auggystyle Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 all right heres the story. i have an 87 subaru gl turbo, with the ea82t motor. i just bought a new motor and turbo and everything else new under the hood. well my alternator went dead so i put on a new one. after i put the new alternator on my voltage was pretty high. which was partly my fault, because i put a bigger battery in the car to run my fog lights and subs. anyway, i was driving down the road and my voltage hit 18 volts and my car just shut off. i had no power at all in the car, so the first thing i did was check the fusible links, i had one blown, so i changed it thinking thats was all that was wrong. well i got power back but the car wouldnt start, it was cranking but not firing. so i checked the spark and there was none. so i changed the ignition coil and and still had no spark, then i checked the the rotor to see if i somehow blew a timing belt, since i just put new ones on i didnt think so, and the rotor was spining, next i got a new dizzy, because i was told the electronics inside could have burned up. so i put the new distributor on and i still have no spark. so heres where i stand. anyone have ideas, the last thing i could think of is maybe my ecm got fried. i mean, could i have burnt up the high wire from the coil to the dizzy? is there something else i could have burnt up i dont know about, like a resistor or something? i need some help soon because i live in pa and the snow is ready to start coming. any advice would be appreciated. thanks- bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subarian Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 I'm not sure about your spark problem, but you shouldn't have gotten 18 volts from putting in a bigger battery. The battery is 12 volts; a bigger battery just means more cold cranking amps, the amount of reserve power in the battery. If you're getting 18 volts, you still have a problem with your alternator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudboat Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 ECM is fried, or you have a burnt wire or a bad connection in your ignition. 18 volts wouldn't normally burn up wiring, but it's possible I suppose. 18 volts will burn out components in the computer. Before I start replacing all sorts of expensive electronics, I would have the alternator and voltage regulator checked out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 I assume you have fixed the alternator problem before proceeding to anything else. I would check all the fuses, particularly #5, to see if any are blown there. If they are good then you need to see if voltage is getting to the plus side of the coil. You should see 12 volts there with the ignition switch to ON. If that is ok then you should also see 12 volts on the minus side of the coil. The ignitior needs to be checked also. The bigger battery shouldn't be a problem but if it was low on charge when you installed it you may have stressed the alternator too much trying to charge it up. The battery should be fully charged using a charger before putting it in service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 check the ign fuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sister7 Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 There is a transistor on the bottom of the coil bracket. When it goes out you still have voltage to the coil, but no spark. Also this bracket serves as a ground, so make sure it has good contact. My car did almost the exact same thing...18V, burnt fusable link (black one). I replaced the alt, and still no sparky until I found that transistor. I don't know of anywhere to get one besides a junk yard and they are only on cars with the optical disty, which I think is basically fuel injected models (NA and turbo). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auggystyle Posted November 30, 2005 Author Share Posted November 30, 2005 I'm not sure about your spark problem, but you shouldn't have gotten 18 volts from putting in a bigger battery. The battery is 12 volts; a bigger battery just means more cold cranking amps, the amount of reserve power in the battery. If you're getting 18 volts, you still have a problem with your alternator. i actually started getting higher than normal volts when i put the new alternator in. before the new alternator my lights were dimming out at idle and low volts. i put the new alternator in and from there out the volts were above 12 all the time. when the rpm s went up so did the volts. so you think the alternator was to blame? its brand new from auto zone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auggystyle Posted November 30, 2005 Author Share Posted November 30, 2005 I assume you have fixed the alternator problem before proceeding to anything else. I would check all the fuses, particularly #5, to see if any are blown there. If they are good then you need to see if voltage is getting to the plus side of the coil. You should see 12 volts there with the ignition switch to ON. If that is ok then you should also see 12 volts on the minus side of the coil. The ignitior needs to be checked also. The bigger battery shouldn't be a problem but if it was low on charge when you installed it you may have stressed the alternator too much trying to charge it up. The battery should be fully charged using a charger before putting it in service. i will check the alternator today and see if that was malfunctioning in anyway. also i am getting 12 volts to both sides of the coil. havint checked to see if the negative side pulses while the engines being cranked yet, will also do that in a little bit. Checked all fuses, no problems there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auggystyle Posted November 30, 2005 Author Share Posted November 30, 2005 There is a transistor on the bottom of the coil bracket. When it goes out you still have voltage to the coil, but no spark. Also this bracket serves as a ground, so make sure it has good contact. My car did almost the exact same thing...18V, burnt fusable link (black one). I replaced the alt, and still no sparky until I found that transistor. I don't know of anywhere to get one besides a junk yard and they are only on cars with the optical disty, which I think is basically fuel injected models (NA and turbo). i see the transistor on the bottom of the bracket. there are two wires coming out of it one is blue and black with a white stripe. ive messed with this before. they both go to the ignition coil- one to the pos and one to the negative,and there is another plug that plugs into it with two wires that go god knows where. anyway subaru is telling me that that transistor is for the radio and has no effect on anything, go figure. that doesnt sound right to me. but how do i replace it. it doesnt come off those wires are soddered on to the transistor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 I can't believe Subaru is telling you that is for the radio. That transistor is called the ignitor. The other leads go to the ECM I believe. It signals the ignitor when to turn on and off. I suspect the ignitor is your problem since the other voltages appear to be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvdrt Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 I had this same problem in my 87 GL10 Turbo wagon. Do a search for my threads. Your problem is, the coil you buyfrom the auto store is the wrong coil. It is an external resistor coil, and is not matched to the ignitor in your subaru. The factory subaru coil assy is an internal resistor coil polarity matched to the ignitor. when you change one out, it looses the signal from the ecm, and you loose spark. Now for the even worse part. The auto store coil fries your ignition circut completely. Distributor, ignitor, and ECM. In short your car is dead in the water. You have to find a matched factory ignitor/coil assy from either another MPFI or SPFI, distributor, and the exact ECM serial number for your car and replace them. I have been going through this process for about 2 months now. I spent A LOT of money to have my 87 towed to a dealership with one of the top 5 Subaru mechanics in the USA (Certified Subaru mechanic since 1978), work on my car. Being as how you cannot get the original ECM anymore my car is uselessly sitting unless I can source one from the junk yard that is in good shape. All of this may be true unless your timing belts broke, or your dizzy went out (I hope for your sake, because my car is toast). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru Jim Maple Ridge Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 What code are you getting? It is entirely possible that the CAS is burned out in the distributor. Broken and shorting battery plates cause this often, but if this is your problem, you should be getting the code for no signal voltage. Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sister7 Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 i see the transistor on the bottom of the bracket. there are two wires coming out of it one is blue and black with a white stripe. ive messed with this before. they both go to the ignition coil- one to the pos and one to the negative,and there is another plug that plugs into it with two wires that go god knows where. anyway subaru is telling me that that transistor is for the radio and has no effect on anything, go figure. that doesnt sound right to me. but how do i replace it. it doesnt come off those wires are soddered on to the transistor? You have to replace the whole bracket. I would try this first. If it doesn't work you're only out like $10 at about 10 minutes in the junkyard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auggystyle Posted December 4, 2005 Author Share Posted December 4, 2005 What code are you getting? It is entirely possible that the CAS is burned out in the distributor. Broken and shorting battery plates cause this often, but if this is your problem, you should be getting the code for no signal voltage. Good Luck. no, no codes of any kind, the problem was the alternator. it had a short in it and blew out everything i guess. so i have a new dizzy, coil, and ignitor. plus the new alternator. so who knows im gonna give it a go this morning, hopefully i dont need to find an ecm too- thanks for the insight!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 ... anyway subaru is telling me that that transistor is for the radio and has no effect on anything, go figure. that doesnt sound right to me... Perhaps Subaru is confused, thinking that you are talking about a capacitor/"condensor" that is used to quiet ignition RFI that would bother the radio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auggystyle Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 I can't believe Subaru is telling you that is for the radio. That transistor is called the ignitor. The other leads go to the ECM I believe. It signals the ignitor when to turn on and off. I suspect the ignitor is your problem since the other voltages appear to be good. thanks for the help cougar, turns out that was the missing piece to my puzzle. after a new dizzy, alternator and an ignitor, my baby is up and running better than ever. all that voltage blew out everything, including the fuses in my stereos, head unit!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auggystyle Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 well the chapter in this book is closed. the voltage from the alternator, which had a short in it, blew out a fusible link, coil, ignitor, dizzy, and stereo fuses. so after replacing all of that my sube is up and running. i want to thank everyone for there time and input on helping me get to the bottom of this matter. thanks- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 You're welcome for the help. Glad you are up and running. Thanks for the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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