Car not starting - rounding up the usual suspects.

[Gyoas759]

Okay. On the way to finally finish with the brakes on this car, but it didn't want to start. All the accessories work fine, but no ignition, no turning over, no clicking, nothing. Checked the battery cables and wires. All is tight. tapped the starter. no change. So i routed a jumper cable from the positive battery terminal to the starter and it BARELY started. Moved it, but it wouldn't start again even with the cable. Took out the starter and had it tested at AutoZone. works fine. Took off the battery connections and cleaned them thoroughly. Tightened them down. re-checked everything. Re tried everything. What's next? fuses? Ignition coil? Any suggestions or ideas would be most helpful.

[idosubaru]

EA81 or EA82 and what vehicle?

 

fusible link or bad ground. the fusible link box is inside the engine bay of most soobs, by the battery in a little box. pull each one and check it. they can hold together but still be in bad shape, need to pull back the sheating and have a look if that's the case. or just swap in some good ones. did you test the battery? how good were the jumper cables? badly rusted or cheap ones sometimes don't work so well (i have a pair that i really want to shoot at times that i just need to send to the dumpster).

[daeron]

Autozone, Scmautozone.. Make sure your negative battery cable is good (IE, jumper cable from negative post to engine ground) make sure your positive battery cable is good (jumper cable to BATTERY TERMINAL on starter)

 

Then try the key. If the key will not start it, with all jumper cables still in place, try using a screwdriver (with the key "on) to touch the solenoid terminal and the positive cable terminal on the starter at the same time. This essentially bypasses the key and signals the solenoid to close, starting the car. If the key WILL start it, go down to the double star (**) and ignore the screwdriver comments.

 

IF that makes the car start, try the screwdriver start **after taking the extra ground jumper cable off. If that still works, try it without the positive jumper cable. If that still works, then your problem lies in the iginition switch circuit.

 

If taking either cable off makes it "bad" again, then you have isolated one bad battery cable.

 

If none of this works, Don't go back to that autozone with electrical parts that need testing.

 

I have a write up in the USRM about relays etc.. if the keyswitch is your problem you can rig up a pushbutton switch, but the safest and best way (least likely to fail in the future) is to use a relay. You can do this and still use the key to start the vehicle, or you can use a relay connected to an auxiliary switch.

 

Post back with results.

[Gyoas759]

Autozone, Scmautozone.. Make sure your negative battery cable is good (IE, jumper cable from negative post to engine ground) make sure your positive battery cable is good (jumper cable to BATTERY TERMINAL on starter)

 

Then try the key. If the key will not start it, with all jumper cables still in place, try using a screwdriver (with the key "on) to touch the solenoid terminal and the positive cable terminal on the starter at the same time. This essentially bypasses the key and signals the solenoid to close, starting the car. If the key WILL start it, go down to the double star (**) and ignore the screwdriver comments.

 

IF that makes the car start, try the screwdriver start **after taking the extra ground jumper cable off. If that still works, try it without the positive jumper cable. If that still works, then your problem lies in the iginition switch circuit.

 

If taking either cable off makes it "bad" again, then you have isolated one bad battery cable.

 

If none of this works, Don't go back to that autozone with electrical parts that need testing.

 

I have a write up in the USRM about relays etc.. if the keyswitch is your problem you can rig up a pushbutton switch, but the safest and best way (least likely to fail in the future) is to use a relay. You can do this and still use the key to start the vehicle, or you can use a relay connected to an auxiliary switch.

 

Post back with results.

 

Tried it. With the jumper cables in place I still got the same results. So I tried the screwdriver, crossed from both cables. It got the starter motor running but nothing else. Thinking back, I'm not 100% on this. Was I supposed to attach the negative cable to the negative teminal on the starter, or on the little clip part near the solenoid?

[daeron]

Tried it. With the jumper cables in place I still got the same results. So I tried the screwdriver, crossed from both cables. It got the starter motor running but nothing else. Thinking back, I'm not 100% on this. Was I supposed to attach the negative cable to the negative teminal on the starter, or on the little clip part near the solenoid?

 

Basically I was suggesting using a pair of jumper cables in parallel with the regular battery cables.. one from positive batt terminal to positive starter terminal, one from negative battery terminal to the metal body of the starter. Screwdriver between the solenoid terminal and the hot cable.

 

Was your key "on" when you tried to start it? If not, then there was no fuel pump and no spark coming from the coil, so it would never start.

 

There are four possibilities:

 

1. Bad Positive Cable

2. Bad Negative Cable

3. Too much resistance in the keyswitch circuit, not allowing enough juice into the solenoid from your igniotion switch

and

4. Bad solenoid (Autozone Schmautozone)

 

*in steps 1 and 2, you can try using the key first; but if that fails I would recommend using the screwdriver or other "jumper" to the solenoid terminal.

 

1. If you rig up the jumper cables, turn key to on, use screwdriver and it works, but then fail to get a start after taking the positive jumper cable off, then you need a new positive cable.

 

2. Same thing as 1, but negative cable. (REALLY, for 10-15 bucks for a pair, its best to just replace the cables if you have any doubt; just get cables of the same gage or larger, and the same length. Too long is bad; too long may as well be not thick enough.

 

3. If THIS is the case, then you shouldnt need jumper cables at ALL to get the starter to work.. Try turning the key to "on," removing both jumper cables, and use a screwdriver to bridge between the positive cable end and the solenoid terminal. Instead of using the screwdriver, you could just use a jumper cable to go from the positive batter terminal to the solenoid terminal, but you just need to tap it and hold it against positive terminal while you are "starting" it. If you just clip both ends on, then the starter will not cut off; it will only cut off when you disconnect the power you are feeding into the solenoid terminal. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=74632 that is what *I* did when my ignition switch was no longer getting enough power to my solenoid terminal to make it happen. Most people opt to simply use a pushbutton switch to power the solenoid terminal, but a relay is FAR FAR safer, more reliable, and less likely to fail in the future.

 

4. If you do the jumper cable thing, and have the key "on" and all you get is a spinning starter motor, but NO rotation of the engine, then you have a bad starter solenoid, Autozone Schmautozone. The good news is that any starter out of any EA82 car will work. They are NOT all the same, but they ARE All interchangeable. The automatic cars have the slightly beefier, gear reduction type starter (which is what I always prefer) but I am relatively certain that the starter that WAS on my car (3AT) was from a stick shift car. Junkyard FTW. If you are dirt broke, I managed to take my starter apart and put it back together, after cleaning all the contacts thoroughly and re greasing everything, and got three or four months of service delivering pizzas (IE, starting the car about thirty times a day) before it finally went to the big junkyard in the sky.