02 forester- incorrect battery jumping issue

[hyphen]

jumped my wifes 02 forester yesterday.

while reminding myself + to +, - to -.

while chanting this and staring at the posts to which i hooked + to -, + to -.

 

sparks flew, cables were disconnected.

 

now only the horn, door locks, and the beep the sounds with the driver door open and the key in the ignition work.

also, when locking with the remote with the doors closed, a series of 3 beeps is sounded. before now, this only happened when the a door was open when locking with the remote.

 

what is the most probable nearest component that i fried?

 

thansk

[idosubaru]

the older generation soobs have a fusible link box in the engine bay. if this is done they will fry one of the fusible links and often that is the only damage. your EJ (forester) will have a fuse box in the engine bay as well although it is set up much differently. i can't recall off the top of my head and my impreza isn't here right now, but check your fuses and fusible links (if any) in this box.

 

after that, check the rest of your fuses, i don't know where they reside in the forester but it's down on the lower left by the front drivers side door for most.

 

ECU damage is possible, but probably not.

[johnceggleston]

now only the horn, door locks, and the beep the sounds with the driver door open and the key in the ignition work.

also, when locking with the remote with the doors closed, a series of 3 beeps is sounded. before now, this only happened when the a door was open when locking with the remote.

thansk

 

this sounds a little like when you remove the battery in a car with an alarm. try resetting the alarm with reset button under dash or maybe use door remote wit hkey in the ignition. i'm guess guessing.

 

hopefully you weren't connected long enough to destroy any thing.

[Skip]

The security/remote keyless entry module

may be toast.

 

First thing I would do, is disconnect the battery

(be sure to have the keys in hand).

 

Then reconnect it after about 1 min.

 

Follow the instructions in your manual for reprograming the

module in light of a battery disconnect.

 

You may get lucky.

[porcupine73]

It might just be settings. I'd check the owners manual to see how to set those things. Not sure about that '02 but as the years went by more and more user configurable items were added requiring seemingly weird actions to set such as pressing the brake 20 times in 10 seconds while rolling the window down.

 

If you were connected directly to the battery terminals, I think it unlikely any computer components were damaged by the reverse hookup. If you had the ground connected to some metal part of the body on either car (rather than the battery terminal) then fair amounts of current may have flowed through various ground paths on the vehicle and damage is more likely.

 

If one vehicle was running while this happened, the alternator may have been damaged and/or fusible link blown.

[hyphen]

incorrect battery jumping issue

 

thanks for all the tips especially the Fusible Links.

 

however, everything checks ok, fuses and fusible links.

 

still everything in car unoperational.

[porcupine73]

Oh car is unoperational? Sorry I missed that. Did you ground the vehicle with issues to anywhere other than the battery post? It may have fried ground wire(s) somewhere.

[nipper]

In the main fuse box there is a slow blow fuse in the starter circuit. I would check the fuse. I would also check to see if there is power going to that fuse.

 

Do you have idiot lights on the dash board?

 

Exactly what does and does not work

 

 

nipper

[hyphen]

In the main fuse box there is a slow blow fuse in the starter circuit. I would check the fuse. I would also check to see if there is power going to that fuse.

 

Do you have idiot lights on the dash board?

 

Exactly what does and does not work

 

 

nipper

 

1. all fuses, minus the one that has nuts bolting it in have been checked healthy

1a. as they do not have names i am not sure which one is the "slow blow"

 

2. all relays have been checked healthy

 

3. three things work

1. horn

2. door locks

3. ding-ding-ding-ding.... when the key is inserted into ignition with door open

 

4. the emergency brake works, the front and rear windshield work, and the tires hold air, and the paint job collects pollen

 

6. anything else that might involve electricity does not work- no lights,no hums, no buzz, no clicks.

[nipper]

1. all fuses, minus the one that has nuts bolting it in have been checked healthy

1a. as they do not have names i am not sure which one is the "slow blow"

 

2. all relays have been checked healthy

 

3. three things work

1. horn

2. door locks

3. ding-ding-ding-ding.... when the key is inserted into ignition with door open

 

4. the emergency brake works, the front and rear windshield work, and the tires hold air, and the paint job collects pollen

 

6. anything else that might involve electricity does not work- no lights,no hums, no buzz, no clicks.

 

Check the main relay, i bet its cooked.

 

nipper

[brus brother]

Does the radio work? Possible... DEAD battery? Get new horse.

[hyphen]

Check the main relay, i bet its cooked.

 

nipper

 

 

do you know the location of the 02 subaru forester main relay?

 

is it underneath the driver side dash like 91 honda civic?

 

thanks,

[Cougar]

Check to see what fuses in the fuse panel inside the car have voltage getting to them while the ignition is ON. Let us know what fuses don't have power getting to them.

[hyphen]

Check to see what fuses in the fuse panel inside the car have voltage getting to them while the ignition is ON. Let us know what fuses don't have power getting to them.

 

With the ignition on:

 

Fuses:

Under dash: none get power

 

Battery area: main fan, sub fan, H/L RH, H/L LH, do not get power.

[nipper]

i dont know the location of it, but its sounding more and more like the main relay is angry.

 

nipper

[Cougar]

Looking at the info I have for a '01 Forester it appears the problem is more upsteam than the relay Nipper.

 

It looks like the main wire between the battery the power panel under the hood is open. The wire may be red but I can't say for sure what it is. Follow the lead from the battery to the fuse panel and check for damage on each end and in the middle of the wire. This wire supplies power to a 80 amp fuse in the panel along with other items you mentioned. If the 80 amp fuse has no power then that main power lead is bad. If there is power there then there may be damage to the wiring in the panel that ties the other areas to the feed wire. Check your ground leads also for any damage to them.

[hyphen]

thanks to all of yous for the tips and directions.

 

and special thanks to Porcupine73 for the encouraging optimism about major electronics not being fried. the last thing i needed to think about was dishing out 1000$'s for a mistake of mine immediately after being critical of the wife wanting to spend money on ice cream.

 

as it turns out, in one of the previous posts, i had mentioned(i think maybe) that the only thing that i did not test was the 80A fuse that looks like a fusible link.

 

bingo. it was worse than the cinnamon roles that got left in the oven.

 

this was at least the solution to the problem i caused, now onto alternator,starter,solenoid and other things like wheel bearings that may becoming slightly worn.

[Cougar]

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you found the trouble. Hope the rest of the items aren't much trouble to fix.

[hyphen]

as an additional thank you to anyone offering support on this issue,

 

all i really have to offer is a some sourdough baguettes or hungarian apple turnovers that are habitually baked in my kitchen, so if any of yous are in columbia, sc- as long as i'm here and not in South Sudan, give me a shout and you get hooked up.

 

thanks again

[Cougar]

Thanks for the offer. It sounds good.