Car wont start tried everything I can think of... I'm confused! help!!!

[Johnybeas]

Ok so my svx had been having issues and stalling out and losing power while driving randomly like the alternator was going out. It also would occasionally have the high pitched alternator whine this was another factor that made me think it was the alternator. The wires to the alternator were a mess and decaying. I started there and I repaired the 18 year old wiring harness from where it was very protected removing all the damaged old wires and replacing them with new 10 gauge wire. After that the car functioned better for a while then randomly shut off and back on power a few times then while driving on the freeway it just died.

I just replaced the alternator with a lightly used alternator that came off a friends parts car. and nothing.... all I can get to work are my electric drivers seat and alarm system no lights no gauges no attempt to start when cranked. Any Ideas??? my baby is dead in the water!!! help!

[Wikedjuggalo]

Originally Posted by Johnybeas

Ok so my svx had been having issues and stalling out and losing power while driving randomly like the alternator was going out. It also would occasionally have the high pitched alternator whine this was another factor that made me think it was the alternator. The wires to the alternator were a mess and decaying. I started there and I repaired the 18 year old wiring harness from where it was very protected removing all the damaged old wires and replacing them with new 10 gauge wire. After that the car functioned better for a while then randomly shut off and back on power a few times then while driving on the freeway it just died.

I just replaced the alternator with a lightly used alternator that came off a friends parts car. and nothing.... all I can get to work are my electric drivers seat and alarm system no lights no gauges no attempt to start when cranked. Any Ideas??? my baby is dead in the water!!! help!

Start with fuses would be my first place.

[Trevor]

You must back track on everything you have done and make sure all is correct. If you have access to another car exactly check your wiring against it.

You can not assume that the alternator from the parts car was not defective. You should be checking voltages. Do you have a meter? What is your electrical experience?

Do not run the car until you sort things. You may have the alternator voltage sensing circuit incorrectly wired, or the voltage regulator in the alternator could be faulty. If the voltage is not controlled, severe and expensive electronic damage can occur.

[sowise]

Johnny I saw recently you were still working on your security alarm set up did you recently do anything with that around the time this started happening? Did you have to cut and splice into the ignition wiring for it?
As was suggest already you may need to reverify your wiring.
I would pull all fuses you don't need to be able to run the car or atleast the ones in areas that have been recently worked on and pretty much the accessories.
Load test your battery to see what condition it is in. You should still be able to start and run your car off a well charged battery even if the alternator isn't working so disconnect and isolate your alt. wiring.
Does your engine crank but won't fire? Does you hear the ignition click when you turn the key (ignition relay?). Your stalling problem may not even be due to an electrical issue. Fuel pump? Fuel Filters? Clogged, broken, or loose vacuum tubing broken/ bad sensors.. etc. The more detail you can give on what the car IS doing would be helpful. Also have you been messing with the dash and for changing your dash lights? Try to see if you were doing something in a specific area when this started to occur.
Once you get it running it is just a simple matter of adding things back in one at a time making sure they do not have an adverse effect when reconnected. Thats my 2 cents for what it is worth though I don't or haven't had a whole lot of troubleshooting exp. on these cars.

[Sov13t]

Battery phail... must be the neons.

[NeedForSpeed]

Originally Posted by Johnybeas

Ok so my svx had been having issues and stalling out and losing power while driving randomly like the alternator was going out. It also would occasionally have the high pitched alternator whine this was another factor that made me think it was the alternator. The wires to the alternator were a mess and decaying. I started there and I repaired the 18 year old wiring harness from where it was very protected removing all the damaged old wires and replacing them with new 10 gauge wire. After that the car functioned better for a while then randomly shut off and back on power a few times then while driving on the freeway it just died.

I just replaced the alternator with a lightly used alternator that came off a friends parts car. and nothing.... all I can get to work are my electric drivers seat and alarm system no lights no gauges no attempt to start when cranked. Any Ideas??? my baby is dead in the water!!! help!

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/How-To/41607.pdf

Read symptoms, does that describe it? Can you borrow friends MAF?

[gbianchi]

qwick thought Fuseable Link, after my alternator probs mine was toasted...............G

[SoCal LS-L]

Originally Posted by gbianchi

qwick thought Fuseable Link, after my alternator probs mine was toasted...............G

+1 Check your fusible links in the box, you probably toasted one or more. They each handle a wide array of electrical systems and losing one will kill various circuits.

[Wikedjuggalo]

-.- I could have swore that is where i suggested you start................ Check the fusebox...

[Johnybeas]

I checked fuses in the drivers fuse box haven't checked the one in the engine bay yet. as far as what I did with wiring all i did was cut the damaged wire and replace it with the same gauge wire in the same spot and soldered it in place I didn't mess with anything else.

As far as the alarm system that's been done and running fine for months I just never updated that thread.

battery is practically brand new I got it maybe a month or two ago. Yes I have a meter, the car is at my gf's and I didn't have my meter with me last night. But I have been monitoring it frequently and the battery has been holding a good solid charge anywhere from 12v-13.5 However though when sitting at idle while running my stereo and all the lights etc it would slowly drop off unless I gave it more gas.

As far as dash lights etc I did the blue conversion with led's but that had been fine for a while before these issues showed up as well.

Fuel pump is possible as it was needing extra fuel on cold starts and would not start unless I pumped the gas pedal 10 times or so before cranking it, but it hasn't really been losing power at higher speeds, so that makes me think it's not the fuel pump.

The car is not clicking or anything when I try and turn it over it just sits there and does nothing. I will be taking my meter over today and will check fuses and voltage etc and will try to eleminate that possibly the battery is just too low to do very much of anything and if it is I will try and charge it and see if that helps.

As far as MAF goes I don't run a MAF I have the MAP with my hydra. Thanks for the ideas guys I will take a look at her soon and see what I can get from here.

[Johnybeas]

Originally Posted by Sov13t

Battery phail... must be the neons.

love you too soviet! hahaha neons haven't been hooked up for like 3 years. I've been much more worried about the rest of the car and the performance aspect...

[Johnybeas]

fuseable links are just fine all the fuses are fine. Battery shows 12.5v with the meter. Flashers work alarm works and electric seat works. That's it. any ideas???

[SVXelerator]

Have you checked the connections on the Hydra? Have you confirmed that the Hydra hasn't been somehow "fried"? Have you tried shorting across the starter terminals to see if the starter will turn over? Have you confirmed that you've only got power going to your car alarm and power seat?

[Johnybeas]

I checked the connections to the hydra everything was still connected as far as it being fried, I don't know what could have fried it, I could try and connect the stock ecu and see if that fixes it. That would give me an indicator. My laptop died so as far as connecting it to my laptop and seeing if the hydra shows anything I am SOL with that as of now.

As far as the starter no haven't tried that yet that is another option. I was gonna try and see if I could jump from another car and see if i could at least get something. As far as the shorting across the terminals what would I use? I haven't taken electronics yet and I've only been taught very basic things. forgive me if its a dumb question.

[TomsSVX]

check your ignition switch. it seems just about everything related to switched power is not working... This would lead me to the switch first

Tom