Author Topic: Car Died, Driver Retarded (Read 4515 times)

NiceEqualLengths · « **on:** January 12, 2015, 05:58:04 pm »

So heres the facts,

92 Legacy 2.2 Turbo
Manual swap from Auto
160K
Car ran fine.

Going to work, the ABS Battery and another dash light came on, I slowly lost power. pulled over and it turned off.
Turned the key off, waited 5 minutes and she started again. then after about 10 seconds she died again.
Tried boosting it thinking it was the alternator. Nope. Boosting didn't work,

Car will not crank. No sound at all. Lights come on, stereo comes on. won't crank. Going to disconnect the battery tonight and put it on a trickle charger. the battery is less then a year old.

Any help would be great as I've never had a problem like this and I'm not even sure where to start.

funk32 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 12, 2015, 06:41:51 pm »

Did you check all the fuses inside and outside?

N3UBIE · « **Reply #2 on:** January 12, 2015, 06:55:57 pm »

I had this same problem with my old 300zx and it was the alternator in my case. Look up what it means when those three specific lights come on at the same time. That's how I diagnosed mine as a faulty alternator.

NiceEqualLengths · « **Reply #3 on:** January 12, 2015, 09:48:27 pm »

the reason I swayed away from the alternator is I should be able to still boost it. It should also be trying to turn over. Or are subarus ridiculous in that regard?

Cbxj · « **Reply #4 on:** January 12, 2015, 10:49:42 pm »

i had a frozen battery once.... the car would NOT start even with a boost., replaced the battery and bammo everything was dandy for a while... and of course the original battery was dead because?... the alt was done.

NiceEqualLengths · « **Reply #5 on:** January 13, 2015, 11:43:42 am »

Well that sucks. Did you get lights? I tried jumping the starter but I can' tget the two to just connect. I don't know. I'll see how the warming up and charging goes. Hope its not the alternator because there isn't anything in either pick n pull that will work.

Cbxj · « **Reply #6 on:** January 13, 2015, 12:13:12 pm »

I had some lights it was hard to tell if they were that bright (daytime) It just would not start with that battery connected even with a healthy boost.

N3UBIE · « **Reply #7 on:** January 13, 2015, 12:50:09 pm »

You could also try taking your battery in to a place like Part Source to get it tested or charged. They will do it for free and it may help you rule out if the battery is the problem.

Mendozer · « **Reply #8 on:** January 13, 2015, 01:11:30 pm »

Quote from: N3UBIE on January 13, 2015, 12:50:09 pm

You could also try taking your battery in to a place like Part Source to get it tested or charged. They will do it for free and it may help you rule out if the battery is the problem.

If you can, bring the alternator also. They can check those also

.

darthekai · « **Reply #9 on:** January 13, 2015, 01:55:31 pm »

I've got an old alt from my obs. I think the mount points are the same. I replaced because it was noisy so AFAIK it still works. Lemmie know if you need.

NiceEqualLengths · « **Reply #10 on:** January 13, 2015, 05:07:52 pm »

Mine has the three pin plug, its orange. I'll take it if it looks like that, I got one from a later legacy, no bueno.

Njohnson · « **Reply #11 on:** January 13, 2015, 07:21:43 pm »

I'd break out the multimeter for a couple of quick checks.

Start with a open-circuit voltage test on your battery, full charge is about 12.6V

First thing I'd try and find out is why your starter isn't turning over. (I'm guessing that's what you mean by will not crank.)
If you can find a valid working wiring diagram, it'll help you immensely. Check the wiring between the battery terminal to the starter motor. You should also check the ground wire off of the starter motor - might be heavily corroded.

Then check powers and grounds going between your ignition switch, clutch switch and starter interlock relay.

With how it died, there is a good chance you have more then one problem going on here.

darthekai · « **Reply #12 on:** January 13, 2015, 10:01:29 pm »

Quote from: NiceEqualLengths on January 13, 2015, 05:07:52 pm

Mine has the three pin plug, its orange. I'll take it if it looks like that, I got one from a later legacy, no bueno.

Mine is a three pin plug and is green and looks like this.

RockThePylon · « **Reply #13 on:** January 13, 2015, 10:33:54 pm »

Hard to tell. That picture needs more pixels to be sure.

Add a lowercase L to the end of the filename, before the extension.

http://i.imgur.com/Jo9yhEGl.jpg

darthekai · « **Reply #14 on:** January 14, 2015, 07:47:53 am »

Quote from: RockThePylon on January 13, 2015, 10:33:54 pm

Hard to tell. That picture needs more pixels to be sure.

Add a lowercase L to the end of the filename, before the extension.

http://i.imgur.com/Jo9yhEGl.jpg

But... EXTREEME CLOSEUP
Hah the more you know.

NiceEqualLengths · « **Reply #15 on:** January 22, 2015, 11:19:51 am »

Thanks but that won't work, mines an orange connector with two small gauge wires and a honking one. I'm gonna take a look at the starter interlock relay

NiceEqualLengths · « **Reply #16 on:** January 22, 2015, 01:52:21 pm »

so after my get around vehicle that was borrowed from my brother lost a u-joint, I decided to tackle the subie.

Thanks for another POS to fix dude.

All the fuses are okay, under the dash and at the footwell. Charging the battery right now, was a 20%. Gonna check voltage of the starter interlock, and I hope its not shot because there isn't any legacys at PNP that are even close to my year.

NiceEqualLengths · « **Reply #17 on:** January 22, 2015, 03:37:22 pm »

Okay, I don't know how I didn't notcie it at first, but the car is now seeing itself in reverse. Reverse lights are on when the key is on (like most chopped swaps, they don't come on when the manual gear box is in reverse). The dash is stuck in R. So now I understand why it doesn't want to start. Anyone have a tip on how to get it to read P?

darthekai · « **Reply #18 on:** January 22, 2015, 05:37:55 pm »

Quote from: NiceEqualLengths on January 22, 2015, 03:37:22 pm

Okay, I don't know how I didn't notcie it at first, but the car is now seeing itself in reverse. Reverse lights are on when the key is on (like most chopped swaps, they don't come on when the manual gear box is in reverse). The dash is stuck in R. So now I understand why it doesn't want to start. Anyone have a tip on how to get it to read P?

oh sweet.

it must have an old auto harness then? with an auto cluster?
if you can find the old TCU plug, jumper power to P and off D/R/whatever and run through a momentary switch. Added bonus: brand new anti-theft.

NiceEqualLengths · « **Reply #19 on:** January 22, 2015, 05:50:25 pm »

Never thought of that. I like that idea. where would you recommend getting the power from?

darthekai · « **Reply #20 on:** January 22, 2015, 06:01:10 pm »

Quote from: NiceEqualLengths on January 22, 2015, 05:50:25 pm

Never thought of that. I like that idea. where would you recommend getting the power from?

there should be a +14v and an acc going to the TCU. youd be safe just tapping it. the trick will be finding the right wiring diagram.

Actually, one thing to try first: did you leave the plug for the old transmission (that would carry gear sensing info) hanging somewhere or tucked up under the new trans or something? pull that out and take a look. Maybe its shorting on some dirty water or your exhaust or trans melted some stuff.

NiceEqualLengths · « **Reply #21 on:** January 22, 2015, 06:06:25 pm »

Never did the swap so I don't know what they did. I'll take a peak around.

darthekai · « **Reply #22 on:** January 22, 2015, 06:27:14 pm »

http://legacycentral.org/library/transmission/electronics.htm
this doesnt make much sense to me, but it seems like there should be a whole harness going to the ECU (in passenger footwell) for the auto..
seems like 11 + 12 are the neutral switch, which needs to be shorted, and thats it.

looks like the things that get uckfayed with are: TCU gets REMOVED (?).
ECU has one wire snipped to tell ecu whether its got a MT or an AT.
Neutral switch gets overridden to allow starting.
Reverse lights get re-wired to the switch in the new trans.

so it kind of lines up that theres a wiring problem going on somewhere. Either the installers used crimps or twists when they altered the ECU wiring and one shook loose, or theres a plug on the transmission side that is shorting and causing wierd issues.

Its strange to me though that your dash thinks its in reverse though.

NiceEqualLengths · « **Reply #23 on:** January 22, 2015, 07:45:34 pm »

There is no TCU, I can't reset the ECU because to do that you need to be able to drive it. Even Leaving it battery-less didn't help. I'm gonna phone the number on the Quality Transmission sticker under the hood tomorrow to see if they have some insight on to what I can do to get it back. Gonna pick up a switch from PA tomorrow as well.

Njohnson · « **Reply #24 on:** January 22, 2015, 10:02:25 pm »

You'll be able to reset the ECU by shorting the capacitors.
Remove the battery ground, as well as the positive and touch them together - that'll help you reset the ECU.