brucemc777

Just dropping in to thank everyone! So far, not one problem. Of course now is the real test as I have written that I have not had a problem, but all seems good- THANK-YOU and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

OK, so yesterday I replaced the contacts and now will just have to see over the next week or so if she has any problems! Was relieved when I packaged everything back up and it started - I usually miss something, especially when I am dealing with several electrical connections... That nut that holds the starter to the bottom stud was a PITA!!!

I go up and get the car (and my daughter) on the 14th, come back on the 16th. Looking forward to making progress! Though I will give first attention to the starter (I have a kit coming. I should have noted that the item was being shipped from our friends in China, so whenever the banana boat gets here...), it occurred to me that even if it is the ignition switch, I would be a fool to replace the entire switch assembly (which I received, shipped from the east coast (of the USA)) as all that would need be replaced is the electrical module that connects onto the back end; unless I had a real bad desire to get everything re-keyed...

Funny you should write that; when I was younger it was almost always the dang starter relay; a little box that sat near the battery and had a real obvious cable to the positive terminal. That was back when I could pretty much get in the engine compartment along with the engine - back when we used an archaic thing called a carburetor and before pollution controls and such...

Hmmmmm. Guess I was a little too specific by including the year and model. Once I went a little more generic I came up with everything and was a bit embarrassed over how simple everything is. Thank-You!

I'm no great fan of Haynes either! You are kind of scaring me in the way you state "If you can remove the starter, getting the contacts swapped will be cake."... Kind of wondering what I am in for- I downloaded the manuals that I could some time ago, I honestly can not recall if it was here or one other forum I looked to for help. I just found an exploded view of the starter on the second page of the electrical manual with extraction on a latter page; it appears that getting at the starter is relatively easy (in reality is it?), so now I just have to figure out two things: Where are the contacts y'all are telling me to replace, and Where do I get new contacts (i.e., is it an Autozone/Advance/O'Rielly item)? btw, VERY MUCH GREAT THANKS to all you folks for helping me. There once was a time I could just take a vehicle in and say "Please fix it" and not much worry about the cost, but those days are long gone-

Well, forester2002s, that's a good question. I used to know exactly what went on, and since the problem seemed to go away, after a few weeks I let one of my daughters in Omaha, Nebraska (We are in Colorado Springs, Colorado), have the car to use since she hated the Rodeo she was using . I am driving up to retrieve her in a couple of weeks and will know again now that she is saying it takes up to 7 turns of the key. Kind of "helping" her get acquainted with the real world... Just chatted with her; she says that the dash lights come on and thinks the fan also starts blowing. Now, this is what she says, and sometimes there is a difference between our universe and hers, but I would say it is likely-

Thank-you! There is absolutely no sound from the engine on each failed start attempt. I already have the ignition switch assembly on it's way, but with any failure with that fixing the problem I now know what to go after next! Any good YouTubes on doing the contacts, or do I have to rely on the Haynes manual? I've done my share of complete starters in my time, but never just the contacts-

After anything from one to 7 turns the starter engages and starts the car. We have tried shifting to neutral and no difference was found. Though not positive, I so far think it's a good bet-

Oh joy. Well, at least I know what I'm in for... You'd think they could be more creative than that. With the power of cordless drills, what they did is simply an annoyance.

I need to replace the entire ignition lock assembly on our 2000 Legacy Outback due to a problem making electrical contact to start the vehicle. All of the Subaru specific videos I saw on YouTube only address replacing the cylinder. Does anyone know if there is any good tutorial out there and any specific tools I might need over the ordinary tool-box tools? Thank-You for your time and consideration!!!

I really HATE having to ask a question that the answer to should be found all over the place; I get the feeling that I really missed something obvious, but... We recently bought a used 2000 Forester. I am entering it's info in at an auto parts website. The site is asking if the engine is an EJ251 or EJ252. I have been to a multitude of website providing a mess (an alternate word for "multitude") of data, but not one of the idiot things has told me where I can find the identifier nor what the identifier would be! Yes, there is mention that the 252 (I think) was not sold in the US and one uses a MAF vs the other with a MAP and so on and so forth, and IF we got this thing new I would have confidence that yes, the entire vehicle was from the US, but as I am not certain and I have been burnt making presumptions like this in the past (Like my 1999 Nissan Quest that was built with parts from a 2000), can anyone tell me hoe I can be certain of my engine type??? Thanks guys, and nice to be a part of your community - I am certain I will be back asking for repair help!!! -Bruce P.S.: If there is no easy way by examining the engine, then taking a bit of a chance, the VIN is: 4S3BH6656Y7605943