legacycentral bbs

I've been battling this problem for years now. It's intermittent so that's partially to blame. The problem is, the car won't try to start when turning the key to the start position. If I leave the key in the run position, open the hood and put a wire between the small wire (red I think)/push-on/blade connector of the starter motor and the other end to the positive side of the batter it starts every time. The starter has been replaced and that didn't fix the problem. I think I remember looking at the ignition switch and it seemed to be ok from what I can recall. Further more I have a remote start on the car and that won't start the car when its in this state. I can go months without the problem then it can haunt me every time I try and start the car for days/week then it goes away again. Which leads me to believe there's a bad wire some where....

I'm getting to the point where I just plan on running a wire and putting it on a push button.

Any ideas to what is actually wrong?

Thanks!

Welcome to the BBS!

Check these:
Starter relay, clutch switch if 5MT, neutral switch if 4EAT.

bnevets27 wrote:
I'm getting to the point where I just plan on running a wire and putting it on a push button.

Any ideas to what is actually wrong?

Thanks!

That's what I did. Autozone push button and some 8g wire. Starts every time now. I swapped out the relay, Ignition, starter, any fuses I could think of...

Welcome!

What year and model is your Legacy? Do you have an automatic or manual transmission?

94 legacy sedan, N/A, automatic.

Of course the next day after making this post it has been running fine so far. But I have no doubt it will return. I feel I may have checked the starter relay but I can't remember so I'll check again or swap it out. I never thought to check the neutral switch though.

What sucked for me when my issue first started. I am 5 speed and was using a vent to atmosphere bov. after a couple times of clutching in and the car dying on the streets, I needed that button. I used to have to drive around with a couple feet of 8awg wire in my door panel

cj91legss wrote: I used to have to drive around with a couple feet of 8awg wire in my door panel

lol, Yup that's exactly what I have been doing for far too long. I feel a bit better that I'm not the only one.

With the automatics the starter leads go through the inhibitor switch on the transmission. You can try disconnecting the B15 connector on the trans and measure the resistance across pins 11 & 12 when in park or neutral. If the resistance is very high then something may be bad in the inhibitor switch. This diagram shows the starting wiring layout and pin out for the B15 connector.

http://surrealmirage.com/subaru/files/s ... arting.jpg

Keep in mind that the pin out is numbered as if you are looking directly at the male plug (chassis side). The female plug on the transmission will be reversed.

Beyond the inhibitor switch and key switch, I'm not sure what else it could be if you've ruled out the starter.

From the dead. I determined over the years that both Alphius and Legacy777 were right. Definitely a finicky inhibitor switch. Moving the gear selector around seemed to get rid of the problem when it arose. Which oddly seemed to have actually got better over time. Retiring this legacy now but wanted to update incase someone comes across this. Hate when threads die without explaining the resolution. Though it took a while to respond...

Thanks for sharing and letting us know!