. Does the pressure against your finger feel uniform in all the cylinders?

Do you have a source of compressed air and somewhere to buy a fitting that fits into the cylinder holes? You can make a home leakdown tester if so. One cylinder at a time, pressurise the cylinder and listen a hissing sound. This indicates bad compression rings or bad valves. If you hear hissing, pour a teaspoon of oil into the cylinder and repeat. Hissing gone? bad rings. Not gone? Valves.
We have a thread here that might help:
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-cranks-but-wont-start
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Saturday, December 31st, 2011 AT 7:53 PM
Tiny
HIGHLANDER1948
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The latest on the Car.I can crank the car over and you would think by the sound of this that it is almost there, then the engine is flooded and the battery is flat. You would think with a strong spark that it wou;d catch but no. I am not familar with this type of car and I ws thinking if there was some kind of safety switch that has kicked in with the battery being out?/
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Saturday, December 31st, 2011 AT 8:51 PM
Tiny
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Not that I've ever heard of. The only safety switch I can think of would be the fuel pump cutoff, but you said it's getting fuel. There's a clutch safety, but it's turning over.
Have you tried starting with the throttle open a bit?
If not, do so. It may be as simple as the idle being set too low.
Try spraying a little bot of starting fluid into the air intake. If that starts it, we can go from there to get it running and starting good.
If you can, look inside the valve cover to see if the rocker arms are moving. This is a horizontally opposed engine, so this might not be easy to do. If you can look in, but the rockers aren't moving, you have a timing belt issue.
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Sunday, January 1st, 2012 AT 1:16 AM

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