I have recently bought an EA82 MPFI station at ebay for some replacement parts (especially the engine!). The car was cheap (about 55 Euro = 70 US$). The seller stated that the engine is OK, but the car won't start at the moment.

After buying that car, he told me that he has connected the battery in the wrong way (positive and negeative were switched) and that now there is no currency anywhere in the car. He said that he don't really know what is damaged - and he won't search, I wouldn't also for 55 Euro All he knows is that there was some smoke after connecting the battery.

 

Could it be so easy that just the three main fuses near the battery are gone? Or are there any bad damages to be expected?

 

Thanks!

Yes, by the battery, coolant overflow , the fusible links. If there was a slow fusible link, check alternator and wiring behind it, where it all bunches together. Other than that, just check the fuse box in dash.

Not sure about the MPFI, but I know on the SPFI, connecting the battery backwards will immediately destroy the ECU. There's actually a warning about this in the FSM.

 

GD

fusible links and ECU are likely gone. replace those first and move on from there.

good thread, ill HAVE to keep that in mind (a long time ago, when i was fourteen, and it was raining, i placed the jumper cables on my moms sabel station wagon (P.O.S. CITY!!!) from memory instead of wiping the crud off to read where they went...... OOPS.....still havent heard the end of that one...)

The ECU is a bad thing... Not that I really need it, but it will prevent me from moving that car home by itself.

 

But why does the ECU get currency before the ignition is turned on? That doesn't seem to make sense imho.

 

Anyway, it seems that I have to choose the more expensive method and use a trailer for that car.

The ECU has a direct connection to the battery with a fusible link. This is provided so the ECU memory can track diagnostic codes for later use. It's like the memory on your radio....

 

GD

Oh, OK, I didn't think of that. Thanks

Hmm, if that ECU is damaged, will an Turbo-ECU work for the time to drive that damned car home? Look here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=64033

the ECU's vary a lot across different models/options. it'll plug in, whether it will work or not is another thing.

 

one crazy thing i found out...an XT Turbo can run on an XT6 ECU. it doesn't run well and i actually have a non-turbo motor in the car but i tried an XT6 ECU just for kicks. didn't want to hold a steady RPM, but was driveable.

If it is ECU, and you like taking things apart, try resistor r1 by burnt appearance. Attacks from many angles like resistor R1 on the ECU board. If it is resistor somehere, it is obviously burnt. 10ohm 2pack from radio shack for a buck, with luck, it should repair strong and last long.

So, the car is at home, I have repaired it first and then drove it home! Two things were damaged, the alternator and the ECU. Everything else is OK, also the fuseable links and fuses.

 

The ECU looked like it works (with blinking and all), but the car won't fire on. I cleared the memory, but it had no effect. After installing my EA82T ECU, the engine fires on instantly without any problems! I will check this resistor...

 

And for the alternator, I guess the voltage regulator is burned, but I will check this sometimes in the future.

 

Ah, and by the way: Since I had no other alternator available, I used the old one from an EA81 which is now 23 years old and wasn't in service for at least 6 years. I works fine! Those Hitachi alternators are not sooo bad

as far as a replacement alternator.. i saw a photo of one out of a maxima while looking at parts for a friends car. it looked similar enough, and was higher amperage, so the next time i was in a junkyard i test fit one from a maxima into a subaru, and it fit great. chances are, if you see an hitachi alternator that looks about right, it will at least bolt up. the casing size may be limited, because i know the maxima alternator was a slightly tighter fit, but it workes and its 90 amps instead of 60, so hey. bonus. I was also looking at a BMW alternator on the internet once i got the idea, but could not find the vehicle in the junkyard. I figured I would try for a german alt rather than a jap one :- )