Back with a recurring no-start

[thaxman]

Hey all,

The MIL's 94 Legacy L wagon has been giving my sister-in-law no-start fits for over a year now. Parts have been thrown at it and each time it will go for awhile then will behave the same way again.

This time, she was driving along, nice and slow and had gone a 1/2 mi past a stoplight and it dies while driving. She pulled over and had to push it into a lot. By the time I got there, the parking lights are on full time regardless of how the switch is set on the stalk. I tried starting it and the starter spins fine and it begins to kick over, but then begins mildly dieseling and then its back to just the starter turning. It will do that every time the key is turned.

I myself have cleaned the MAF, then replaced it with a used one that was also cleaned. It has a new fuel filter, but I had no tools and had JUST showered so I didn't go digging around in the bay to see if fuel was making it to the filter.
I <think> the pump was replaced, shops have looked at the ECU, and the usual stuff like plugs and rotor. In the past, when it did this, fuel delivery was fine to the filter. I will try to get a better idea of what all the past work was before from the MIL to give you guys better info. Thanks for all the help in the past.

[thaxman]

work was done for CEL 23
Rundown of work done:
fuel pump/strainer, tank seal
battery
ignition control module
starter
fuel injector for cyl4 (misfire)
reset ECU
leakdown test

[thaxman]

By the time I got there, the parking lights are on full time regardless of how the switch is set on the stalk.

Well, palm on forehead. Forgot until I had a "Eureka!" moment that when the parking light switch on the top of the steering column is on, the parking lights will be on no matter the stalk position. One symptom down.

I read in another thread about the possibility of the timing belt jumping while driving. Sound like a real possibility? It really does ~want~ to start, but it just can't get going.

[Mister Anderson]

By the time I got there, the parking lights are on full time regardless of how the switch is set on the stalk.

Well, palm on forehead. Forgot until I had a "Eureka!" moment that when the parking light switch on the top of the steering column is on, the parking lights will be on no matter the stalk position. One symptom down.

I read in another thread about the possibility of the timing belt jumping while driving. Sound like a real possibility? It really does ~want~ to start, but it just can't get going.

I did that the other year when I was doing a bunch of wiring, I thought I messed something up in the process because the parking lights were on lol. I would check the working fuel pressure of the system. EFI systems have a relatively high working pressure. If the pressure is not enough the injectors wont operate properly. Now since this an intermediate problem it could be pump related, either the pump itself, or the wiring to the pump is shorting when hot. If the timing did jump, then the problem would not be going away, and then coming back again. There is also a sock filter in the tank, along with the one in the engine bay. I did have a timing gear come "lose", and allowed the timing to change. The gear would move, and then go back fixing the problem. I also had a gnarly knock when it would shift, but the knock would disappear. Here is my thread to that problem; http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=49425

Edit: If the timing belt did jump, it wouldn't auto-correct back because of the directional rotation of the engine. another thing, the engine will run without the O2 sensor, and the MAF plugged in. The engine will run pretty rich.

[Plazma]

By the time I got there, the parking lights are on full time regardless of how the switch is set on the stalk.

Well, palm on forehead. Forgot until I had a "Eureka!" moment that when the parking light switch on the top of the steering column is on, the parking lights will be on no matter the stalk position. One symptom down.

That switch is the bain of my existence, sometimes I swear it pushes itself down, and then I come out to a dead battery