With car hot, battery won't crank engine

[Trevor]

[QUOTE=longassname](actually trevor, it's pretty rare that someone presumes they are smarter than me.
QUOTE]

Can you get a hat on?

[longassname]

yours fits me with plenty of room to spare

[QUOTE=Trevor]

Originally Posted by longassname

(actually trevor, it's pretty rare that someone presumes they are smarter than me.
QUOTE]

Can you get a hat on?

[Trevor]

[QUOTE=longassname]yours fits me with plenty of room to spare

That would be stretching it.

[Ken92SVX]

Yesterday I had to do alot of driving running around for various stops.

One time the car would not start, so I opened the hood to see if I could see the starter trying to turn when attempting to start. It then started, but appeared to turn over slowly but started anyway.

The two things that are common:

1) the car is hot.

2) the cooling fans are running.

I swapped the batteries and now it seems that I have the problem less frequently, as it will start more than 50% of the time, even if the fans are running.

Therefore, I believe my problem to be a high demand draw, likely due to an electrical circuit break down problem, such as the starter or another electrical circuit.

I have not changed the fusible link yet, because I can not find one in a parts store and the Subaru dealer does not have one on hand.

Is the fusible link the same on a 97 Outback Sport? If so I could try swapping it from that car.

Thanks once more for the expertise and help on this board.

Ken

[Nomake Wan]

Just had this happen yesterday after getting back from a Subie meet. Went to start the car back up to go to work and it didn't do anything. No click at all. Just turned the key, nothing. Did it twice, then on the third try it started right up.

Which means it's totally separate to the problem I was having before... And it did happen while the car was hot.

[Trevor]

Originally Posted by Ken92SVX

Yesterday I had to do alot of driving running around for various stops.

One time the car would not start, so I opened the hood to see if I could see the starter trying to turn when attempting to start. It then started, but appeared to turn over slowly but started anyway.

The two things that are common:

1) the car is hot.

2) the cooling fans are running.

I swapped the batteries and now it seems that I have the problem less frequently, as it will start more than 50% of the time, even if the fans are running.

Therefore, I believe my problem to be a high demand draw, likely due to an electrical circuit break down problem, such as the starter or another electrical circuit.

I have not changed the fusible link yet, because I can not find one in a parts store and the Subaru dealer does not have one on hand.

Is the fusible link the same on a 97 Outback Sport? If so I could try swapping it from that car.

Thanks once more for the expertise and help on this board.

Ken

Ken, my object throughout has been to locate the problem, rather than simply throw money at it. You are doing the correct thing and have now narrowed down the factors involved.

(1) Changing the battery has resulted in an improvement.

(2) The starter appears to turn over only slowly.

(3) Heat appears to be a definite requirement.

It has been suggested that the fusible link could be the culprit. If this was faulty you would be experiencing several electrical problems and the solenoid would not be closing. As a result of my prompting, you now confirm that the starter motor is receiving current which confirms that the solenoid was/is operating. The link is not in the main high current line, battery to alternator. It can be assumed that the link can not cause the problem.

(1) Above. It would appear unlikely that the replacement battery is able to supply more current than the original. Could you have inadvertently improved an otherwise faulty connection when changing the battery? Consider the main wire in total, as well as the ground lead.

(2) A faulty main lead or connections, battery to solenoid is a possibility. It is unlikely that heat has in some way caused the engine to resist cranking.

(2/3) Heat could affect the starter motor and in this respect a breakdown in insulation is a likely scenario. This will show up as excessive current via current test, without removing the starter. However again we have the problem that the fault must be present at the time of testing. A portable clamp meter would facilitate such a test.

Another common starter fault involves loose bolted integral connections, particularly where an inner nut closes an inner connection and a second nut retains the supply connection. Here heat can also have an influence. The important point is that correction involves no expense.

You must now have the full picture and will have to decide on your course of action. This could well be delayed in the hope that the fault will become obvious. but in doing so you risk being stuck some place, immobile. However you indicate that at this stage the symptoms are very hard to identify and this problem could well suggest further delay is warranted.