Had a dead battery in my 86 Brat. replaced it with a brand new one. & hooked it up..... Backwards!! Now the Brat is dead~ no headlights, nothing. Tell me straight....what damage have I done?  and how do I fix it? !!! Please let me know if I should panic!!!

usually there is a main fusible link that blows to prevent damage.

 

i don't know about brats,

but if there is a fuse box under the hood,

check all the fuses, sbf (slow blow fuses)  and fusible links there.

Thanks~ hoping that's all that I've damaged. I'll dive under the hood and start checking.

If anyone has more Brat specific pointers please chime in! I'm  still in panic mode.  What have I done?

Unless someone replaced your fusible link with something that doesn't belong: you're fine. Replace and learn something new. Fusible links are in front of the coil. Order it from Subaru or ask around for one.

 

Hope its that simple. Let us know.

Any possibility of someone providing a pic of a fusible link? Not sure what they look like. ( I know just enough about car repairs to be dangerous.......obviously)

buddy of mine did that to his nissan, then to a ford! haha they were both fine the next day... idk if thats normal but they wouldnt do anything that day he hooked them up wrong, but the next day they both were fine

This is the box you're looking for. Pull it off and you'll see 3 wires. Those are the fusible links. Should have 2 greens with a red one in between.

 

 

Ignore the black. It's from an EA82T. (photo credit Turbone)

Edited January 16, 201412 yr by BratRod

Do they give a visual indication of being blown?

 

John

yes, theyll be burnt and usually in two pieces. like a fuse. hence, "fusible link"

Awesome>>Thanks for the pics! Already removed this cover and found these wires yesterday. Suspected that this was them, just wanted to be sure. Is there any point in checking resistance across these to verify that they've blown?

Just curious.

Thanks again~

The way that a fusible link is designed, it will be very apparent if it has blown. usually the insulation on the wire will melt where the heat through the wire has melted them through.

check this light discussion out .....

 

http://www.ausubaru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18205&highlight=fusible+links

 

all about searches on FLs updates in our older gen Subies

A burned out link doesn't always show outward signs of being open, they can fool you if you aren't careful. If they stretch when you pull on the ends it indicates that the middle has melted. Also checking for voltage on each side of the link is good way to confirm it is okay. It's basically a piece of wire, designed to handle a certain amount of current for a duration of time.

Thank you everyone~great information.

Of the three fusible links shown in the photo above , one of the green ones was melted all the way through.

I'll be ordering a replacement from a Subaru dealership. Used a temporary jumper just to see if that was the cause.

Brat started right up & everything worked~no blown fuses bulbs, nothin!

When it came to it was pretty PO'd at me. So I'm going to let it rest and baby it for a few days.

Thanks again!

Consider yourself as just dodging a bullet. Never ever, ever, ever, replace a fuse with a normal piece of wire. If a hard short had been in place with that wire installed you would have burned out the wiring leading to that short before you had a chance to think about it..