Rollerball Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Hey All, So I have a 1982 Subaru GL. I'm not able to get the rig to start. I have done the following. Charged the battery 4 hours Brand New Starter ( The old one clicked, just the same as it does now with the new starter. New Plugs Changed Oil & Filter New Fuel Filter 2 Gallons of 91 Premium Fuel in Tank The motor turns over effortless by hand by spinning the pulley. The rig sat for about 3 years the previous owner thought the same thing, bad starter. I noticed some a little bit of corrosion on the battery positive and negative lead wires, but nothing to crazy. The starter wire leaving the positive battery terminal looks to be in good condition. When I changed the oil, there was approx. 3 quarts of spent oil, and it wasn't to bad in color. The master brake fluid and transmission fluid wasn't bad either. Any suggestions? My thoughts: Battery terminals, positive and negative are corroded causing poor contact to the battery. Not allowing enough crank amps to the starter? The starter lead from the battery to the starter is bad? The ignition switch is bad not allowing to to start the car. When turning the ignition switch power is supplied to all the accessories. I'm a newbie with PLEASE HELP! Thanks! Rollerball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3eyedwagon Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 This is pretty common stuff with vehicles that have sat for an extended period of time. If it were mine, I would arc from the starter master input to the solenoid with a screw driver or jumper wire. Sometimes just bumping these things over, and getting some juice flowing through the circuits will clean out the cobwebs enough to get everything working again. Just use a large 12ga jumper wire about 6 inches long to arc from the large input on the starter over to the small ignition terminal on the starter. Just hold each end and arc it to get it to crank. If that makes it crank you probably have a problem with corrosion on the contacts, or switch. If not, you probably aren't getting a good connection from your battery, or your battery is dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rollerball Posted April 13, 2011 Author Share Posted April 13, 2011 How do I submit a photo on here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john in KY Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Your problem is you aren't getting enough current to the starter solenoid. The solenoid is that round thing on top of the starter. What I always do is to add a relay somewhere under the hood near the starter. The original wire that connected to the solenoid is used to activate the relay. Run a heavy wire from the battery to the relay and from the relay to the starter solenoid. Throw a fuse somewhere inline to be safe and your problem is solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General chaos Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 i vote for bad or dirty cable or cable end connections to either the battery or the starter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1982gl4 Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 i vote for bad or dirty cable or cable end connections to either the battery or the starter. This was my first thought as well. I have seen many of these cables corroded especially the one to the starter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deener Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 This was my first thought as well. I have seen many of these cables corroded especially the one to the starter. +1 for grounds/cables. Take both of the battery cables completely off and clean up the ends with some sandpaper until they are perfectly clean. Once replaced and snug - still just one click? One click or lots of clicks? More suggestions: Check the fusible links - I am not 100% sure about your model but you should have a small wire going to the fusible links box (it runs off of the positive battery cable) that matters too. Chassis grounds...any wires in there that aren't attached or have significant rust where they attach? If so, clean em up with your sandpaper and re-attach them snugly. If it starts every time when you arc the starter, just as 3eyedwagon points out then it could be the ignition module. If so, the advice here seems to be to install a push button start to bypass the ignition instead of trying to repair the ignition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rollerball Posted April 15, 2011 Author Share Posted April 15, 2011 Thanks for all the great posts. Replaced all the wires for the battery. The sooby hasn't ran in about 3 years. Poured a litttle gas in the carb. And she started right up. Lots of white smooke billowed out for aabout 5 mins. Drove the car about 10 miles, came home and checked all the fluids and topped the coolant and added a half quarts of oil. What to do next....? Paid $100 for the care and 135 for parts. Thanks! Rollerball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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