Very cold weather won't engage starter...

[pumper]

Brand new Subaru owner here, just bought a 2000 Outback wagon in great condition and low miles but could not get it to start earlier this week.

 

This past week in NC we had lots of snow followed by very low temps in the single digits overnight.  I needed to get to the airport the next day so after the snow stopped and the sun came out I cleaned off the car and cranked it.  The car cranked right up and I let it idle and defrost the back and front windows while I removed snow from the car.  When I was done I put the car in drive and let it roll forward and then backward for about 2 feet to make sure it was clear of ice under the tires.

 

Six hours later I came back out to the car to go to the airport.  The sun was shining on it and the temp had fallen to around the mid 20's.  I could not get the car to crank.  I had plenty of battery power -- the instrument cluster lit up, radio came on immediately, etc... but the car would not engage the starter.  No clicks, no rotation, nothing.  It was almost like the car was stuck in Drive.

 

I tried to move the shift lever from Park to Neutral to try to get it to crank from there but had a difficult time getting it out of Park.  It took several tries to get it into Neutral but still with the same results; no ignition, no turnover, no engagement of the starter, nothing.

 

Since I'm new I wanted to get some experts to chime in and see if they can direct me to a fix.  I feel certain that during the snow and melt and possible refreezing there's something that's telling the car that it's still in Drive and therefore won't engage the starter.

 

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated,

 

Mark

[Fairtax4me]

Double check your battery and make sure you have at least 12.4v with the key On and when Turning to the Crank position.

The starters on these are known to have problems when they get old. The contacts inside the solenoid wear out and don't make a good connection when the solenoid kicks. Usually you still hear the solenoid Click when turning the key but not always.

 

Check for any blown fuses. Also check the fusible link in the underhood fuse box. It looks like a wire looped over with a black insulation on it. If that looks like it's burnt remove it and tug on the ends to see if it's burned through.

[1 Lucky Texan]

are you sure there wasn't a single click? as said, 17 year-old starter could easily need a solenoid rebuild - cheap and fairly easy.

 

next time it happens, have a piece of 2x4 to whack it. that often gets things working. Also, try 'popping' the brake pedal, I think there's a switch there that can disable starting.

[idosubaru]

Rebuild the solenoid probably

 

Test voltage at the starter and solenoid.

 

You can remove starter and give it 12 volts or take it to an auto parts store, many test them for free. Advanced autoZone and more.

If you know what you're doing you can even just give it 12 volts insitu and see what happens.

Edited January 14, 2017 by grossgary

[pumper]

Thanks for all the help guys and gals but after some snooping, it turns out the car has an aftermarket security system installed.  It was a security 'fob' that had fallen out of it's receptacle and was on the floor.  I bumped it when I got in the car to crank it and didn't think anything about it.  When I got home and started looking around and trying to get at the fuse boxes I saw it on the floor and thought "hmmmmmm........"  I put it in, turned the key, and voila! cranked right up.  If there had been a voice it would have said...... "We've been waiting on you dummy!"

 

Bust still, as a noob, I appreciate the responses and will put them in my clue bag for next time.

 

BTW..... does this model have a brake booster on it?  From my take on the owner's manual it does.  I was combing thru the manual to find out about the security system.  I executed the sequence to see if the brake booster works but I believe it does NOT work in my car.  The brakes are what I call a little mushy.

 

Again, mucho gracias!