Hello!  My brand new (to me) Legacy (1999 Legacy L with the 2.2) is apparently trying to torch itself.  I have had it for coming up on 2 months and have had few major problems until now.  I hopped in, fired her up and drove maybe a quarter mile when I start getting a major loss of power followed by total electrical failure, then poof, nothing.  I coasted into a parking spot, noticed an electrical/burning smell, and popped the hood.  The starter solenoid was smoking pretty bad and melted through the positive battery cable, which was also very warm to the touch.  I quickly pulled the terminal and watched for any further problems or noticeable damage.  

Once it was sufficiently cool, I wrapped the damaged cable in electrical tape (temporary, just wanted to try and crank over to get it moved somewhere more convenient) and reconnected the terminal, only to have it arc pretty good and start getting warm, indicating a dead short (ignition was off, starter never cranked, power never appeared to be restored to the car).  With no other noticeable shorts (I made sure the exposed portion was sealed with tape, no other melted spots were visible), I am leaning towards a catastrophically failed starter solenoid  except I have never seen and rarely heard of a failure like this.  I picked up a new starter and will be installing that and a new positive lead tomorrow,   I just wanted to bump heads with some experts to see if anyone has encountered this before?  Any ideas if this is just a symptom caused by a short somewhere else?  I have found no blown fuses or fusible links anywhere and the rest of the wiring look good.

 

Thanks in advance!

Holy cow! I've never heard of that happening before, at least it was an easy diagnosis.

 

Since the starter is completely separate system from the rest of the car, other than the power from the key, I would say no this is probably all to do with the starter.

Unless of course the wire from the key is keeping the cyloniod Engaged.

Edited May 9, 201312 yr by mikaleda

I haven't had a chance to take a multi-meter after any wires, but that is an interesting possibility   I wonder though, wouldn't that cause the starter motor to stay engaged?  At least if it froze in the on position.  Once running and the ignition was released, the starter appeared to operate normally (disengaged, didn't hear any further spinning), aside from the solenoid trying to torch itself...  I guess I am still trying to picture the failure in my head...

Ya if the wire from the key to engage the cyloniod was stuck on it should make the starter stay engaged, I think your problem will end up being the old cylinoid.

Thanks for the input!  Will post up some carnage pics when I get it swapped out if you are interested.  

Sure, that should be interesting.

i suggest a used subaru starter and replacement contacts in the solenoid prior to install.

starters are not as bad as alts, but some reman replacements are crap.

 

these guys will send you replacement contacts and plunger for the soleniod for about $15.

used starters are ??$50??.

still cheaper than a reman.

 

used parts, www.car-part.com

 

Metro Heavy-Duty Distributors, Inc
1540 Plantation Road
Roanoke, VA 24012
1 (800) 296-8995


http://www.metroheavyduty.com/index.html

 

 

SOL CONTACT ND

66-82756







SOL CONTACT ND

66-82759







PLUNGER ASSY ND-GR

66-82603







A quick Google search (which is where I got the above photos) reveals
these to be, presumably, Denso replacement parts. If you search these
part numbers you get several options for sites from which you can order
them. Hope this helps anyone looking around, since the one thing I did
not see on other threads about this issue were actual part numbers.
Cheers!

 

.

Edited May 9, 201312 yr by johnceggleston

It is fixed now, carnage pics to follow but there isn't much to show. It looks in fairly good condition except the mfg sticker is heat damaged and there is a speech mark from the battery cable where it melted. New starter appears to work just fine. Thanks for the assistance! Yup late on the starter purchase advice but i will keep that in mind if it goes out again, thanks!