Electrical Problem - No Lights, horn etc.

Hi Guys,

I have a 91' Subaru Sambar 4WD 5M/T. I replaced the radio recently with an aftermarket radio. All went well.. But I noticed later on when driving at night that when I turned on the lights the radio would go off. And sometimes the lights would flicker..

Parked the car.. And now I get NO front lights, rear lights, horn, high beams or radio. Also another wierd thing is with the car running, when I activate any of the above the battery and exhaust light indicators in the cluster turn on. Ie. turn on lights the two indicators turn on.. Press horn the two indicators turn on.

Obviously it had something to do with the radio. Perhaps it was drawing too much power? I noticed afterwards when browsing the Subaru electrical diagrams that the lights, radio, horn etc. all draw off the 30A main fuse located by the battery (the other is the 60A which does everything else, and this circuit is good since the car starts etc.) so something is wrong with this circuit.

I checked all the fuses and they are good.. The alternator is good (puts out good voltage) I noticed that I can read 12V from this 30A circuit (horn, radio, lights etc.) but as soon as one energizes (ie. press the horn, turn on the lights) the voltage goes to zero..

Is there a relay somewhere or breaker that could be bad? The electrical manual doesn't list any relays, and since the fuses are good I have no clue what is going on!

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Im no Mighty Milt........but.........every time I have an electrical problem......its the friggin ground

 

My vote is for the ground. I have had simular problem on my Subaru before and it was the ground. Easy fix

 

Did you cut and splice to get wires for the radio or use a wiring adapter?
The correct Scosche adpater for the early Sambars is Part # SU02B.
This is a goof proof way of hooking up the radio in a Sambar.
These can be found at your local auto radio install shop/ e-bay/ online e-tailer/
or Radio Shack or pretty much any where Scosche products are sold

 

i'm with greg on this, i think you have used the wire that illuminates the stock radio when the lights are turned on in the wrong capacity? you should pull the radio and see if everything starts working properly, once you eliminate that as a variable, use a test light to ring out all your wires before connecting them. and keep your eyes open for one that get's 12v when the headlights are turned on... good luck

 

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the replies, appreciate it!
First thing I did when this problem happened was disconnect the radio, all the way back to the harness so I can rule out the radio. All the fuses are good, and the main 30A fuse by the battery is also good.

So it has to be something with the 30A circuit.. I can't see the wire burning out just because the stock radio was changed to an aftermarket? (from the increased current draw) I noticed that there is a relay right above the fuse panel at knee level by the under driver side. Is this relay supposed to energize when the lights turn on?

 

The next smoking gun that comes to mind....
You are in Canada right ?
Has a DRL module been installed ?
The Subaru's have a system where the headlight switch is actually switching the ground side not the hot side.
Depending how the DRL module is made/ installed it can cause a short.
I hope I am not barking up the wrong tree, just taking a shot in the dark (pun intended)

 

No DRL module installed.. Today I narrowed it down to the 30A wire going from the 30A fuse by the battery to the fusebox.. Somehow there is a bad or weak connection. If I jumper this fuse section it to the 60A incoming wires on the fusebox it works..

 

Where is this fuse panel located i found the one under dash but my truck started and ran then battery got drained when my dad went to use truck and now with a new battery we have no power anywhere someone help please

 

I think you have this backwards. The horn, brake lights, and headlights go through the 30A fuse by the battery, and the radio goes through the 60A fuse by the battery.

You want to use the wires marked as LB (for +12V) and one of the Black wires (ground). If your radio has an input for "Illumination" then you might be able to connect it to RG, but I would leave it off initially.

 

There is a main fuse box right at or behind the battery. It should only have 2 fuses in it, a 60A and a 4oA(Van) or 30A (truck). Everything goes through those 2 fuses except the starter.