Problems starting 1999 Subaru Outback

[thulmes]

Hey guys so this is my first post on any forum and yes I did extensive searching and contacted Matt over at DIYPNP Support and I'm still stuck. I have a stock EJ22 and it uses a subaru 36-2-2-2 wheel on the crank and (I believe) a 2 tooth wheel on the cam. My problem is that no matter what I can't get this to start my car. The stock ECU fires it right up first try and using a timing light I can see that the engine is sparking. Messing with cranking % makes no difference and after days of fighting with this just wanting to get it tuned I'm at a loss. Any help is much appreciated. If I should attach anything to this let me know. Thank you! I just want to boost again

[hybrid]

When using the timing light, is the engine sparking where it should be?
It's good that it's sparking, but it needs to happen at the right time too.

Is it's sparking at the right time, can you spray some starter fluid in the intake and see if it fires?

[thulmes]

The timing light shows 12 degrees and it fired up once yesterday with starting fluid on the first attempt of the day after it had been sitting overnight. Ran for about 2 seconds and then I tried again with the fluid multiple times and it wouldn't fire. That lead me to believe it may be flooding so today before I even put the key in I disabled the priming pulse and lowered the cranking pulse to like 4ms and still nothing. It sounds like it doesn't even want to start at all. I see people are easily running MS with the 36-2-2-2 wheel without any cam input and at this point I'm thinking that I may have hooked something up wrong but after triple checking nothing stands out. Maybe my settings are wrong? I had no base map to go off of. It also says I'm only cranking at 170 rpms which I thought was too low but there's no sync loss. The attached picture is of my data log before I had it set to 36-2-2-2 so there's sync loss but that's my signal. I'm thinking it's either a fuel issue or it's not sparking when it should but what I'm looking at on the crank pulley looks just like a mark and it's at a reasonable setting

[thulmes]

One other thing that's been happening is that relays are clicking in the dash when trying to start the car. I think that was from the battery getting drained but could it be because the 12V on the main board is wired to the ignition switch on the ECU side? Is that the wrong place to get power from?

[rickb794]

You have not supplied an MSQ or identified the type of MS device you are using.

Are the clicking relays for the EFI or other systems?

[thulmes]

I'm using a DIYPNP Board Version 1.5B which uses a microsquirt 2.2. I use tuner studio and I just attached my .msq now, sorry about that, it's on my other computer. Which relay it is I'm not sure bur I'm going to put a long screwdriver to my injectors while cranking to see if they're clicking. They work in test mode...

[thulmes]

Spark timing on cylinder one is right at 9-10 degrees tested with my timing light. I have an aftermarket Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator and it shows I have fuel pressure while cranking. I can't hear whether the injectors are firing with all the other noise so can someone double check my settings? I know that I'm supposed to run batch fire off just the crank signal, and wasted spark for ignition (single coil). I'm running no priming pulse so i don't flood it and 6ms for the cranking pulse on stock 230cc injectors. It's 35 degrees here.

[thulmes]

Update! It started with starting fluid! As of now I'm going to keep increasing the cranking pulse width unless anyone has other suggestions

[thulmes]

That didn't change anything except for the fact that the engine stopped firing with starting spray. I think the battery drained and it stopped sparking. Plugs are dry so I'm not sure I'm getting any fuel at all... Any help?? They'll click in test mode

[hybrid]

Can you attach a normal log of it trying to start?
That might provide a clue.

[DaveEFI]

Update! It started with starting fluid! As of now I'm going to keep increasing the cranking pulse width unless anyone has other suggestions

If you crank it while looking at Tuner Studio, do you get a sensible RPM reading? Or do a log of an attempted start.

[rickb794]

If the clicking relays are EFI relays you have a sync or configuration problem.
If the clicking relays are not EFI that would be a sign of other electrical problems that may affect EFI operation.

I assume clicking relays means chattering while cranking.

[thulmes]

Ok attached is a log of me cranking it on a charged battery. The relays don't click when the battery is charged up and the rpm reads steady around 165 rpm. It'll start with starting fluid as well for a split second but therefore I know ignition and timing are correct. At this point I'm thinking it's fuel because no matter how many times I try to start it, when I pull a plug, there's not fuel dripping off of it. It will have a smell of fuel/starting fluid though. Why would I not have injection though? My fuel pressure gauge is showing adequate pressure during cranking (up to 60psi). My injectors are connected to Inj1 (1,3) and Inj2 (2,4) on the main board and I'm pretty sure that's all I have to connect besides the ground for injection. In test mode they click (fire) like they're supposed to. So confused. I bet this is something so simple too...

[rukavina]

Run fused power to injectors. Ms does the grounding

[DaveEFI]

Ok attached is a log of me cranking it on a charged battery. The relays don't click when the battery is charged up and the rpm reads steady around 165 rpm. It'll start with starting fluid as well for a split second but therefore I know ignition and timing are correct. At this point I'm thinking it's fuel because no matter how many times I try to start it, when I pull a plug, there's not fuel dripping off of it. It will have a smell of fuel/starting fluid though. Why would I not have injection though? My fuel pressure gauge is showing adequate pressure during cranking (up to 60psi). My injectors are connected to Inj1 (1,3) and Inj2 (2,4) on the main board and I'm pretty sure that's all I have to connect besides the ground for injection. In test mode they click (fire) like they're supposed to. So confused. I bet this is something so simple too...

Not sure about your installation, but one thing that stands out on that log is no TPS signal.

[thulmes]

The TPS seems to be working fine. I wasn't hitting the gas or anything while cranking though. Is there nothing at all because it seems to show fine on the gauges when I push the gas pedal even while cranking. The only wires I have are the 4 individual signal wires for the injectors and one ground wire I have connected to ground on the board. Is this wired wrong?

[thulmes]

Does anyone else have a Subaru running MS? As far as power and ground to the actual board what's everyone running? My 12v is hooked up to my ignition switch

[DaveEFI]

Does anyone else have a Subaru running MS? As far as power and ground to the actual board what's everyone running? My 12v is hooked up to my ignition switch

Not a good idea in principle. MS should get 12v direct from the battery and switched via a relay. 12v from the ignition switch could be a rather 'dirty' supply. The ground should go to the engine block. Not sure about PNP units - but on others you use more than one wire and pin on the connector for ground. The manual should help there.

[thulmes]

So on my ecu pin out, I have two"control unit power supply" pins. If I wire to these, I have constant power to the ECU even with the key out. I also have a "self shutoff control" pin. Im not sure how to wire these to have the power work correctly. The"dirty" power supply could explain the relays freaking out.

[hybrid]

How are your injectors wired?
Do you have 12V or GND connected to them?

I don't know how the original ECU works, but you must supply 12V to the injectors, and the Megasquirt switches the GND.