1999 Subaru Forester- Will not start, crossed jumper cables!

[shaeff]

Copy/paste from the Subaru forums because I'm lazy and didn't feel like retyping it all.

Hey fellas,

My girlfriend's best friend called me today. She's got a '99 Forester, 2.0L (?) It's not a 2.5L, I know that much. Here's the problem:

She says she left her lights on (I thought they shut off with the ignition?) and killed the battery. Her sister tried to jump the car, however, she hooked the jumper cables up backwards. In any case, she replaced the battery with a brand new one, it's all hooked up correctly.

Cables are clean, battery lugs are clean as a whistle, and for good measure I checked and cleaned all grounds I could find. The starter has 12v to it directly from the battery. Cable checks out ok. When you turn the key, nothing happens. Not even a click from the solenoid. I checked the solenoid wire, it has a constant 2.8v going to it. When the key is turned to start, it remains at 2.8v, it will not jump to 12v like I assume it should.

First thing I checked was the fusible link in the engine bay fuse block. It's still good, verified with an ohm meter. Every fuse in both the engine bay block and interior block are perfect, I verified via continuity check, not just visual inspection.

So, my question: Is there another fusible link that could have popped, thus killing power to the starter circuit? All the headlights, tails, interior, door buzzer, etc all work fine. But when the key is turned, nothing at all happens. The lights don't even dim, which makes me think that the starter is NOT the problem, because it should draw serious amperage if it's dead and seized up. Doesn't seem like it's getting any juice at all.

Anyone have an idea? I searched around but couldn't find anything on the subject. This is odd to me so I'm determined to figure it out. Usually the first thing to pop is the fusible link from my experience. Thanks in advance!

Edit: forgot to state that when the positive cable is hooked to the battery, and I connect the negative cable there are no sparks at all. As if the battery is not powering anything (though the lights all work as mentioned above) Odd...

cliffs:

Every fuse in engine bay and interior fuse box on driver's side is good. Verified with continuity check. Nothing happens when the key is turned. All lights work fine, and do not dim when key is turned.

 

[bioskyline]

pull the starter and bench test it? just to make sure.

 

[hvyman]

Not enough Voltage to the starter to make it do anything.

Seen a buddy do this to a rav4 one time at work. Iirc the car ended up fixing itself tho.

Sure no wires are fried? Any relays before the fuse?(usually not the case). I would be thinking alt or battery fuse is popped but if it has resistance then..

Could look up wiring diagrams at work tomorrow if i remember if you want. Tho alldata doesnt have the best diagrams.

 

[shaeff]

The only thing that's making me hesitant to pull the starter is that A) Solenoid wire is only getting a constant 2.8v, which does not increase as the key is turned. Should push out 12v with cycling the key. B) Lights don't dim even one bit when the key is turned. No click, nothing. The starter isn't even trying to turn, which means it's getting no power. If it were getting power, but seized, the lights would dim out from the huge amperage draw.

The main battery cable to the starter appears to be fine, very little resistance. It was dark when I was working on it. I had a good flashlight and checked all the main power cables and all appeared to be fine. Even checked all the grounds.

There are a few wires that connect to the battery. Two positives. One of them goes directly to the starter, the other up into the fuse box. Two negatives, one to the block (I think, I can't remember) and the other to the chassis. It's really pissing me off, as that fusible link/alt fuse should have popped. There are basically three main fuses from what I could gather. All three of them continuity checked fine. I never just do visual checks anymore after missing a hairline crack in a fuse years ago.

If you could look up the alldata wiring diagrams that'd be cool as hell and much appreciated. This car is like a puzzle.

 

[Devin LeBlanc]

Just for shits and giggles, try to send 12V to the solenoid wire and see if the car will start with the key in the run position.. Hopefully it didn't melt any wires in the harness with the cables hooked up reverse polarity.

 

[IBoughtASupra]

Just for shits and giggles, try to send 12V to the solenoid wire and see if the car will start with the key in the run position.. Hopefully it didn't melt any wires in the harness with the cables hooked up reverse polarity.

+1

I was going to say this first.

Second, the Subaru's have a constant ground and power on the starter but is the soleniod on it? I know Ford like to have a seperate soleniod that is not on the starter, like the Ford Tempo. There should be a signal sent to the soleniod to kick on when the key is turned. Check the relays and see if they are good.

 

[shaeff]

Just for shits and giggles, try to send 12V to the solenoid wire and see if the car will start with the key in the run position.. Hopefully it didn't melt any wires in the harness with the cables hooked up reverse polarity.

One step ahead of ya- I picked up a 'remote' starter from my friend today. Going to d exactly that- jump the solenoid and see if the car starts while the key is ON. I did not smell anything burnt, but that's not saying much in a cold, windy environment. LOL. Hopefully it does, which would narrow the problem down to just one circuit. I'm thinking the starter switch has died, which might be why the solenoid wire is only getting 2.8v regardless of key position.

+1

I was going to say this first.

Second, the Subaru's have a constant ground and power on the starter but is the soleniod on it? I know Ford like to have a seperate soleniod that is not on the starter, like the Ford Tempo. There should be a signal sent to the soleniod to kick on when the key is turned. Check the relays and see if they are good.

The solenoid is on the starter, yes. I'm working with limited resources here, though I've got a few other leads to follow up on from a Forester forum I just joined. Apparently the Forester is fitted with an alarm that, much like the MKIII Supra, disables the starter circuit. Since the battery was disconnected, it might have re-armed itself according to a guy over there, in which case I have to go through the start-up procedure.

I'll keep everyone filled in on what happens. Thanks for the suggestions, I appreciate it!