4Cornered Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 I have a 1984 Subaru GL wagon which has stopped starting in a rather confusing fashion. I had to replace the drivers side tail light due to an unfortuneate encounter with a pickup bumper. It took a while to find a replacement and repair some other plastic parts. I then took the car to a body shop to get the minor sheet metal damage repaired. While at the body shop, it sat outdoors during the warm part of elk season (Note to self: do not schedule work during hunting season.), then the battery was pretty much drained when they tried to start it without plugging in the block heater, and left the door open and the ignition on overnight. So it was pushed into the shop, the body work done, and it was hooked up to a battery charger / jump starter to test the lights. All worked. The car was then started and driven home. I pulled the battery and hooked it up to a charger (low amp battery minder) for 3 days in a heated environment. Here is where it get confusing. I put the battery (charged to show 12.9 volts) back in the car. I cranked the engine briefly and the car showed roughly 8 volts on the dash voltage indicator. The second attempt at starting, nothing on the dash showed any indication of getting power. I've pulled the battery, checked the voltage, still 12.7, cleaned the terminals, checked the fusible links for continuity, pulled and examined all of the fuses, nothing. There are no clicks when turning the ignition. I put the car in gear, moved it back and forth and observed the belt moving and no sound from where the starter is bolted on, so it seems unlikely that the starter gear is jammed. I hoping someone can offer trouble shooting suggestions. As is all to often the case, the weather is not making this easier to work on, well below freezing, and the car is outdoors. 40 years ago I worked on another Subaru outdoors in Fairbanks in the winter, which is an experience I had hoped not to repeat; I'm getting too old to work on cars with snow drifting into my ear. I'm going to pull the battery from my 1983 truck and see if that yields any results as a way of checking for battery damage. Any suggestions on sequence of tests would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted December 6, 2016 Share Posted December 6, 2016 That battery is likely killed. Extended over discharge will do that. Much of its capacity is likely gone. Lead acid battery chemistry just doesn't tolerate that, especially starting batteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skishop69 Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 It is a good possibility they killed it as Dave said. You need to load test it to be sure. The volt gauge in EA81 cars is notorious for reading low so I wouldn't put a lot of faith in it. I would also remove and clean the ground to the block and body as well as power to the starter. AGM batteries are the way to go as they are much more dependable especially in extreme temps. Batteries can be strange critters. I still have the factory battery in my 1996 Suzuki GSF. 20 years old and still works. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Cornered Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 Had to leave car sit while traveling. Since original post, swapped in battery from truck. Same results with battery that happily starts cold soaked 1983 Dodge truck. Pulled starter and tested with good battery. Solenoid works, but motor does not spin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Cornered Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 More confusion. Opened up starter, cleaned everything, did continuity testing, reassembled and repeated bench test. Everything works fine. Reinstalled in car. Reinstalled battery. Turned key, no dash lights, nothing. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Bad connection between battery and everything. Fusible link box, main fuse panel, ignition switch. A few connectors in between. Volt meter or test light to locate where it's dropping. Full schematics from the fsm are helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihscout54 Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Dave called this one. There is a 10 ga wire that should come out of your pos (+) terminal and connect to the fusible link box. This connection is a common failure point. It may have come loose or be badly corroded at the battery terminal or the spade connector on the junction block. Ide also inspect the neg (-) connection on the engine block and the small wire to the body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonas Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Similar prob on my 84 GL. Turned out to be the positive battery cable was corroded in the sleeve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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