Cougar

There is a taillight relay in the dash fuse panel that passes power to the rear lights. The relay is turned on with the light switch, which makes a connection to ground to the relay coil. The PARK switch on top of the steering column passes power to the relay circuit in the OFF position. In the ON position the switch bypasses the taillight relay.

My data shows that there are 3 connectors going to the cluster. If I am looking at things correctly the connector called 'C' should be on the right side of the cluster if the connectors are on top of the cluster. There are two rows of pins and one row has three pins on each side of the key notch of the connector. That is the row we are looking for. Pin C3 provides power to the cluster and it is the pin closest of the three pins to the middle of the plug and the three pins that are nearing the middle of the console. Before you tear into the dash you need to make sure other areas are getting power from the same source of power. Fuse 5 in the panel under the hood provides power to the cluster via the ignition switch, ignition relay, and the dash fuse panel. If the turn signals don't work then make sure fuse 5 is good under the hood. Also check for power with the ignition ON at the dash fuse panel. Look for a 12 pin connector tied to the panel with two rows of wires. Pin 11 should be a grn/wht wire that goes to the cluster pin C3 and should have power on it. If there is no power on that wire then the ignition relay needs to be checked. It is the first relay located in the relay block. Your trouble could be between the ignition switch and the fuse panel

The alternator has an exciter inside it and the exciter field needs power provided to it in order for it to get the field windings charged up. The battery warning light in the dash is in series with the ignition switch power and the connection to the exciter via the blk/wht wire on the alternator. If the warning light burns out or power gets cut off somehow to the exciter then the alternator can't function. You need to see why power isn't getting to your cluster. I think there are least two sources of power too it. I don't have access to my service data right now but I will in about a week from now if you need to know more info on the power connection. Fuse 13 in the dash panel may be the fuse in question so make sure power is getting to that fuse and others using a test light and the slits on top of the fuses to make the checks on each side of the fuses.

Your previous statements seem pretty much the way I understand things also. The scanner voltage reading should be the voltage that sensor was generating at the time the reading was done by the scanner.

The P1133 code will go away once a new sensor is installed and the wiring to the sensor is okay. As for the data of 02S11 making a change that is another matter. I'm not even sure that is the same sensor that has the damaged heater. The S11 should tell you which sensor is supplying that data. If you don't know then disconnect the sensors one at a time and see when the data drops off or changes on that sensor data.

The heater must have some fairly low DC resistance so current can flow through it and generate heat. If the circuit is open no current can flow. No current flow, no heat. It is that simple.

There is absolutely no doubt that the heater is bad in the sensor. The Fluke has spoken and it has the last word, no matter what any other device says is going on. The difference between 1 ohm and OPEN is almost the same difference as a short and a open is. The sensor is bad, period.

Well you have proven the heater is bad on your sensor. That is about the end of the story for that sensor at least. The Fluke knows.

If you have another sensor to make a comparison test using your meter that would help prove things out. I don't know what the resistance of the heater should normally be but I assume it is less than 100 ohms. I also assume that you meter is an auto-ranging type and you are using a scale that extends to the Meg ohms.

The other code seemed to indicate that the sensor signal has a problem also, not just the code for the heater.

No voltage on pin 3 of connector B61 is a problem. The red wire should tie to the ignition switch on connector B72 pin 5. You need to find the break in the wire connection if power is getting to pin 5 at the switch. I wouldn't do anything else until you have fixed that issue. That wire also ties to fuse 18 in the dash fuse panel. An easy place to check for power also.

You seem to have a good grasp of the trouble and where to look for it. Things like engine sensors are not the issue here, it is a lack of main power to somewhere. The ignition switch supplies power to the dash fuse panel so if power is getting to all the dash fuses with the ignition switch ON then the trouble is after the ignition switch and fuse panel. The ignition relay supplies power to a number of engine related areas. The relay would be a prime suspect for this trouble except for the fact you say that the dash warning lights and headlights don't work when the problem happens. Those things are not related to the relay. Connector F44/B61-pin 3 has a red wire that supplies power from the ignition switch back to the Main fuse panel in the engine compartment which gives power to the headlight relay coils but not the warning lights in the dash. Lets first verify all the fuses in the dash panel are getting power to them while the trouble is happening.

Good info from "mikaleda". I would speculate that is exactly what is causing the intermittent problem to the radio. Reflowing the solder connections will most likely fix the issue.

I tend to think you will get more money if you sell the WRX yourself rather than some buy back deal. They still have to resell the car at a profit. You will lose some money doing that but you can use some of the money you would spend on monthly payments to save in a repair fund for the Outback when you need it. The rest of the savings could go into an investment or retirement fund for yourself. Money that will work for you, not going out on a depreciating vehicle, and make up for the loss you take. Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman would be proud of you. Nice looking Outback BTW.

I suggest you check the power input to the radio to make sure that is okay before blaming the radio itself.

I concur doctor.

The melted insulation happens inside the bulb socket and hard to see, if that is what is happening in your case, but there could be a different problem happening here. This is just a problem I have seen in the past that caused the fuse to blow out each time the pedal was pressed. I assume the fuses are blowing out when you depress the brake pedal which passes power to the brake lights. If that is correct then disconnect both sides of the BL. I think you can leave the center one connected but if the fuse still blows you may have to disconnect that one also to eliminate it as the trouble. The trouble should be with one of the sides so when you reconnect one side at a time you will know which side has the trouble as you test each side. If the trouble is before the lights then disconnecting the lights will make no difference and the fuse would still blow out. You could use an ohmmeter to watch the resistance when you press the pedal down in place of the fuse placing one probe to ground and the other probe to the fuse connection that ties to the lights (the protected side).

You saw the opposite of no resistance, you saw infinite resistance. A short circuit has no resistance (zero ohms) and a open circuit has infinite resistance. If the sensor worked in the past an the wiring to the sensor hasn't changed since that time, and you have 12 volts on the black wires with the ignition ON, then the sensor is bad.

Check the brake light sockets and look for melted wire insulation where the wires go inside the socket. The sockets can get too hot and can melt the wire insulation. If you have a trailer wire harness check that also.

If I understand correctly it seems that Fairtax4me is stating that the heater wires are one color (2 black wires) which showed open using the ohmmeter. If that is correct the sensor is bad.

From what you say about the resistance of the two black leads it appears the resistance is infinite (an open connection), that is the opposite of having no resistance. A piece of copper wire has basically no resistance to it (very, very small). If the two black leads really are for the heater then it is bad and you need to replace it. If the sensor is designed so that one of the black wires is used for the signal pair and the other black wire goes to the heater circuit then the wiring to the sensor is incorrectly connected.

Normal current drain on the battery for your car will most likely be less than 20 milliamps. If the door warning light is the only extra current drain issue you have you could disconnect the wire going to the door switch that has the trouble. The door switch makes a connection to ground to activate the light.

Code P1130 indicates an open circuit on the O2 sensor and code P1133 indicates low voltage on the heater circuit. It sounds to me that the two wire pairs going to that sensor may be reversed. If that sensor was just recently installed then I would check that out. If the sensor hasn't been recently replaced then perhaps the connector to it has a problem or the sensor itself is just bad.

I don't think you have a ground problem. From what you stated about the issue you seem to have a problem on the power side of the circuit (like Fairtax4me stated also). It appears power isn't getting to the ECU and data connector which fuse SBF-2 provides power to. Fuse SBF-2 is in the panel under the hood and is tied to a two pin connector with red and blk/wht wires. Verify the connector is making good connection to the fuse panel and that the red wire has 12 volts on it while the ignition is ON. If that is okay then you will have to follow that wire to the next connection and check for power after it until you find the bad connection. Once power is restored the ECU light and other things should work ok. If you want to prove a connection to ground is okay you can run a temporary ground jumper between the suspected bad point and a good known ground point. If things then work then the working ground connection is bad and needs to be fixed. You can also check for a voltage drop on the suspected ground. If there is a connection problem you will see voltage on the ground when using a good ground point as your meter reference point.

Like others have already stated, first make sure the battery voltage is good along with clean snug tight battery connections. If that is good then check for power to the fuses in the panel under the hood.