I own an '84 Brat, the former owner pretty well hacked up the wiring when he converted it from an automatic to a manual. (I don't understand why he needed to hack it up either.) Lots of wires just pushed into the back of a plug beside the existing wires, wires twisted together and not taped or soldiered, and so on. I have repaired them as I found them, but I'm pretty sure there are some more I can't see.

 

That said, I had to run a new wire fron the back up light switch to the plug beside the passsenger door. I found the right circuit, trimed the wire and connected the new one. Checked it with a fused hot wire from the battery before I connected it to the back up light switch and the backup lights worked. I turned on the headlights and they worked fine, but my tail lights didn't come on. Checked my connections (by the pass. door) , to make sure all the plugs were pushed tight, checked all the fuses and tried again, now no lights work, head, tail or backup, not even the idiot lights on the dash. (I feel kind of foolish. The car will run and the radio comes on, but no lights. ( I never have problems of this kind, I'm very painstaking with my electrical work. )

 

I see by the schematic in the "cheap" aftermarket manual I have that there is a fusable link for the headlights, but I have no idea where it is. Is there some sort of "master" fuse? Never heard of one, but I'm kind of new to Subies.

 

I assumed I blew a fuse but when they checked good it leaves me stumped. I really need some help. Any ideas? :-\

Fusible links are usually in a small plastic box near the battery. Hopefully you have a test light probe at least so you can check for power. If you don't have one I recommend you get one to make testing easier.

with a hacked up harness, its a wise and cheap thing to go get a fire extenguisher and carry behind your seat.......

Both exellent suggestions, I have a good Fluke meter, so I'll look for the box. A fire extinguisher.......With my luck maybe a call to the station house!

You have a Fluke meter? An excellent choice of meters. Not to worry, with that you can fix any electrical problem.

I checked the fusible links and they were OK, so I started a "visual" inspection of the harness. I found several more instances of poor workmanship from the former owner. More striped wires just pushed into the back of a plug, and one broken wire. I repaired them as I found them and after 6 hours everything except the a/c and the cruise control works. I'll work on them later. No one needs a/c in September in Pennsylvania.

 

The former owner claimed to be a Subaru tech, he could never work in any shop I owned. He had installed a/c, cruise, and power windows from a parts car, only the windows worked, and even they worked intermintently, because he never finished anything!

 

I've spend lots of hours "finishing" the installations, he put in just enough screws or bolts to hold the components on, or never connected all the wires. I also upgraded the car to a 5 speed and added power steering. Next is the Weber that's on my bench and a 4" lift kit with 15" tires. Soon I won't be ashamed to park it next to my Legacy GT.

I think I bought a car from him...