legacycentral bbs

Okay, so I have a female friend that has a 92 Legacy L NA with an auto trans. She was driving the car back from a trip and it overheated on her... she pulled over and let it cool down. Once cooled down she proceeded on her way and made it back without any more problems... drove the car around a few more days after that and then parked it for about a week without starting it (college student). Fast forward to a few days ago... I was asked if I could take a look at it because now it wouldn't start. Car turns over but does not start. I have gone through and tested quite a few things with no luck. I have checked everything below

*Tested battery for correct voltage which it has
*Checked all fuses and all are good.
*Made sure the fuel pump was working by disconnecting fuel line
after the fuel filter and cranking engine.
*Checked for spark at the spark plugs which it also has.

Now here is what I find odd, Even though the battery has the right voltage... it turns the starter over quickly at first and then the starter slows down to basically a no crank. For that sole reason I put the jumper cables to the battery and battery does the same thing. But shouldn't the car start after a few times of doing this?

I searched the forum and came up with a few results, either a bad coolant temp sensor which I've heard causes quite a few weird things to happen or that maybe that the timing jumped which I don't think since she was driving right up to when she parked it for a week? If anyone can please point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. I have access to a parts car if that helps.... tomorrow I'm going to throw in another battery to see if that's the problem. Let me know if you guys have any questions... thanks in advance.

I've had the timing belt jump while I was driving and the engine ran, not necessarily well, but it did run until it was shut off, then would not start.

hmm, how hard is it to just take the covers off to check the timing marks?

I third the timing belt. My tensioner failed and the belt waited until I tried to restart the car at a gas station. All I got was a near resistance-free spinning from the starter and then everyone in earshot heard lots of swearing. Tow, new tensioner, and all good. I love non-interference!

What was the deal with the overheating? I think you could possibly relate that with the timing belt tensioner. The loose tensioner could have caused the pump not to be spinning, which caused the overheating, and also the timing to jump.

Yea the same thing happened to me. The toothed pully next to the water pump blew out its bearing. So in return belt slimped about 5 teeth on left cam pulley, and at steady revs would't turn the waterpump. Still managed to drive home 2 miles with the timing that far off too. No valve train problems after fixed either. Non interference FTW!

I believe the overheating was due to low coolant? Not sure, do you guys think it could possibly just be a sensor that I could just replace? I get off work in a few hours and I'm going to try a different battery. The motor still has resistance so I know it it still has the belt on, I'll take the covers off and check the resistance on the belt while also checking the timing marks. Any other pointers?