98 Legacy Stolen and Recovered. Runs, but a mess of wires under the wheel.

[bmorelli25]

Hello!

 

First off, thank you so much for all your helpful posts in this forum.

 

My 98 Legacy was stolen a little over a month ago. It was recovered yesterday, but is not in very good shape. No battery, fog lights, radio, jiggle key, etc. Amazingly though, she still runs. One of the major issues was the newly flashing Check Engine Light. After reading your forum I found that this can be due to the connected green wires under the steering wheel... sure enough, you were right! No major issue! This brings me to my main question. It's a mess of wires under the steering wheel. The thief was clearly down here doing something. (unhooking the radio?) What should I be looking for in the wires underneath the steering wheel? Is there anything under there a thief would steal that I should look for? Anything important to safety that I should check for?

 

Thank you so much. 

[Fairtax4me]

There's a mess of wires under there anyway. Not really sure why they would poke under there and connect the test mode plugs, if I stole a car I don't think I would be trying to do any diagnostics on it while waiting to get caught. 

If there are no other warning lights on (ABS, SRS/Airbag, etc) then they probably didn't unplug anything important. 

Take a few pictures and post them here and maybe we can figure out whats what. 

[Rooster2]

Glad to hear you got your car back, and still runs. I have had two cars stolen over the years, and it just makes you just sick, so I can feel your pain. Glad your car still runs.

 

Suspect same as you, that thief was trying to unplug the radio wiring. Usually, a thief is in a hurry, and simply cuts wiring. That has been my past personal experience, not as a thief, but as a victim.

 

Stealing fog lights from a 98?? Where could they be used............except on another Legacy??  Go figure??

 

Prolly best to use cable ties and rebundle all the wiring. Let us know if you need help on wiring issues.