kimokalihi
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Posts posted by kimokalihi
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I just cleaned out my garage. Much more room in there now. I can pull my car more than halfway in now! Almost all the way. Hooray. Still need to do some more cleaning but much better.
I started the car again and moved it back into the garage. I will check all the cables tomorrow probably. I have to go to work now(ughh!).
The car is up for sale right now. Hopefully I get the problem fixed by next week because I am going to check out a turbo legacy on wednesday and I need to sell that car to get the rest of my funds.
Thanks for all the help so far!
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I just went out in the garage and tried to take the measurements you asked for. But failed. The car started right up. So I couldn't get a measurement. So I disconnected the coil and cranked it while trying to get a measurement but the readings were sporadic. Back and fourth from .1v to 12 and everywhere in between like a strobe light.
But it starts now. Which doesn't mean anything to me because it started yesterday and then when I went to my girlfriends house it wouldn't start at 2 in the morning when I needed to go home. Then we waited a minute and tried it again and it worked.
I don't know where to go from here.
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Last night when I took the first measurements I managed to stick the positive lead into the clip on connector of the wire that comes from the ignition and stick the negative into a crevice on the battery negative terminal and turned the key myself.
There should be someone here now so I'll get help.
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Right on! My 90 has 293,000 miles on it right now. I'm trying to sell it but I need to get the starter to work every time not just one out of ten.
It's got a 94 tranny in it though because 20K miles ago the tranny died on me. The engine I believe has been replaced too but I'm not sure.
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The "Main power terminal" reading is somewhat low -- a fully charged battery would usually read closer to 12.6v if all the connections are good.
That reading is way too high, unless you left out a decimal point, etc. The resistance should be a fraction of an ohm.
First, just short the two meter leads together (in the "Ohms" position, naturally), and make sure the reading is close to zero. If not, either zero the ohmmeter if it has that function, or just make note of the reading and subtract that from any resistance measurement you make.
By the way, small voltage drops in cables that are carrying current can cause false resistance readings. (Resistance measurements are supposed to be made with all power disconnected.) If the positive battery terminal was connected while you checked the ground circuit resistance, the reading might have been misleading.
If the ground circuit really measures 4 ohms, you have a ground cabling problem. Check the connections for corrosion, and if that's not the problem, the cable terminals might not be making solid connection to the cable itself (corrosion sometimes develops inside, where it's not visible). If you get a reading over a fraction of an ohm between the terminals of a battery/ground cable (end to end), it's bad.
Sorry, but no, it doesn't have to be the contacts. Please check what I mentioned about the cabling before going back to the starter. If you can get someone to work with you, measure voltage drops while the key is held in the "start" postion -- from positive battery terminal to starter main one, and from battery negative terminal to starter body. Let us know what those readings are.
Could have misread that. I'll measure it again tomorrow with the battery disconnected.
Just so I understand what you're asking, I should measure the voltage from the battery positive to main power terminal on the starter with the key off and then with the key on and then the same thing with the battery negative and starter body?
I should be able to do that after I wake up in the afternoon.
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Just took some measurements with the multimeter.
- Main power terminal on the starter reads 12.2v with the car off key off.
- Ignition Power turn on wire is getting 11.97v with the key all the way to start.
- 4ohms resistence from the body of the starter near the ground cable to the negative battery terminal.
As far as I know, those are all good readings. That's not saying much though because I'm no expert with electricity.
So it has to be the starter. I think it's the contacts. They must not be aligned just right or one is higher than the other even though I did the best I could to get them flat. I did use a dremel to trim some of one of the contacts off because it had a piece that came out to the side and the original contact didn't have this. When it didn't work the first time is when I trimmed it thinking maybe that was the problem. I also trimmed the curved edge a little because the curve of the contact did not match the curve of the hole that the plunger goes in.
So just in case, I've ordered another set of contacts from the same guy and I'm going to put them in just the way they arrive and see if that works. What I need to do is locate someone with a press and have them use the press to hold the contacts down flat while I torque down the nuts. Actually I know someone who has a press!
If that doesn't work...I don't even know. I know the stupid starter works because sometimes it'll start right up but most of the time it's just clicking.
Has to be the contacts right?
(Insert "yes" right here please)
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OK, well I guess the starter isn't fixed. Or maybe it's not the starter. It works sometimes. Sometimes it doesn't. It will still click but won't go. Then we waited a minute and did it again and it went.
This is frustrating. I hate electrical problems. It's like the car knows I'm trying to sell it and it's angry with me and it's messing with me and making it as difficult as possible to sell it. At least that's how it seems.
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Really? I thought all EJ22 engines were non interference.
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Thanks. So far I think I've abandoned the swap idea and I'm just gonna put my car up for sale and see if anyone wants it.
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Nice writeup, good stuff. Thanks
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I just found a cheap turbo touring wagon with a bad tranny and looks like it has body damage so I figured I'd swap the engine into my NA car that has a straight body and call it a day. But if I have to do all that...maybe not.
There's another turbo sedan I have my eye on so I'm reconsidering.
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Alright well I took the whole motor out and wiped it all off with a rag. I was looking at it and it seemed really simple to me. I'm not sure how removing it would have caused it to not start. There was only one moving part and that was the whole spindle dealio. It was quite dirty and I wiped off all the dirt and put it back in.
Then I opened the other side again and noticed the contact was crooked. I had checked this before and I think the problem was when I was tightening the bolt on the positive terminal it was turning and causing the contact to be crooked and not getting a conneciton.
I tightened it up real good and then took a 1/4" extension and a hammer and tapped the contact back down flat and put it back together. Bolted the starter in and the car started right up! Thank god.
Thanks for the help guys!
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Just checked the junkyard. No starters. I found one but it was all froze up and nasty.
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I may do an EJ22 Turbo swap into my NA 1990 subaru legacy AWD wagon. What all do I need to make this work? Probably the ECU. Do I need the whole wiring harness too?
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I emailed the clickerfixer guy I bought the kit from and I think he's telling me the motor may be toast.
Did you take the two phillips screws out?Did you remove only the Cap or did the entire motor come out with the armature - or did the armature come out as well?
If the Armature stayed in the Starter then it pulled out of the brushes - and if it did and you did not
rest them - then when you put it back together it likley broke them and if it did it will never do anything
more than click now.
That sound right?
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It just clicks once every time you turn the key.
How do I check the voltage of the starter when it's on? With the ignition turned to "on" or while the key is turned all the way?
The battery has lots of power, it's an optima red top with 800cca I believe. The cable looks great. I wouldn't suspect either since it worked fine before I replaced the contacts.
Should I go get a new one from the junkyard?
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Once in a while my start just clicks and nothing happens. So I bought this starter kit off ebay.
I believe someone here recommended it a long time ago. Last night I finally got around to replacing the contacts and the plunger and now it just clicks. I took it back out, made sure the contacts weren't crooked causing the plunger to only touch one side. Then I pressed the plunger in all the way by hand and used a multimeter to make sure it was making a complete circuit and it was.
Any ideas? Where should I go from here? I'm tempted to just go to the junkyard and get a new starter because this baffles me.
Just for the record, this is my first time doing this. When I got the starter out the first time I accidently removed the wrong cap. I unscrewd those two long bolts and pulled the top off the starter motor I believe. Then I realized that it wasn't the right cap and quickly put it back on. I don't know if this has anything to do with it not working but I thought I should mention it just in case.
Thanks
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This is on a 90 Legacy AWD Wagon automatic.
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My high beams are only working sometimes. It started out where they would take a second to turn on. You'd switch from low beam to high beam and it would go dark and then a second later they would turn on and be fine. But now tonight I get in my car and they won't work at all. Finally 15 mins into the drive I finally got them to come on but then a car came by and I turned them back to the low beams and after that they won't turn on again.
What is going on?
A little background first. When I got the car 3 years ago I noticed someone had done something to the wiring for the headlights and did a terrible job by not soldering and using a cheap crimp connection and no heatshrink leaving the wires exposed and rusted out. Plus they had some red wire running across the engine bay and through the firewall. I have yet to trace that to see where it goes. I removed all that crappy wiring job and rewired them to the stock wiring using solder and heat shrink so I know the connection is solid.
Perhaps whoever did that to my car did it because they couldn't figure out why it was doing this with the high beams? I never had a problem with them before I rewired them. They're brand new bulbs too.
Any ideas for where to start?
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I don't know who/what that is?
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Thanks for the suggestion but I'm looking for the stock molded carpet. I'll probably have to wait until a clean car comes to the junkyard and pull the carpet out of it.
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Well, woot. I was bored so I did the tranny show your code trick and found out you don't have to do the 12mph requirement on it. It responded with 23/24/25 error codes inclding Soelnoid C.
I have a transmission waititng to be picked up locally in tampa from Ace Auto's.
thanks john!And I found a nice shop to do the swap cheaply
I should have my subie back on the road sat, yay!
:banana: Thanks guys..even though some of you ran away
How much are they charging for it? I did it myself and it was a terrible time. It was not easy by any means. One of the most difficult things I've ever done on a car. Probably the most difficult actually. It's easier to pull the whole engine and rebuild it then swap out the tranny.
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My tranny did this to me when I first got my legacy. I was coming home one night going up my huge hill and it revved up to 6K or so and started losing speed fast. Then it rolled backwards down the hill until I hit the brakes. After that it wouldn't engage in any gear and I just figured the tranny was toast. It had fluid in it. I went to the junkyard and got a tranny with about 130K miles less on it and swapped it in. Been golden ever since. This tranny shifts much better.
The one it had in it before had problems. It wouldn't shift until you let off the accelerator. Even if you were barely giving it any gas it would stay in the same gear all the way up intil 6.5 or 7K RPM! If you let off the accelerator it would shift. That was annoying.
Replaced Contacts, Now it just Clicks
in 1990 to Present Legacy, Impreza, Outback, Forester, Baja, WRX&WrxSTI, SVX
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I'm not sure if it's been flooded. I know it's never had water or any other fluid in it since I've had it but it has a bad smell that I could never get out. The carpet under the floor mats looks much darker and smells bad. It's obvious that's where the smell is coming from. I think it may even be constantly damp a little. I haven't used the car in a long time so I'm not sure.
I was just out in the garage clearing more stuff out to make room and I decided to quick check the resistence from the starter body to the negative battery terminal and it appears as if I must have misread it the first time. I got a reading of .4ohms. Not 4 ohms. Then I touched the two terminals of the multimeter together and it said .3ohms. So that should mean it's really a .1ohm resistence. That's far less than what I originally report. Plus I got in the car and it started right up again. So far that's 5 times I've gotten in the car since last night and it's started up right away. Takes no more than a second or so of turning over to start.
The ground cable has no visible corrosion and appears to be about 4gauge stock wire. The battery terminals are tight althought I haven't had time to take them off and make sure they're clean, I'm almost positive they are though.
That's all I have to add for now. I'm done for the night. Going to bed in about an hour or less.