legacycentral bbs

Hope someone here has an idea!

Drove car yesterday, ran fine like normal. Parked fine.

Came out after lunch, will not start.

Turns over fine, but will not catch, and......

No dash lights, interior fans, power windows.

I checked the fuses - where should I look next?

Oh yeah, 91 Legacy Turbo

Help!

Did you check ALL the fuses? Under the hood and under the dash. Take a close look at your fusible links, too. That's all I can think of for the lack of dash lights and stuff.

No dash lights, no power windows, and no start? Huh... And you've checked the fuses...

Answer me this: Are *any* electrical accessories on your car working? Is the radio working? How about the headlights? Dome light? Wipers?

Where I'm leading is maybe it's the ignition switch. If it's not properly connecting the "ON" wire then the windows, headlights, and ECU won't get power. But the radio might...

Yes radio - no everything else.

I will take a look at it later - but all the fuses and links looked fine.

No evidence of burning or blowing.

Okay... I'm starting to strongly suspect your ignition switch. The ACC line is working but it looks like the IGN line isn't.

I don't know if your ignition switch is the same as mine (1993 Turbo), but let's try anyway.

Get a voltmeter or a simple test light if you don't have one. A $0.99 test light can be tremendously useful.

Then remove the four Philips-head screws holding your steering column covers together. They're accessible through holes on the bottom cover.

Locate the ignition switch and the black 6-pin connector coming off it. There should be a black-with-yellow-stripe wire (battery), red-with-yellow-stripe wire (accessory), red wire (ignition), and a blue-with-red-stripe wire (start).

Check first that the black-with-yellow-stripe wire has +12v on it at all times (it should, because otherwise your radio wouldn't work). Then check that the red-with-yellow-stripe wire has +12v when the key is in the Accessory position (again, it should because otherwise your radio wouldn't work). If you want, you can also check that the blue-with-red-stripe wire has +12v on it when the key is in the Start position (it should because otherwise your engine wouldn't crank).

Then ... the moment of truth ... check if the red wire has +12v on it when the key is in the On position.

If these colors don't match up, just try to check that one of the wires has +12v on it only when the key is in the On and Start positions and not in the Accessory position.

Did you check the fusible link too?

And the winner is!!!


vrg3.

Ignition Switch.

Thanks!

Woohoo! Victory jig!

As a temporary solution you could wire in another switch (make sure it's heavy duty enough)... Just be sure to hide it well because it would otherwise make your car easier to steal.

You could use this as an opportunity to make it less easy to steal, too. When my '84 sedan's ignition got destroyed (I inserted the key to my departed wagon, which was still on my keychain, like an idiot. Turned all the way to fire the coil then jammed) I took the back off the bad ignition and relocated it to a new spot behind the dash using the ignition from the old wagon (what the hell, I was so fond of that key, right?). I made a hole just big enough for the key to go in and rotate, so it was almost completely unnoticeable. If for some reason anyone had wanted to steal it, they would have had a pretty frustrating time trying to get it going from the original switch or looking for a kill switch. You could maybe use the air suspension blank-off plate in your case...

Steve