Gurm70 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 So I am new here today and I will start by saying I have good mechanical skills and I hate cars. I got married in December and with that came a step-daughter with 1998 outback approaching 300K(she bought it about a year ago). I know nothing about Subaru. I have replaced the clutch and associated hardware in the car. I apologize for the length of this post She called me a little over a month ago to rescue her from a parking lot. I found that the alternator on her car was not charging. I charged her up and ordered a new alternator. She drove the car for two days charging the battery and then taking the short drive to work. On the second day when she was going to bring me the car she called to say it would not start. I drove to her and installed the alternator while charging the battery. After installing the alternator I tried to crank the car over, it cranked but would not start. I checked the spark and it was good, so I started checking fuel, no books, no drawings. I tried to hear the fuel pump but nothing. Now is where it gets weird to me. I stopped to remove a fuel line and check for any sign of pressure or flow and then tried to crank again, nothing....I load checked the battery and it was solid. I went looking for fuses and found none. Did not know where to find fuel relay but that did not matter as the electrical was not getting to the starter solenoid. As the sun was setting I decided to have it towed to my house. The next morning before I left for work I tried it and it started right up. I left a message for the daughter to try it later and she did and it started. She drove it around for a day and the next day she went out and it did nothing again, no crank. That night it cranked but did not start. I found online some information and went in search of the fuel pump. Testing showed voltage on the blue/yellow wire, so I ordered a fuel pump. Her brother and a mechanic friend installed the fuel pump while I was away and it ran fine. 3-4 days later, turn the key no crank. Her mechanic friend said it needed a starter, I disagreed and checked the starter with a remote start switch. All fine there. Next morning it cranked and she drove the car for a couple of weeks with no problem. Monday of this week she drove the car home from work said she was having what sounded like fuel issues to me. She tried to restart it and it would not start. I checked the blue/yellow wire thinking the new pump might be crap and found no voltage. Went and bought a Haynes and looked for answers. I now know where the fuel relay is but i have not dug it out yet as I have not had time. Went out this afternoon and wanted to recheck voltage to pump. Had my wife depress the clutch and hold it down I had her crank it a couple of times. I had her hold the clutch to the floor to try to eliminate a neutral start switch. Without ever letting off the clutch, after 6-7 times cranking, tried to crank again and nothing there. I had it hooked to a battery charger the whole time. Any of this make sense to any of you dear readers? I could use some advice, I noticed when I started to dig for the fuel relay that Subaru's have lots of wires and switch and boxes. Last item. As I was closing up the car I heard a relay clicking on and off. It was flashing the four ways but at half speed of what the 4 way button flashes them. I move the blinker control and it stopped for about 10 second and started again. The daughter has mentioned that sometimes when she parks the car the lights do strange things. Would this have anything to do with the anti theft device? I locked the car up and retreated up to my home office, they were still flashing and then just stopped. Help please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 it sounds like the car has an immobilizer installed that is haywire... probably an early anti theft box lurking somewhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurm70 Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 My daughter has confirmed that the lights are associated with the anit-theft. I now know how to reset that system and the car cranks now. Does anyone know if that system kicked in if you cranked a certain number of times without an engine start occurring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurm70 Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 Another update. From another post I have learned that losing my cranking is definitely associated with anti-theft and lack of voltage triggering the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 If it's an aftermarket system, I'd remove it. Not worth the pain. Subaru Systems are good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 lot of those systems were installed in that era. Moisture bad connections and age are not kind to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocei77 Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Look under the panel near the driver's knee. There should be a black push button/switch on wires. When the system loses power via a removed battery, once installed the security system will act up. If she has a remote, that should fix it. Go to cars101.com and look under programming remotes. Otherwise just push the button and hold it while cranking. The system will randomly flash and or lock and unlock the doors until the button is pushed. Without the remote it will act up again, unless you disable the security system. O. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLsubedrivr Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 If it is the Code alarm system, they are a prolem for sure. I'm still searching for a solution to diasable the alarm but keep the door remotes operable. I have not had your problem but have had the locks cycle and the flashing, which indicates the alarm has triggered, or the door wiring has gotten wet.(hapens to me after I wash the car). I've also used the valet mode option which "disables" the alarm, sort of but will still go off randomly. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurm70 Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 Someone please tell me where to find the fuel pump relay in this car. The aftermarket somewhat of a service manual I bought says behind the fuse panel under the dash left side. I have big hands, I have found the lower bolt/nut for the fuse panel mount and there must be one up higher but there are so many other boxes and harnesses that I cannot get my paws in there. I cannot see anything through all the boxes. Do I need to disconnect everything to get to the relay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocei77 Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Relays seldom go bad. I'd make sure the ignition fuse is good. Pull the outlet line from the fuel filter. Turn the key to on, that will short cycle the pump. If you get fuel, that's not your problem. If you don't I'd check the fuel pump, Just remove the cover and the connector. You should get 12v when the key is turned on. If you do, and the pump is not sending fuel. You have your issue. Download the fsm and go down the list. http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/subaru_manual_scans/ O. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurm70 Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 OCEI77, the fuel pump was changed less than a month ago with an aftermarket bought from Autozone. Not saying it cannot be bad. At the time the car would not run and the pump solved the issue. At that time I could cycle the ignition and would get a short pulse of power on the blue wire with yellow stripe at the pump. Now when I cycle I get no power there and no fuel at the filter which led me to believe there has to be a power interruption. When I get home I will check the ignition fuse. I was busy looking looking for a fuse in the fuel system and then the relay to see if I was getting power there that I did not check ignition. It The car will crank and will fire on starter fluid. Thanks for the link to manuals and I will check them out tonight when I get back from the office. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocei77 Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Make sure you have not dislodged the vacuum line that goes to the pressure solenoid on the IM. The other side goes to the fuel pressure regulator. If you don't have vacuum, you won't get fuel. O. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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