Hello everybody, very nice site !

 

I own a Subaru Legacy Outback 1996, today during a normal commute some white smoke and electric smell comes from under the driver seat. Of course I'm stopped the car immediately and checked under the seat, I found a single wire  that is connected to the seat belt . I disconnected the wire , is there something else I have to do? Somebody hear about this before? Since the odor and smoke comes directly from under the seat I'm assume this wire is the problem, but I'm really don't know. Please help!

 

 

Did the wire appear burned?

Does it have power seats?

I don't remember there being anything else under the drivers seat except maybe an amp for the stereo system. That would be a fairly large black box.

 

You'll need to finding which part burned and the reason why the burn happened. It's still a fire hazard until you find out the actual cause and at the very least remove the fuse for that circuit. Then you should repair the wire or component.

Hello Fairtax4me, no power seats ,and  wire doesn't look burned, I just came from the car, and I found  problems with the stereo system (I have lights on but doesn't work), this Legacy doesn't have a black box under the seat. I guess is a short cut under the carpet, and the smoke found the way out in the drivers seat direction. 

Do you have the factory sub-woofer?

It might be a power or ground wire for an amplifier. If it was too thin gauge, they can overheat and they'll cook the wire cover. It'll overheat the actual wire similar to how seat heaters work. If the ground was pinched, it'd have the same effect.

 

I ran a small Class T amp before and underestimated it's power draw and ran a cheap ground wire that was undersized. It was only powering tweeters. While blaring the stereo, same deal, smoke poured out in the back seat area and I thought I had a fire, cut people off to get off the road, get out and check, and the actual wire got so hot for the ground in melted into the carpet.

 

I'd trace the wire back to find out what it's connected to. If your radio isn't working properly now, it sounds connected. A previous owner might have installed a small amp w/o you even knowing it's there, or maybe there's a factory amp (if no black box with speaker under seat, maybe not) or was an amp someone tied into at one point, and left the wire hot. Though if it's carrying 12v+ and grounded out, it should have popped the fuse right away.

Thank you so much guys. All the answers helped me a lot. Soon I will remove the carpet to take a look at the wires. Thanks again!

Though if it's carrying 12v+ and grounded out, it should have popped the fuse right away.

Assuming they even used a fuse. Have seen quite a few jack-leg stereo amp installs wired straight to the battery with no fuse.

 

 

The radio not working may be a clue though. There are wires for the left rear door that run under the drivers seat, and one of the speaker wires may be damaged.

Have to remove the front seat and the rear bottom seat cushion and all of the lower trim on the left side in order to pull the carpet up to get a look at what's under there.

Hello everybody. I remove just in case fuse #17 and fuse # 3 ( under the dash and inside the engine compartment ) both are related with the stereo system ( both are in good condition, at least radio have no energy at the moment) I will follow FairTax4me advise , remove front seat, lower trim and carpet to make a visual inspection and see what is under. I'm really thankful guys, I work all day and I just have a few hours in the night to check this problem. This is very helpful , thank you very much.

Are there any extra wires added on to the positive battery terminal? An aftermarket amp power wire is normally run straight to the battery.

i might be one of those crazy people that would wire an amp wire without a fuse. i know the dangers of doing so but i also cannot seem to put a large enough fuse in there without it blowing out after 2 or 3 songs. after replacing so many fuses i just gave up with fuses.

 

Are there any extra wires added on to the positive battery terminal? An aftermarket amp power wire is normally run straight to the battery. 

Yes, it's a secondary wire...I'm trying now to up load a picture.

i might be one of those crazy people that would wire an amp wire without a fuse. i know the dangers of doing so but i also cannot seem to put a large enough fuse in there without it blowing out after 2 or 3 songs. after replacing so many fuses i just gave up with fuses.

If you're replacing fuses all the time your fuse size is too small for the amp.

Rule of thumb, figure 10 amps for every 100 watts, Then add another 10.

100 peak watt amp, you want a 20 amp fuse.

500 peak watt amp, 60 amp fuse.

 

You want your car to burn that's up to you.