03 Subaru Outback H6 3.0 Wagon -- overheated, now new engine, same no start.

Long story short, well, as short as my ramblings make it anyway:

- headgasket issues causing overheat [solution: stop every so often and cool down]

- pulling off highway on one overheat instance, car stalls [solution: replace the blown lower rad hose]

- started up after rad hose replacement, moved a block or so down the street, temp went HIGH and car just shut off. Pushed it into the garage like 10ft from where it died and replaced the battery cable because it was a little sketch and wasn't starting at all [NB: this random no-starting thing has been going on for a while but I was able to ALWAYS start it when another car was attached, but not necessarily with a powerpack attached..] [solution: attach it to another car and it starts turning over.. but not starting]

- no start diagnosed by visual/etc. (no actual tests) was suggested solution of new engine because I "just overheated it one too many times"
[solution: found a 'grade A' wrecker engine in PA, shipped for $100, and a dude to drop it in for cash too]

- so, with new engine in, same crank and no-start..
- found that there was no spark.
- traced wiring the best I could, and somewhere in the circuit I got to the fuel pump relay, but it tested good.
- found a thing getting REALLY hot under the hood and turned out it was a resistor for the transmission so replaced that and same no-start result, but it didn't get hot anymore..
- ended up biting the bullet and sourced/pickedup an ECU expecting that's FOR SURE THE FIX THIS TIME.. wasn't.

- engine mechanic said we needed a scope top go any further..
- got a[nother] tow to a place that could look at it in a couple days, but then when they looked at it, and I called 2-3x/day for a status, and they realized what a mess I had already made of the wires they just didn't want any part of it and told me in no uncertain terms to GTFO.
- So, off it went to Subaru.. It'll FOR SURE get fixed there...

- Subaru was very helpful and put over 6h diagnostics into it and just got to a point where (actually, the same point I brought it in for) was "it's something in the wiring harness"... no shit.... but yeah, so can you fix it? uuuhhhh, possibly but the guy who was working on it doesn't want any part of that electrical nightmare anymore.. ok, I get it... They knocked off an hour and paid for my tow to the next place so I recommend them anyway even though they didn't complete the fix...

- another place I called (got recommended as a shop that does electrical,and close to Subaru, sowhy not) and said "ok, it's a mess.. are you SURE you're up for this" and he was pretty confident but going to check around for info/etc. -- Got a call a while later and he checked w. Subaru and sounds like something that he couldn't guarantee he could fix because Subaru wanted to just replace the whole wiring harness under the dash -- which I'd be ok with, if that was the solution, but I don't believe it is.

- It's being towed to a 5th place this aft, and I called them and same deal of "are you sure you want to take this on?" and he put me on hold for a minute while he went and gave info to the guy who'd be working on it as to how much warning I'm giving him, and he came back on and said they'd dig into it on Monday... perfect.. well, not perfect yet.

I guess why I'm posting here is that I presume that of all these places (including my own diagnosis with a non-scope meter) that worked on it DO have a clue and that they DID the correct path of diagnosis, but if we're all just getting to the same place with "yep, no spark and no pulse then it must be these bare wires flying around under the dash"... But those wires have been bare for a long time and they're not even attached on the other end inside the engine compartment so I should've just yanked them but.. oh, here's the fun part.. I'M IN CANADA.

Yes, I was on my way to a music festival in TN and this happened and I stayed in OH while the engine went in and expected to drive home but {see above}... yeah.. so I'm up here, trying to arrange things, and now it's on its way to Springfield,OH where I really hope I can get it to spark..

One last thing, Subaru said the only other time they saw something like this was when there was a coil pack that was shorting and every computer they stuck in just 'got fried'.. now, that said, I have 2 computers in there and they're both doing the same thing, and I've been doing (WAY TOO MUCH) research online and seems like in MANY of those cases if you drop the 'broken' computer into another car it works...

So... thoughts? Anyone?

Wow any pics of this wiring nightmare! Does it have injection pulse ?

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Ben wrote: Does it have injection pulse ?

Subaru says no..
I didn't test that far.. once I saw no spark I tried to fix that..

i would have started checking the cam and crank sensors. one of them are probably bad causing no spark.

What is the wiring problems with it? You talked about bare wires? Do yo u have any pics of harness ?

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I was getting a crank position sensor code, but I had been getting it for a few months off and on with NOT these symptoms (i.e. I was driving it all over the place no prob).. And then when we dropped in a new engine I felt like it was improbable that both would have busted sensors... but I tested the one that was more easily accessible in my old engine still on the hoist and it seemed ok..

The bare wires are from my remote started that I thought was messing with my starting issues [i.e. sometimes even though the battery was fully charged it would just 'click' like it was dead].. so I disconnected them from the engine compartment and the under-dash, but I never pulled it through the firewall so it looked 'scary' I guess lol.. whatev.. I know it's a friggin wire and I even think I know the circuit, I just hope this guy on Monday will be able to get into it and recognize that of ALL the things that LOOK wrong on the car, well, just f*cking get it to spark.... that's all I ask haha

Ok it sounded worse in your original post. What codes do you have (I prefer the number) there are multiple codes for each component for example a ckp circuit code vs a ckp signal code . Just curious how many miles has this car been towed? Where did you break down?

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As far as I recall it was P0335 [cam sensor position A circuit malfunction or something]

Broke down in Tipp City, towed to New Carlisle, then towed to Park Layne, then to Fairborn, and it's heading to Springfield..and then I'm driving it home to Toronto because it better get fixed in Springfield haha

Hi All,
So I received a call from the electrical guys in Springfield that there's a "round metal piece that bolts on with the flex plate and it has holes in it" and that piece is missing..
I don't know what piece that could be, but I have a call into the original mechanic (who still has the old engine) and we might be able to figure it out..
Anyone think of what that piece could be? My original mechanic just unbolted my old engine and re-bolted the new one so it should all be there..

There's several names for it trigger wheel is common and it will never run without it!

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ok, so it's been at the original mechanic now for a week and he finally got around to pulling the engine, putting in that notched metal piece that spins and makes the crank sensor signal, and put it back in to try it.. I thought that would be it but now it's still doing the same thing... He said he only has the rad fans and a hose to put on but he wanted to see if it would fire up.. and it didn't... grr.
He's not at the shop but he said he'll check for spark & signal when he gets back..