I have a 90 Subaru Legacy wagon 5spd that I just replaced the fuel pump. Now it runs again after 2 years of sitting. Great, except that now when I hook up the battery and the key isn't even in the ignition I hear some crazy relay clicking in the back of the car. I tore off the interior panel and it's located right below the driver side rear speaker. I have no idea what it does or why it's clicking like that. Never did that before. When you turn the car on it stops.

 

If you put the key in the ignition and turn it back and forth without actually turning it far enough to start the engine, you can hear that rear driver side speaker popping and you can see it hitting max excursion every time you turn the key.

 

I'm guessing somehow some wires got crossed? What is that relay for? How do I fix this? I need this car gone, it has been a nightmare ever since I've had it.

 

Please help me!!!

Just a wild guess but if you have the air suspension, it could be the solenoid in charge of inflating/deflating the airbags. It's not far from the speakers.

 

Good luck!

As far as I know this does not have the air suspension. It's just the L model.

I tore off the interior panel and it's located right below the driver side rear speaker. I have no idea what it does or why it's clicking like that. Never did that before. When you turn the car on it stops.

 

If you put the key in the ignition and turn it back and forth without actually turning it far enough to start the engine, you can hear that rear driver side speaker popping and you can see it hitting max excursion every time you turn the key.

 

Sounds like the auto seatbelt timer unit. Which would make sense because it is powered even when key is off. That is the location it's in too, above the drivers rear wheel well. I can't explain the speaker popping though. Disconnect that speaker and see what happens.

Two years of letting a car sit can cause problems for any car. I see that you are from the State of Washington. If the car sat outside for two years, there is a possibility of wiring degredation. You just might have some wiring that is not grounding as it should. When that happens, electrically charged wiring will do some strange things trying to find a ground, and cause some wierd problems like you are encountering right. Suggest using a volt meter to check wiring to see if circuits are grounding properly. It can be time consuming, but may solve problems.

I wouldn't even know where to begin with the wiring. I just want to get rid of the car.

 

Nobody is going to want the car if it's making that noise when you turn the key. Not to mention something is wrong with the transmission. When the car is running it makes a grinding sound and if you put the clutch in, the sound stops. It does this in every gear and even in neutral. Could be the throwout bearing, I don't know. What I do know is that I've replaced a tranny in my other subaru, same model, same year but automatic and I'll never do it again. Major PITA.

Well a simplistic fix for the clicking noise is to disconnect the wiring to whatever is making the clicking noise. Sure, that doesn't fix the problem, but when a car is 18 years old usually everything doesn't work on the car like when it was new. Once disconnected, you may be able to tell what is not now working that worked before. Then you can decide if it is worth any more of your time to repair.

Is it possible to look this relay up in the chilton or haynes books?

Is it possible to look this relay up in the chilton or haynes books?

 

No

 

Chiltons and Haynes are full of crap. Often they are just plain wrong and will cause more harm than help.

 

From the sound of it, you don't really want advice. If you hate the car so bad, call a junkyard.

I started the car up and moved it out of the garage and I noticed that it says the rear doors are open but they're not. The relay in the back is still clicking like mad but only when the car is off and the key is on. The power seatbelts don't move. They stay at the forward position.

 

 

From the sound of it, you don't really want advice. If you hate the car so bad, call a junkyard.

 

I spent $1,000 on this car. I hate it but would like to be able to get some of my money back and the junkyard isn't gonna give me much if anything for it.