Wagon Stopped Running

[Robert M]

Geez...I had to go in and re-write all my information for the board! It's been FAR too long since I dropped by!

 

My 1987 4WD wagon stopped running. I would sure appreciate some advice, although I'm not a bad mechanic, it was the WIFE who was driving when it died.

 

Motor died while going down the street normally at 25mph.

Turning key to re-start, starter doesn't turn. Clicks a couple of times. Battery is good.

All accessories work, all lights, fuel pump still hums along.

Checked fusible links, nothing seems burned. Also same with kick panel fuse box. I pulled them all and checked. All are good.

 

Jumped across terminals on starter with key ON. Spark, which startled me a bit, but no cranking.

 

Some of my connections probably need cleaning, but I wondered about the way it just died suddenly...

[cobcob]

blown a t-belt??

[Robert M]

Blown t-belt? But the starter would still turn over, right? I rolled the car back and forth to see if the motor was frozen, but the flywheel does turn.

 

T-belt replaced about 12k miles back.

[The Beast I Drive]

sounds like a timing belt, has happened to me many times

 

I dont know about the starter though...

[Robert M]

I have a spare starter for this car. (I go offroad a lot, so I keep a spare starter and fuel pump in the back.) I laid this starter on top of the engine block and unhooked the connections from the old starter, then connected them to the spare starter.

 

Turning key...same thing. Starter doesn't turn over. Heard a couple of clicks. I checked the battery, it's fully charged...

 

I suspect there is a bad connection somewhere, but the way the wagon just died going down the street makes me wonder.

[joostvdw]

there is a very similar thread recently posted WITH a solution, check the battery terminals and positive and negative wires for wear and tear

[Robert M]

I'm going to go through and check all the grounds and connections, but I wonder about the sudden dying on the road. First the connections, though.

 

I was reviewing that thread you spoke about. Good place to start.

[TheSubaruJunkie]

Auburn where?

 

Check grounds and all connections. Even if they look good, i'd still remove them and go over them with a wire brush.

 

-Brian

[Robert M]

Auburn where?

 

Check grounds and all connections. Even if they look good, i'd still remove them and go over them with a wire brush.

 

-Brian

 

I live in the north end of Auburn behind the Elks club, near 22nd st.

 

Well, it's not the t-belt, I don't think. I rolled the car back and forth in second gear and the rotor still turns.

 

I'm cleaning up the connections right now. The sudden death on the road is a mystery, though. After I towed it home, I thought I smelled a little burned wiring near the firewall, but nothing obvious. If the ignition switch finally died, would that make the car just stop? In the ON position, all accessories work normally. In the START position, just a couple of clicks and then nothing. Battery is good.

 

Question: If the positive cable was no good, would that make a subie just quit running. I know other cars where you can disconnect the cables while the car is running and the car keeps running.

[cobcob]

Pop the t-bely covers and confirm that BOTH are intact. Then check and tighten all connections to the starter. If the switch was shot it should still crank if you jump a wire to the starter off the battery.

[TheSubaruJunkie]

I live in the north end of Auburn behind the Elks club, near 22nd st.

 

 

I meant which state heh

 

Question: If the positive cable was no good, would that make a subie just quit running. I know other cars where you can disconnect the cables while the car is running and the car keeps running.

 

Not likely, however clicking is a sign that the starter isnt getting enough juice. If the battery is putting out 12v then i would check all the connections to make sure nothing is loose or corroded.

 

-Brian

[mdjdc]

Chances are very good that you have either a bad ignition switch or a worn out alternator. just because the battery shows twelve volts doesn't mean that you have enough cranking amps to turn the starter.

 

You can use another to jump the car and see if the starter kicks. Use good mechanics grade cables, the cheap ones won't transmit enough power to the car. If the starter turns, then you have an alternator that is going bad and you have drained the battery down. If it doesn't start you probably have a bad ignition switch. It can be a cause of the failure you describe, but so can the bad alternator.

 

Try those things first and we can go from there.

 

You do not have a bad timing belt, if you did, the starter would still crank and it just wouldn't start. Don't climb that tree until we eliminate the real cause of this failure.

 

Call me if you want more advice. I've been throught these cars for years.

 

804-393-0516

[Robert M]

I suspect the ignition switch, although the car just dying while going down a flat road at 25mph makes me wonder. I didn't want to mention this before, but this Subie was stolen from me a few years back. It finally came home a couple of years ago, but then any key would start it, since the theives dropped out the tumblers or used a new switch with some tumblers removed. I'm definitely going to replace this switch tomorrow, just on GP.

 

Belts are only 12k miles old. And when one broke previously, the car still turned over. I replaced/cleaned/repaired most of the alternator connections today, and the major ground connections underhood. Finally ran out of daylight. Tomorrow, I'll do the new battery cable and I will do the things mentioned in the previous posts.

 

Battery was good when the car died, not discharged. In fact, I used it later that day to jump an (sticks finger down throat) old Jetta. It fired the Jetta right up.

 

Oh...I live in Washington state, just south of Seattle.

[TheSubaruJunkie]

yeah after hearing that I would definatly suspect the ignition switch.

 

And I was curious cause Auburn California is located an hour from me... however Auburn Washington is not

 

-Brian

[True2Blue]

ive had tons of those problems with one of mine and other peeps rigs. im in black diamond if you wanna put two heads together and trace it.

[Robert M]

ive had tons of those problems with one of mine and other peeps rigs. im in black diamond if you wanna put two heads together and trace it.

 

I'll stop in here tomorrow after work. I'm going to try a few things, first.

[True2Blue]

I'll stop in here tomorrow after work. I'm going to try a few things, first.

 

 

lol okay ill check the thread:cool:

[Gloyale]

I suspect the ignition switch, although the car just dying while going down a flat road at 25mph makes me wonder. I didn't want to mention this before, but this Subie was stolen from me a few years back. It finally came home a couple of years ago, but then any key would start it, since the theives dropped out the tumblers or used a new switch with some tumblers removed. I'm definitely going to replace this switch tomorrow, just on GP.

 

Hmm. The ignition *switch* and the leyed ignition cylinder are 2 seperate items. You can remove the ignition cylinder entirely, and still have a functioning ignition switch.

 

Now I'm not ruling it out. I'm just saying jacking with the tumblers shouldn't have any affect on the switch itself as they are seperate items.

[Robert M]

Thought I'd better come back and post, because I think I figured out the problem. First, the wife said she was driving normally when it died, but to be honest...she doesn't know much about cars and probably killed the motor by slipping her foot off the clutch. She's done this before while I was in the car.

 

I pulled the starter and took off the long bolts and screws. I dumped out two big tablespoons of burned up metal crap onto the ground. The copper wiring was hardened and black. I put in another old starter I had lying around that I already knew made a good connection, but was sometimes failing to engage. (The old 'whing-whing thing') and it caught right away.

 

So, I figured it must be the starter. The only thing I can figure is that the starter shorted out and drew a bunch of power suddenly, killing the car, and then wouldn't restart because the starter was fried. Or...Gayla's foot slipped off the clutch again and the starter was no good and wouldn't restart. In any case, I redid a lot of the other wiring and I'm going to pick up a new starter tomorrow...

 

Thanks to everyone who volunteered their suggestions. Pretty hard to 'fix' a car on the internet.

 

On a side note, my Subie's been on so many Forest Service roads in Washington State that I don't even need a map to find my way around them anymore. If you live in Washington, and you wonder where you can take your Subie HIGH UP, try Darland Mountain over by Yakima. Altitude, 6,800 feet, and that's a lot higher than Snoqualmie Pass. Fairly decent road, and on a good day you can see from Mt. Hood in Oregon to Mt. Baker in the north part of the state. The whole Cascade chain. Darland is the second highest place in Washington you can drive to, with Hart's Pass being just slightly higher. But skip Hart's Pass. It's full of tourists in motorhomes. Darland has plenty of offroad ops on the back side, too. You get there by going to Yakima and then taking the Ahtanum Road back east.

[MilesFox]

just to throw this out there, check the horn/hazard/clock fuse as it supplies constant voltage to the ecu

[Robert M]

Ha...the wife finally admits she killed the engine with bad shifting and then it wouldn't restart. I.E. it didn't just 'die' as she was going down the road. That woman...:-\

 

Starter was junk. Nothing else was really wrong, although I re-did most of the grounds and checked all the underhood wiring pretty thoroughly. Cleaned up a lot of it around the battery and alternator, just on general principles.

 

It's back on the road and runs great again. Thanks to all of you for your suggestions!