November 10, 20187 yr I'm looking for a project and I have the chance to buy an older Subie at a fair price. Of course it needs body work and some other things, but the main problem is that the battery was hooked up backwards and now it wont run. Does anyone have an idea what damage this may have done? Like would it be a fuse or a fusable link, or would it be a lot more serious, like a computer module, wiring, etc. I cant believe that Subaru wouldnt have built something in to prevent damage from something like this since it could easily happen.
November 11, 20187 yr Exact details of the model in question would be helpful. Certainly start with the fusible links and go from there Cheers Bennie
November 11, 20187 yr Author Its a 1989 XT6. Here is what he told me: "The previous owner hooked the battery up backwards. The only thing that wasn't working was the fuel pump.(He wired it to a switch) Then the car would only turn on when it felt like it. It would recognize the key in the ignition, but wouldn't turn anything on, including any of the accessories. I tried a new ignition switch, but that didn't change anything."
November 16, 20187 yr The backwards battery fried your starter motor. Pull it out and take it to a parts store to test it. If (and when) it fails find a new one online. When this EXACT THING happened to me this year I priced them for around $70, low end. Luckily I have a parts car.
November 16, 20187 yr Hopefully there’s no damage to the ecu. I’d also look into why the fuel pump isn’t working as it should. Could be a dead relay or a dodgy connection - or again, a fuse. Cheers Bennie
November 17, 20187 yr Any and all of the electronic things like the ECU could be damaged. I would be surprised if it hurt a starter. But a starter not working won't prevent it from running, just won't crank. Alternator likely damaged, but that won't prevent running on its own. Fusible link should be fried, saving the car from a fire with the backwards current going into the alternator.
November 17, 20187 yr would be a valuable learning for us all for someone to do this to a donor vehicle to then do an autopsy on all electrical components
November 17, 20187 yr 8 hours ago, jono said: would be a valuable learning for us all for someone to do this to a donor vehicle to then do an autopsy on all electrical components New project for you Jono!
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