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Bucky is Possessed!!


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OK I dont know whats up here or where to start but Bucky is becoming an electrical nightmare...First the seatbelts...then the stereo (which now wont come on at all) and the clock wont keep time. It acts like its a bad ground somewhere but I dont know where to start.Sometimes it tells me there is a door open that isnt or a seatbelt is unhooked but its not..plus the stereo was intermittent....one time it would come on the next it wouldnt ..now it doesnt come on at all. You used to have to wiggle the key a bit to get the accessories to turn on..now all that works but the stereo...no fuses are blown and I checked the wiring nothing bad there..BTW this is a $300 JVC stereo..Mossens said something about the ignition switch can do some unusual things...You guys think that might be it?? Car still starts and runs fine. Where are the other ground wires?Is there something under the hood that could cause this wierd electrical issues..since we did pull the motor.

Its just getting cold and I dont want to feel like I can't depend on my car and I cant afford to be looking for another one.

Oh! Another BTW...it isnt having any of the classic bad altinator symptoms

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Buy a cheap test light and start checking to see if there is power to the stereo and it has a good ground. Bad grounds can cause some real strange symtoms because the current will try complete the circuit even if it means back feeding through something else. And ingition switches do go bad. To make things easer to track down get a really good wiring diagram. Sometimes by studying a wiring diagram you can pinpoint a problem without even doing any tests on the car.

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Connie, On the older subarus it's not uncommon to find a bad connection associated with the ignition switch. Next time you have the plastic off on the steering column, take a look at the ignition switch (opposite end of the ignition lock). There are four wires on the switch which go into a plastic sleeve and about 6 inches later end up in a plastic connector (often pink in color) which plugs into the wiring harness. Examine the plastic connector and see if a portion of it is discolored brown or black; if so, you have a bad connection there. Easiest fix is to go to a wrecking yard and get another cable/switch assembly and replace it. Oddly enough, almost any model will have the same setup; I once had one pulled from an '84 wagon and it fit (and worked) in Austion's Impreza when he was picking it up! This might help some of the odd ignition related problems, but won't necessarily fix your stereo. I think that checking some grounds might help that. Also make sure the stereo is grounded separately; sometimes the ground return is left to the antenna cable which is a poor grounding....use a separate ground wire to a known good grounding spot under the dash if you haven't got one already. Good luck.

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So this morning I am sitting in the MD drive-through....and suddenly the possed stereo kicks on.....loudly I must say..and I had a door open light come on.

 

 

Going to check some things this weekend with the multimeter and see if I can come up with something. Even though its almost becoming funny! Thanks for the help guys ..now I have some place to start

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Sounds like a flakey ground to me.

So this morning I am sitting in the MD drive-through....and suddenly the possed stereo kicks on.....loudly I must say..and I had a door open light come on.

 

 

Going to check some things this weekend with the multimeter and see if I can come up with something. Even though its almost becoming funny! Thanks for the help guys ..now I have some place to start

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