Cougar

Very good suggestions from TomRhere. The only thing I can add to that is to see if the battery voltage is falling below 9 volts when trying to start the car. A weak battery or bad starter drawing too much current could cause that problem.

If I am reading your last post correctly you are grounding out the ignition lead to the starter solenoid. That lead is supposed to have 12 volts on it to run the solenoid not a ground connection. You are shorting the circuit when go to start the mode and so yes it will get hot. I am surprised you didn't blow a fuse. If you can apply 12 volts to the solenoid and make the starter run then the starter and the solenoid are ok. The problem is somewhere in the circuit wiring that connects to the solenoid. Gloyle stated that this kind of trouble is mostly due to the relay which may be under the dash. I highly recommend you go to the Subaru web site and purchase the data you need to help you fix this.

Thanks for the info Gloyale. I was not aware that there was a relay in the circuit.

I am not familiar with the equipment sorry to say. I don't know if all the wires you are talking about are coax or if some are just plain wires. It is possible that the original unit supplied DC power though the antenna lead and the replacement unit dosen't. You could measure the antenna connector of the old unit to see if it has voltage on it but you would have to reconnect it to power again.

I assume that the wire that had the spade connector on it is the wire that comes from the ignition to run the solenoid. You stated that the wire had 12 volts on it, which it should have when you move the ignition switch to the start position. You didn't state if the wire was connected to solenoid or not when you made the test and that is important. If you didn't have the wire connected you need to do that test again with it connected. If there is a bad connection in the line you can get a false reading if the circuit was open. If there is a bad connection that voltage will not be there. You asked about the solenoid wire that runs to the starter. A solenoid is just an electric switch and when that switch closes it makes the connection between the positive battery post and the starter motor so the motor will turn on and crank the engine. So you should have had battery voltage on that wire when the ignition switch is moved to the start position. Sometimes the main power wire from the battery will get corrodid at the battery end from the acid leeching into it. Over time it can ruin the wire and cause this kind of trouble. I don't think this is your problem though.

Glad you got it connected right. As a note, in the later factory maunal like for my '88 model, the power wiring to the headlights is drawn incorrectly on one of the main wiring pages. It shows the power wire going to one side of the two headlights instead of in between the two lights that really have a switched ground on the other side of the filaments to turn on the lights.

I'm not sure where you are testing the voltage at and what you are using to test with. I assume you are looking at the ground side of the light with the circuit open. You may not have a high impedance voltmeter and your test equipment is loading the circuit and causes an error in the reading. A digital meter should not have this problem.

Check to make sure that power is getting to that amplifier.

Well if the passenger door switch is okay then I would suspect the switch contacts are just dirty in the switch for the driver side.

If you would like to sign up to the Subaru web site and download service information for a small fee here is a link for you to use. http://techinfo.subaru.com/html/referenceHome.jsp

In a previous post I thought you stated that you connected a remote starter switch to the solenoid contact and made the starter run. If that is so then the starter is ok. The problem is the ignition voltage isn't getting to the solenoid to turn it on. You need to find out where the bad connection is. The ignition switch, the inhibit switch, or the wiring to the solenoid. The inhibit switch is on top of the transmission I think. There is an ignition relay also but it isn't involved with the starter circuit.

Welcome to forum. Hope you like it here. You have determined that voltage isn't getting to the starter solenoid via the ignition switch for some reason. If all the fuses are good under the hood and in the dash panels then you should check to see if the ignition switch is passing voltage through the START contacts of the switch. You should use a test light probe to check that since that will be easy to test with. If the ignition switch is ok then you need to check the inhibit switch and see if it is passing the voltage on to the solenoid. I suggest you purchase a service manual for the car as it would be a big help to you for this and other future trouble you might have. Check out Ebay for some good deals on them.

The problem may be due to a broken wire in the door jam, on the driver's side.

You still have the high beam indicator light connected wrong. Current will run through the high beam relay coil and the light when the dip switch is on the low beam selection and when on the high beam the dip switch will bypass the light to ground. Just tie that light to one of the leads of one of the high beam lights and it will work ok.

I thought there was a reset switch under the dash for that model but maybe not. The flashing lights should be with the marker lights when the alarm needs to be reset, not the dash lights. If the dash lights are staying on with the key OFF then the ignition power has been bypassed somehow. Power to the lights should be cut off when the key is OFF.

I see you changed the drawing. The way you now show it the low beams should work ok when the dip switch makes the ground connection for the low beams. As a note, I assume you have checked the current rating for the dip switch and it can handle the current load for both of the lights. The indicator light for the high beams is still not connected correctly. You have a common power lead to the lights and though you may have the low beams selected there is still going to be current flow through the high beams because the indicator light makes a path to ground for them. You need to connect that light in parallel with the high beams so no ground is made until the dip switch is turned on.

Naru is correct. You need to move the indicator lamp lead to the other side of the relay coil and the ground side of the lamp will run through the swtich.

Looking at some service data here is what SBF-5 ties to: The fuel pump relay, the main relay, the ECU, and the data link connector. The wire color to all those areas is blk/red. As for a source to purchase manuals, check Ebay. You get some good deals there.

Make sure voltage is getting to the plus side of the coil. If there isn't voltage present then check fuse 5 in the dash fuse panel. The horn should work if fuse 5 is okay.

The trouble may be due to a faulty ground so cleaning the ground connections under the hood an dash might help.

I have heard they made some good improvements to that model compared to previous years.

It looks like you are going to have to pull the head and check it out.

The code indicates the problem could be the sensor OR the circuit to the sensor. Be sure to check the wiring to it and make sure that is ok. It could be just a loose connection to the sensor.

If you didn't replace the PCV valve with a new one I suggest you try that to see if that will do away with the smoke problem.

Here is a link to some nice folks that may be able to help you out. http://www.carstereohelp.com/