Howdy all... First I gotta say I'm new to the board, and I don't own a Subaru. But, I have a friend who does, and I was called upon to help, myself having more mechanical experience than him....

 

Car in question is a 4wd late 80s wagon. No turbo. probably a GL, as it has power windows. He pulled up to a gas station the other night, turned the car off, put gas in, and it hasn't started since. Again, I'm no Subaroo guy.

 

The thing turns over fine. All accessories seem to work. No spark at the plugs, nor off the coil. I also pulled the fuel line at what appeared to be the filter, and there's no movement of fuel when its cranking. Check engine light never comes on. Door dingy thing quit working as well, though that my have quit earlier.

 

Seems to me, the 3rd fuse over in the middle row carries both ignition and fuel, but... it's OK. There was a blown fuse in the blue tube behind the fuse box, but replacing that helped none. I'm thinking ECU... but I have no diagnostic tools. Hell, I don't even know where it is, or what it looks like. Would it control both fuel and spark? Should fuel come out of the filter just by cranking it?

 

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! I'm an old Volvo guy myself, and I'm simply at a loss with this one..

 

-Matt B

Fort Collins, CO

The following info is based on the assumption that the car is fuel injected:

 

First thing to check would be the fusible links.. little black box under the hood attached to the coolant recovery tank on the drivers inner fender wll between the battery and the strut tower.

 

However, I am inclined to agree with your assesment of fried ECU, having recently experienced a startlingly similar situation.

 

The ECU is located right above the drivers knees. Under the dash trim. Between the trim and the steering column. With the key on and engine off, the ecu should have a little flashing light in the front of it that displays a manufacturing date code.

 

Here is a link to more info on reading soob error codes.

 

However, if you dont get any flashes, the ECU is probably toast.. not terribly common, but it does happen

Yup, fuel injected. I'll have a looksee at them lights you mention. My friend has a manual, and he mentioned something about lights that should be on, and he seemed to think none were coming on.

 

I'll check it myself though. Does that ECU control the fuel pump as well?

 

Them fuseable links... I looked in there, and none of the braided wires looked burned. Would they if they had gone bad? Or do you just test 'em by replacing them? Or doing a simple continuity check?

 

Thanks for your input!

-Matt

Yes, the ECU controls the fuel pump.

 

Generally the fusible links will be visibly broken if bad.

 

A simple continuity check will verify that they are good however.

 

I have a handful off good ones if you wanna come over and get them.

Thanks for the offer! Yea, only looks like about 930 miles. I'll be there in the morning. Heck, maybe I'll flatbed the car out while I'm at it...

 

I'll try a continuity check first though...

 

-Matt

Maybe check the Timing Belts...

J

Possible.. But CEL doesn't light up with key on/car off.. fuel pump isn't coming on either.

 

Suggestion. On the drivers side, under the hood, right on top of the firewall,/under the windshield are 2 green connectors. connect them and turn the key on.. fuel pump and relay should audibly cycle off and on every 1.5 seconds.. if you hear that, you know the ECU is doing something, since the ECU controls that electrical pulse.

Replace (check) the horn fuse:D

 

See other post: Help, car won't start.