legacycentral bbs

Hey guys

I am new here and a noobie to Subaru so I was hoping you guys could help me with a real frustrating problem I am having with my Legacy.

First off let me break the problem down for you

I have a 1994 Subaru legacy 2.0L Twin Turbo Sedan and I am having problems with starting, One day it was working fine then after turning the engine off at e friends, the next time I went to start it it would not start, this was only within an hour or two.

So I towed the beast home and tried again still nothing so decided to check all my fuses and spark and they seem to bee fine then I had a listen to the fuel pump and could not hear it so I disconnected the fuel filter and poured some of the renaming fuel out of the in and out lines and it was a slightly black colour so guessing from the manufactures date on the filter it seemed pretty old like 2 to 3 years so I purchased a brand new filter and also brought another fuel pump (only the pump) and installed them but when I turn the ignition on I still hear no sound coming from the pump.

I tried a few times to turn the engine over but with no luck, it is turning over but will not start I even tried jump starting it with the negative connected to the chassis but still nothing, so I removed the fuel filter again to check if any fuel was getting pumped to the front of the car but the filter was bone dry so my guess is that the pump is not operating correctly.

This now leads me to the fuel pump relay switch I do hear a click when the key is turned on but it could potentially be another relay clicking so I knew if the relay was alright I should get a voltage at the pump connector for about 3 seconds when the key is turned to ON and I do, I also get a constant battery voltage on another PIN which I was told was for the fuel gauge.

I found this to be strange so I pulled the whole fuel pump assembly again and tested the pump by connecting it directly to a battery and the pump works fine (being a new pump) so i also tested the old pump and that works fine to so this is where i was buffalled, i thought maybe the problems is on the assembly so got the multi tester and my partner to cycle the key for me then I plugged in the assembly to the connector without reinstalling into the tank, i then unplugged the connector that leads from the pump it self to the assembly lid and tested to see if i was getting the voltage on the inside of the lid connector and i am so i reconnected the lead form the pump to the inside of the assembly lid and tried testing for that same voltage directly at the pump on the assembly and i got nothing i then tried again three times and nothing so i thought ok so there is no connection so i tried a continuity test from the pump to the inside and outside of the assembly lid and there is a connection, so for some reason the voltage aint getting to the pump?

Please if you can help it would be greatly appreciated or any suggestions would be great am i missing something ?

Could it be because of a grounding issue because same times when i check the voltage on the pump PINS not the fuel gauge PINs it is about three volts lower than the battery and if i softly bounce on the back seat and then re test it goes back to battery voltage but as soon as the key is cycled it goes back to three volts below

The Fuel Gauge PINs stay at battery voltage all the time

sorry about the long post just wanted to cover everything

Thanks so much and i look forward to your reply

Kind Regards
Kane

Have you checked to see if there are any fault codes?

http://www.veloce.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ ... cs/cel.htm

A cam sensor fault will stop the fuel pump working

Also ask on http://www.uklegacy.com as we have far more twin turbos in the uk

hallie wrote:Have you check to see if there are any fault codes?

http://www.veloce.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ ... cs/cel.htm

A cam sensor fault will stop the fuel pump working

Also ask on http://www.uklegacy.com as we have far more twin turbos in the uk

Hey thank you heaps for that umm no i havent but i will tomorrow

If the rely was bad would i still get voltage at the connector and if you know where can i check the grounding for the fuel pump? Does the ECU grounding ground the fuel pump?

The ecu triggers the fuel pump relay. I would imagine that the fault lies elsewhere

I'm not familiar with UK models, but with North American 1994 Legacies (all 1990-1994 Legacies in North America, in fact), there's a connector in the fuel pump circuit under the rear seat that is a common failure point. If you remove the lower part of the rear seat it's right there on the right-hand half of the car. When the connector goes bad it creates a high-resistance connection that gets hot; sometimes you see scorch marks. You can just bypass the connection with crimp connectors if this is the case.

I also have experience the connector under the seat going bad and hardlined it as vikash said.

Hey

Thanks very much everyone for your help i will check that today and will check for any ECU codes and comment back

Once again thanks

Kind Regards
Kane

Welcome to the BBS Kane.

Based on your description about bouncing on the seat, I too would suggest checking the connector under the seat and replacing it with some crimp style spaid connectors. You can do just the fuel pump wires since they are the only high amperage wires.

Hey Josh

Thank you for the help, your forum community is very polite and helpful and is the best i have found anywhere if i knew more about Subaru's i would happily contribute.

I have read the article about the ECU provided by hallie and have checked for any codes by using the black connectors and all i get is the engine check light doing a steady constant flash so i am guessing it has not picked up any fault.

So i have done as suggested and checked the connector under the back seat, i think you guys are correct as the underlay had stuck to it also after removing that it looked like the glue from the underlay has gone brown on the connector indicating that it had been hot at some stage so i think i will hard wire it using a crimp style spaid connector.

So i have decided to crimp them all, is there a certain type i need to use or will any do i only ask because i would not like them heating up and causing a fire as i have children in the back seat most of the time

Cheers
Kane

I wouldn't bother with the spade connectors. Just use butt connectors and you'll have one fewer potential failure point. Definitely use insulated ones, and if you can get your hands on the kind that have heat shrink and hot glue built in, use that. And make sure you're using a proper crimping tool (a ratcheting one ideally) and know how to use it correctly.

Josh is right that you only need to do the two heavy-gauge wires, since the others carry very little current.

BoostedSubie wrote:I also have experience the connector under the seat going bad and hardlined it as vikash said.

I just got done fixing this on my car. I finished my swap, drove it for a few days then suddenly, it wouldnt start, but would crank like crazy. Took it to my local auto store and the trouble shooted it rather quick. Fixed the relay wire, and now it fires every time. Are throwing any CEL's?

Hey guys good news i reconnected the fuel pump using butt connectors and prisdo she fired up first time ))

Thank you every one for your help it is greatly appreciated

Kind Regards
Kane

You're welcome -- good work fixing it!

Glad to hear that was the problem and you got it working again!

Sweet, good job! Did you have to pull your seat when you did that?