The battery has a charge but there is no power going to the vehicle. I already cleaned the terminals and checked the fuses on the interior driver's side fuse box. I also checked all 4 fusible links right next to the battery and they are all good. Any suggestions?

 

Are there any more fuses inside the engine compartment?

 

Thanks.

Have you got a multi meter?

 

What you need to establish is that the fusible links box has power to it, there's usually a cable from the positive side of the battery to the box to provide power.

 

Also pull out and check all the fusible links if you haven't done so already, sometimes while they look good they're fried, moving them will tell you if they're good or not.

 

Are there any other mods that have been done to this vehicle? Probably a question I should have asked earlier.

 

Cheers

 

Bennie

Hi Bennie, Thanks for the response.

 

I charged the battery to double check it (with an ohmmeter) and it has a charge . Still no sign of life in the vehicle; however after some attempts to turn the ignition switch i smelled a burning smell, and found smoke coming out of the 4th fusible link. (Green, Red, Green, and then the 4th one, which has already been replaced with a wire by the previous owner) So there is some problem with that 4th circuit.....

 

The stereo is out, and the wires are all disconnected, but I have taped them off to avoid shorts.

 

Any ideas? Thank you.

Start at the + terminal, and follow the path, when you don't have power anymore that is your issue.

 

Check the fuse box under the dash.

 

 

There is a large draw burning fuses, so ultimately that will be your problem, for your sake I hope its a component and not the wiring harness.

So, to clarify, I checked all four fusible links with a multimeter yesterday and all 4 had continuity. After charging the battery and re-installing it this afternoon, is when i noticed the burning smell, and the 4th fusible link smoking.

 

I think that is the main link to the fuse box, which leads me to wonder, what the next step is in tracing the issue.

One of the four links should be a black one and it has the highest current rating of the four. If there was a normal piece of wire installed in place of the link then there may be some wire damage. Hopefully not.

 

I assume the trouble with the high current draw happens when the ignition is turned on. If that is so then you might try replacing the link with some jumper wires tied to a headlight bulb. Having the bulb in series with the high current load will limit the current draw to a safe level while you try to locate the problem. By disconnecting suspected trouble areas the light should dim or possibly turn off when the problem is disconnected. I would suspect the problem is most likely under the hood somewhere.

Edited June 6, 201213 yr by Cougar

that is a really good idea. I'm going to try. Kids in an auto shop disconnected many of the dash switches and installed some aftermarket ones to control the heater so there must indeed be a big short somewhere.

 

Thanks.

It also appears that there is some sort of cloudy whitish gel applied to the contacts of the big connecter that connects the wiring harness to the fusible link box... I'm wondering if someone put the wrong stuff on there and it's causing trouble...

 

The lady who gave me the car said it used to start fine earlier in the winter but eventually she stopped starting the vehicle and it never started after sitting for a month or so.

Excellent I found the short. Now full power... Now trying to get it to catch..

you did check the fuses under the dash?

Runs great now thanks for the help everyone!

Excellent I found the short. Now full power... Now trying to get it to catch..

 

Good to hear you found the trouble, where was it at? I just noticed your location. There most likely isn't many Subaru shops out there.

Yeah, if you could, let us know what the problem was for reference.

 

Glad you got it sorted out (Or unshorted out rather =P )

 

Cheers!

There was a frayed wire in between the fuse box and the fusible link. Thanks again.. Yes the average mechanic/shop hourly rate in Bethel is 200/Hr so I learn fast. We do have lots of parts out here, although they get crunched regularly.