Hi all -

 

I have an 84 Subaru GL Wagon that will not start. It sat all last winter because doesn't have enough power to make it up our hill on snow even in awd ( thats a whole other issue that I'll work on after this) (Carburetor perhaps??).

 

I replaced the battery and had the starter checked and its fine. When you put the key in the ignition there is nothing, no dash lights, nothing. The door ajar dings and the dome light comes on but nothing else. Could it be the ignition switch?? Any ideas??

 

I'm about to have it towed to the shop soon but would like to know if it might be something simple I could fix myself. I'm no mechanic but know a few of them

 

Also, what problems am I looking at with a car thats been sitting for so long?? It only has 100K miles on it and other than the above issues is a great car so I really want to get it running again.

 

Thanks - Wendy

Check the fusible links. They are in a little black box right on the drivers side. They are little wires that are different colors. Make sure none of them have broken, you might have to pull on them lightly. With it sitting so long, the brakes might be rusted a little

Have you measured the battery voltage -- I've had batteries weak enough to light the door indicators, but then turn off if you try to turn the starter.

 

If the battery voltage is good, have you tried jumping 12 volts directly to the starter solenoid terminal? That will give a good idea of whether it's got enough power to turn the motor over, and whether it might be a bad ignition switch. Sounds like it might be, if you already replaced the battery and had the starter checked. And, if it not only doesn't crank, but doesn't turn on the dash lights or anything, it sounds like both the run and crank positions of the ignition switch are not working.

 

BTW, the '84 doesn't have AWD -- it has part time 4wd, and if it's a GL, it should have low range. If it didn't have enough power in low range to make it up the hill, it must have really been suffering.

 

As for sitting so long... all winter isn't long... I've started ones that sat for 2 or 3 years. But, you probably have rusty brakes (just ride the brakes a little going down a hill and they'll shine right up in most cases). Check the tire pressures. And, depending on where it was parked, the vent system might be full of leaves. Probably a good idea to check all the fluid levels too, but other than that, probably not bad.

Another possibility is that the battery terminals are dirty on the inside or just plain loose.

 

Make sure both the battery post and the inside of the terminal (both + and - cables) are shiny, and when re-attached they are good-n-tight. This stuff you can check for free.

 

Ignition switch as described above is also a possibility.

 

Just my 2 bucks

Ok!!! Problem fixed!!! It was the ignition relay, has a short I suspect. Thanks you all for your input and advice. It started right up after sitting for over a year!! Happiest day of my life!

 

Thanks again!