OK, I am new here, and pretty new to the wonderful world of Subaru. I bought a 2000, auto, 2.5 legacy outback wagon about a year ago. A week ago, my wife is driving home from work, after about 3-4 inches of snow had fallen, and the car just died going down the road. She managed to get it off the road and into a parking lot. It will not start. We have sprayed starting fluid, and it will start on it, but dies right away. We replaced the fuel filter last summer, we replaced the fuel pump and the dreaded o ring today, the cap showed no signs of cracking. Last week, when we pulled the line off going to the fuel filter under the hood, there was some fuel, but very little, it just drizzled out. After the replacements today, there's no fuel at that line, but it did start from the starting fluid, and died back out. We are lost at this point.......any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!

So, did you check fuses?

and relays?

Checked fuses, and am now searching hopelessly for the location of the relay to check on it.....

Possibly unrelated.....the little security light on the dash is flashing.....it has done it a couple times before.....but hasn't in a while. Could this have triggered something I don't know about?

Using a meter, we have discovered no juice going to fuel pump.....and using a light, we have nothing at the fuse......

Have you found the relay?? Location prolly in owner's manual.

Just found and tested two relays from up under steering column, both tested ok.....car did not come with owners manual. Would have made life too easy I suppose, lol

when you cycle the key to on, can you hear the pump run for a few seconds?

Edited February 1, 201412 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

I also think a bad cam sensor will prevent the ECU from sending fuel but, not sure.

 

maybe scan for stored codes?

No noise from pump, when it was checked with a meter there is no power getting to it. The engine light was not on at the time it died, however the security light was flashing.....and still is.

We do have spark, as it will fire on starting fluid....we are not getting any fuel. There is no power to pump, or to fuse

New cam sensor installed.......still nada......

Have a 2001 Outback Wagon but mine is the 3.0 . Had the same problem last year with mine. Sounds like your fuel pump. Mine died out the same way. If yours is a wagon lift the rear seat and under that black stuff they have stuck to the floor you will find bolts to the plate that covers the pump. You can check the wires there that send power to the pump. If you have someone open the gas cap and listen while you turn the key they should hear pump run. Pretty expensive to replace if you don't have deep pockets. I did mine myself. Not that hard but when mine died I had a full tank of gas. Just tried by best not to make any sparks. Inside of car smelled like raw gas for over a month. Good luck, I hope I am wrong, but that's what I think happened.

Has a brand new pump installed this morning. We checked the connections going to the pump and no power is getting to it. We used a test light on the fuse, no power......We checked, what I hope, was the fuel pump relay, it tested as good.....

From what I read Your fuel pump relay is inside the car, left drivers side, under dash, behind or above your fuse box, with a green connector going to it. Good bright flash light and a mirror should help you see.  good luck    cold outside, mice like to get in and chew, or a lost ground to pump

Would losing the ground to the pump, also cause there to be no power at the fuse panel for the fuel pump fuse?

Could the ignition switch be the problem? 

Cant answer that, try to find that relay and it shows you on YouTube how to test it. Go to YouTube type in How to check a fuel pump relay. Then you can take a short wire and make a jumper and see if you get power to the fuse and pump.

Checked relay with meter, and it tested good.....I have no idea on ignition switch. It was mentioned at one point today, but wasn't explored much because we were getting spark, but no fuel.....

I know this is obvious, but if there is no power at the pump, then either there is [1] no power on the input to the relay [2] no power to energize the relay or [3] a break in the wiring from the relay to the pump.

 

The relay, as you are aware, is in a very inaccessible spot, but you should be able to feel it energize [for about 1 sec] when you first turn on the ignition so you can at least eliminate/verify the no. 2 alternative.

 

Most likely, it's not energizing, and in that case, someone on the forum may be able to direct you to the wire on the computer that energizes the relay and you can trace it back that far.  It's a tough problem.

We know there is no power at the fuse box either. When the relay was tested it came up good. I will attempt to twist myself into the car and see if I can feel anything. Thank you everyone, for all the help. We spent all day yesterday working on it, and are so frustrated right now. Nothing like having the Subaru in the family go down during a snow storm, and now we have another one coming tonight.....ggrrrr.

I feel nothing at relay......

Did you check fuses under the hood?

 

The control side of the relay is grounded by the computer. Possible the ground circuit is faulty, but not very common, so pretty unlikely.

 

Fuel pump relay is in the far upper left corner under the dash. Very hard to get to. Make sure ALL the fuses in the under hood panel are good, even the big slow blow fuses.

We checked just about everything with a test light and/or a meter.....I have an ignition switch on its way. We are now under over 6 inces of snow, so Scooby Roo work is on pause for the moment, at least till the snow stops and I can dig it out.......lol

any signs of rodent damage? they will chew wires.