Damn car has given me nothing but headaches. Butit has a 5000k warranty with it. Woohooo. Thank god I bought this one from a car yard. I normally only buy privately. Might have to rethink that policy now.
friendly_prawn,
Jul 16, 10:07pm
Subaru outback. Latest issue is it won't start. It's a 2005 3L. It will some times crank over with out starting and other times it behaves just like it has a flat battery. Any ides any one?
kazbanz,
Jul 16, 10:13pm
with no scientific background -just gut feeling I'd say the starter motor needs replacing.
easygoer,
Jul 16, 10:38pm
This, I had the same problem with a BF Fairmont Ghia, the starter motor had a partially shorted armature
franc123,
Jul 16, 10:46pm
Yes it could possibly be a starter but the "sometimes crank over without starting" bit doesn't fit, assuming the cranking speed and the sound the engine is making while doing it appears normal. For now make absolutely sure that the battery terminals are clean,as in shiny surfaces on both posts and the terminals where they contact the posts and they are tight. If this doesn't fix it then it might be time to contact the dealer to see where they want to take it next.
serf407,
Jul 16, 11:10pm
How old is the battery? Not uncommon for a battery to be faulty from new, tiny subaru battery?
easygoer,
Jul 16, 11:10pm
You are right about the cranking speed, in my case the car was 2 1/2 years old when I bought it and it went in and out of the shop for a starting issue which was a common reported problem with the BF, sometimes it wouldn't start or when it did it would run rough, eventually I thought the battery had failed so took it back where they pronounce a dead starter motor, when I picked the car up it cranked over at a much higher rate and from there on there was no more issues, the point here is that the lower cranking speed was considered normal by me until the new starter went in and most times the car started normally. I imagine the starter had a shorted winding in the armature causing the slow cranking
friendly_prawn,
Jul 16, 11:49pm
Brand new battery to rule out the problem of battery. After fitting new battery, I turned the head lights on full, turned on the air con fans on full, turned the radio on, hit the starter and wound it over and the lights never dimmed at all.
Starter sounded fine. Cranked the engine over at normal speed.
I think that rules the battery out and probably starter too. It seemed to turn over fine but the engine just never tried to fire.
Next time i went to crank it, nothing. Starter wouldnt kick over at all.
Well out of my hands now. I rang the car dealer. They sent a car transporter / tow truck to come pick it up. Im so grateful I bought this car through a car dealer. They are very proactive in sorting out the issues I have had with it so far.
friendly_prawn,
Jul 16, 11:53pm
Interesting so that could well be the fault. Starter sounds normal to me but it might be as you say, I'll pick up the difference when the fit another (if thats the problem)
easygoer,
Jul 17, 12:06am
Fortunately for you it won't be at your cost, in my case the car was under factory warranty when I bought it and had always been looked after by the Franchise dealer, I continued with a different Franchise dealer who never found the problem until the starter motor died and because it was about six years after I bought it I had to pay, I suspect the original owner sold the car because of the problem (I bought it for about 8K less than retail) so that means two Ford agencies failed to diagnose the problem
friendly_prawn,
Jul 17, 12:13am
A mate said recently his kick down on the trans wouldn't work. So he took it to a mechanic who put it on a computer and said the problem was the brake lights needed a new bulb. He put in a new bulb and it solved the problem. How insanes that. Oh for the days when every average Joe like me could have a break down on the side of the road and have his car going again in 5 minutes.
Now days its a bloody nightmare. I keep thinking I should buy an old classic as an every day driver.
2sheddies,
Jul 17, 12:30am
That's exactly what I've done and am more than happy to sacrifice a few very minor conveniences in return for good old fashioned, simple reliability and ease of maintenance.
elect70,
Jul 17, 12:32am
If battery is old it may not be holding a full charge& when cranking it over not enough grunt for the EFI system . I found this out on a volvo i had turned over ok but wouldnt fire . new battery cured it
poppy62,
Jul 17, 12:57am
Where is the Subaru Expert "Meow Mix" when you need him. Mind you his sidekick "Msigg" may be along soon. usually a voltage drop at the fuel side whilst the starter is turning over ( may be a short) tells the ECU to abort start up.
friendly_prawn,
Jul 17, 2:28am
When I bought it the key stopped working after a week or so. I was just manually locking it with the key. I assumed the battery had gone flat. When I finally got around to opening the key to put a new batter I found the circlip that holds the battery in place was floating free and it had an over sized battery in it - cr2016, but it was working when I got it.
Thinking the CR2016 was just flat i went and bought a new one but stuffed if I could get it back in. I finally figured out, it had had the wrong battery in there right from the start.
I put the correct battery in there, CR1620 from memory! But it still wouldnt start so I just kept manually opening and shutting the door.
Now that the garage has it, they say it has a key code problem. I hadn't seen that before so its just started.
They have thrown their hands up in the air and have dropped the car off to Subaru. Im wondering if the key playing up has some how caused the issue.
Bloody computers in cars. Who ever thought that would be a great idea. :-(
Actually its probably a good idea for rich people that can afford to be constantly throwing their cars at car yards. Not so great for the average handy man or car owner that likes fixing their own issues.
friendly_prawn,
Jul 17, 2:28am
What do you drive just out of curiosity?
the-lada-dude,
Jul 17, 2:57am
LADA. you can fix anything on it with with , string, tape, hammer, and crowbar, never misses a beat, and if it does, just beat it, comes with armstrong steering and windows, comfortable, goes from A > B and true motoring experience . and what's more, there is more interest from the populous in the car parks than a Lambo . ' modern ' cars have only moved forward to a cess and money pit . good luck !.
friendly_prawn,
Jul 17, 3:02am
Cool, I love old technology.
dublo,
Jul 17, 3:07am
And I use our Triumph 2000 automatic for town and around work. Lively enough performance, good heating and ventilation (but hot in the summer), good visibility and nice to drive! Simple technology and easy to maintain. Sure, it might use a little more fuel than a modern car but rego and insurance are cheap (And a 2500 with manual/overdrive easily keeps up with everything else on open road work!) and electronic ignition systems in both mean no more points to adjust or replace!
intrade,
Jul 17, 3:27am
doors are different system to immobilizer of a vehicle. all and every car works like this if the doors dont work. unless its a bmw or a mercedes it should still start. As the immo code is rfid with no battery required. So if they say it has a key code problem that explains why it random did nothing Something wrong with key lock Rfid reciver etc.
2sheddies,
Jul 17, 4:38am
1981 Sigma. Wouldn't be to everyone's taste but what I like is it's old enough to still have basic mechanicals, no computers etc, but not so old that it's unsuitable for daily use. It's a Super Saloon model so is plenty comfy for a daily drive.
Also have a 1990 L200 double cab which is my baby haha. Once again basic and reliable with no electronic shit to go wrong. I've had good luck with these early Mitsis. Both have been 100% reliable. Don't know about the late model ones but they got something right with these old girls.
2sheddies,
Jul 17, 4:43am
Lovely old cars those. And the older cars have so much more character than the new ones. They're a conversation starter even haha. I bet you've been bailed up at the petrol station on more than one occasion with admirers haha.
Older cars are much more fun to drive too, and that's the biggest advantage. You actually drive them rather than steer them!
dublo,
Jul 17, 5:58am
Thanks, 2sheddies, "yes" to all of your comments! It is becoming harder to find good, unmolested Triumphs but treasures do occasionally turn up, and they must be amongst the cheapest Classics that you can buy.
2sheddies,
Jul 17, 9:14am
It's both frustrating and fascinating to see the values of these cars that were once every day dungers that were thrashed around and treated like rubbish rising constantly. Even the less desirable ones are often fetching silly prices now. If only we could have known and hung onto all those old family wagons that went to the crusher!
friendly_prawn,
Jul 17, 9:15pm
Transponder was the problem. Transponder? I assume that is the key? How crazy is it when just a faulty key can be enough to stop your car from running. Ludicrous.
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