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1984 GL electrical problems


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I have a 1984 Subaru GL wagon which has stopped starting in a rather confusing fashion. I had to replace the drivers side tail light due to an unfortuneate encounter with a pickup bumper. It took a while to find a replacement and repair some other plastic parts. I then took the car to a body shop to get the minor sheet metal damage repaired. While at the body shop, it sat outdoors during the warm part of elk season (Note to self: do not schedule work during hunting season.), then the battery was pretty much drained when they tried to start it without plugging in the block heater, and left the door open and the ignition on overnight. So it was pushed into the shop, the body work done, and it was hooked up to a battery charger / jump starter to test the lights. All worked. The car was then started and driven home. I pulled the battery and hooked it up to a charger (low amp battery minder) for 3 days in a heated environment. Here is where it get confusing. I put the battery (charged to show 12.9 volts) back in the car. I cranked the engine briefly and the car showed roughly 8 volts on the dash voltage indicator. The second attempt at starting, nothing on the dash showed any indication of getting power. I've pulled the battery, checked the voltage, still 12.7, cleaned the terminals, checked the fusible links for continuity, pulled and examined all of the fuses, nothing. There are no clicks when turning the ignition. I put the car in gear, moved it back and forth and observed the belt moving and no sound from where the starter is bolted on, so it seems unlikely that the starter gear is jammed. I hoping someone can offer trouble shooting suggestions. As is all to often the case, the weather is not making this easier to work on, well below freezing, and the car is outdoors. 40 years ago I worked on another Subaru outdoors in Fairbanks in the winter, which is an experience I had hoped not to repeat; I'm getting too old to work on cars with snow drifting into my ear.

 

I'm going to pull the battery from my 1983 truck and see if that yields any results as a way of checking for battery damage. Any suggestions on sequence of tests would be appreciated.

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It is a good possibility they killed it as Dave said. You need to load test it to be sure. The volt gauge in EA81 cars is notorious for reading low so I wouldn't put a lot of faith in it. I would also remove and clean the ground to the block and body as well as power to the starter. AGM batteries are the way to go as they are much more dependable especially in extreme temps. Batteries can be strange critters. I still have the factory battery in my 1996 Suzuki GSF. 20 years old and still works. Go figure.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Had to leave car sit while traveling. Since original post, swapped in battery from truck. Same results with battery that happily starts cold soaked 1983 Dodge truck. Pulled starter and tested with good battery. Solenoid works, but motor does not spin.

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Dave called this one. There is a 10 ga wire that should come out of your pos (+) terminal and connect to the fusible link box. This connection is a common failure point. It may have come loose or be badly corroded at the battery terminal or the spade connector on the junction block. Ide also inspect the neg (-) connection on the engine block and the small wire to the body.

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