So I had that starting-click-click problem for a while, replaced the relay under the dash, it went away then came back a few days later, decided I should replace the ignition switch but never got around to it.
So I nearly got stranded in a cold and remote place this last Friday night due to this problem and decided that Saturday was the day to tackle it.
So I did, I went through the forums, went to Napa, read/got what I needed and did the relay mod.
Whether this is at all related to the current crisis I am not yet sure, but it's a damn coincidence.
While I had stuff apart, I poked around made sure everything was tight and clean. Car ran
great for the rest of Saturday evening.
Here's where **** gets a bit foggy. Saturday night I left home to go see a friend. Now normally I park in the garage at home so I don't have to deal with cold starts. It has been rare this winter, so anyway I end up staying the night and of course the SVX is outside all night long in temperatures colder than 5*F.
Sunday afternoon I hit the auto start and "whoomp", she starts up just fine, thank you starter mod. I let her run for, oh, I dunno 10 minutes. It was so freaking cold the needle was still almost all the way down.
So I got in and rolled it around, got out of the parking spot and pretty much sat there for another 5-10 minutes to let the windows defrost. They weren't covered with ice, but the sun was coming down at such an angle that visibility is seriously reduced if your glass is not almost perfectly clear, so I'd say she ran for a solid 15 minutes at the very least before I got on the throttle.
So I tried moving, and there was some thuds, and clunks, and I could not tell if I was hitting an ice chunk, or if my tires were frozen in a weird shape, or if the clutch was just not designed for this climate, or
what. I drove about a block and pretty slowly as I figured maybe something just needed to be worked loose. That's somewhat typical of things in this weather.
So anyway
I get going and the drive shaft is making this just horrible grinding sound, or I assume it is the drive shaft because it has been making sounds ever since I have installed it. It was from a scrap yard, had it inspected, was in need of service from the get go. Should have got a better one, but it usually takes events like this to get my ass in gear for repairs.
So I spent the rest of Sunday researching and forum-ing, and I have some leads on drive shafts.
Monday comes and I head into work. Still have that grind-y noise, I didn't exactly expect it to go away. It did get much quieter when the power was on, and much louder when engine braking and coasting, which reaffirmed to me that it was in fact the drive shaft. I ruled out the trans as the noise maker since it seemed to make it's own sounds and has actually been very good to me the last few weeks.
Other than the death throes of the shaft everything else that I expected to be sound did appear to be.
It was when I left for lunch that something went horribly wrong. I started the car and I heard this noise that is just so unfortunate I can not even describe it, but I knew right away that I had a big problem and accepted the vehicle's fate immediately. It sounded as if the main engine bearing had just suddenly wasted away, as little sense as that makes. Could it have been the shaft seizing up? Sure. The car stalled only a few minutes later and plumes of smoke erupted from the engine area and into the cabin. I tried to get a good look at from where exactly the smoke came, I would say it came from the clutch area.
At this moment I recalled something I read concerning the starter mod, that in a certain instance the starter solenoid could be engaged with the engine running. I do not think I caused this to happen in the manner described, but all the symptoms and other factors seem to point in this direction. The sound could very well have been the starter gear clashing with the flywheel. The smoke could have been... what, I don't know, maybe the engine stopping against it's will. Something receiving far too much friction. I checked the electrics, it seemed fine from what I could tell. Only the starter was inoperable. It didn't have any function which leads me to believe it either has no power or has seized, which I suppose is not the worst case of scenarios.
I contemplated unplugging the relay and returning it to factory... well, "stock" config
(WRX bits you know), but thought better of it.
Tomorrow I should get a $100 call from Subaru, hopefully telling me that I need a new flywheel, clutch, starter motor, and drive shaft, and not a new engine.
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I got a couple rentals for the rest of the day. I started with a Kia Optima. It seemed nice at first, leather seats, smooth ride, but after what my car has been going through a speed boat would probably seem smooth and quiet.
I would not buy an Optima. The coolant temp needle began stretching to the moon so I had to swap it. They brought me a 2005 or so Taurus
wagon. Wow, and I thought the SVX was a yacht, there is
no comparison. It's like driving a cloth and vinyl turd shat out by the Truckasaurus after a night binging on demolition derby soccer moms.