legacycentral bbs

We are new to this forum; we have owned a Subaru wagon for 15 years.


MY SUBARU:
1994 Legacy wagon, 2.2 liter gasoline engine (U.S. model)
5-speed stick, AWD, 200,000 miles on the odo.

THE PROBLEM IN BRIEF:
The Subie no longer starts reliably.

THE LONG OF IT:
This spring, the Subaru started having problems starting the engine. We fiddled with fuses and wiring and accomplished nothing. Sometimes, when turning the key, we hear a strange clicking sound somewhere in the dash. We traced the sound to a coil assembly in behind the steering wheel. We replaced the coil and Subie started for a short while, then the problem returned. The problem is getting worse. We can't trust the old Subie to drive it anywhere. The weird part is that sometimes you can get in and just turn the key and Subie will start right up, no fuss.

(If you park Subie on a slope, you can coast it and pop the clutch to start it.)

Help! Any ideas?


Well Fed Ed & family

Welcome to the BBS Ed.

It sounds like there may be an issue with possibly the ignition relay or possibly the ignition switch. Do you know what relay was previously replaced?

Do you hear any clicking from the starter when you try and start the engine?

This diagram shows the basics of the starting system.
http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/fil ... arting.jpg

I had some issues I think with the starter interlock relay. I ended up removing the wiring harness I made when I did my AWD & 5spd swap because it was causing starting issues. I'm pretty sure the issue is with the relay, but I haven't bothered replacing it. So that may another thing to look into.

There are some diagnostic procedures you can do to try and narrow down the issue. I would first try and eliminate the starter as a problem. You can buy these push button test starters. One end goes to the battery, and the other goes to the starter. This allows you to turn the starter over with the push of a button. If it starts without a problem, then it's probably a good chance the starter is ok. Make sure the car is out of gear when you do this.

You're not the only one having this problem.... everyonce in awhile i have to open the hood and jump the solenoid. hate that crap. and ive replaced a few things and still gets this way when it startes getting cold outside

The "Coil Ignition Relay" is the component we changed.

The Subie started up without any fuss for a while after we did that, but now it's back to having problems.

There is no rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes when you turn the key, it starts right up. All too often, though, there is absolutely no response.

Thank you for your replies.

We finally figured out what the problem was.

The tumbler part of the ignition switch in the rear of the ignition cylinder was wore out. We found another one on a wreck in a local junkyard; we pulled it out of a '91, put it in our '94, tightened up the key mechanism, and put everything back together (not a 5 min. job!) and now everything works fine.