outdoor

Hello,
My 97 Subaru Legacy Outback wagon has started to develop most problems starting. I turn the key and it just clicks...if the car has been sitting for awhile or it's cold it happens longer. Then after 10 clicks, it just starts up no problem. The battery and cables are fine. A friend of mine said that the starter contacts might need to be changed or cleaned. Any online resources on how to fix this on my own, I hear it's easy? Thanks in advance.

flightlessbird

www.nasioc.net

Try turning they car on for a moment to let the fuel pump pressurize the system before you start the car(used car salesman's trick). If that helps things then the fuel system would be a place to start looking.

cyrnel

outdoor, I took your explanation to mean the engine isn't even cranking, just clicking. Is that right? That won't be a fuel supply problem. Usually points to a power supply problem or bad starter solenoid.

Start with the simple.

You said the battery & cables are good, but did you check that the cables are tight? It doesn't take much to cause a problem. If you can rotate them by hand they should be tightened. This is extremely common.

Look for a starter relay in the fuse panel or power distriibution block. Swap with another of the same type to see if it helps. Relays can fail such that their contacts won't pass enough current until they warm ever so slightly. Using them a few times creates resistance in the curcuit and the warmth improves the contact. But it'll get progressively worse.

Check the battery ground cable where it connects to the engine, and the ground strap from the engine to chassis. These can become loose or corroded and starting is the first victim due to its high current requirements.

Next I'd check the starter solenoid. Try tapping firmly on the outside of the solenoid with a hammer or large wrench & then try starting again. Sometimes you can buy & replace just a solenoid, other times you need to buy a complete starter/solenoid replacement. I don't know that car.

Good luck.

GetRdone

If you can, or want to, just take the starter out and take it to a local parts retial chain. most of them have little testing stations that spin ur starter up and use a lil computer to see if its all working correctly. Sometimes just doing that is less of a hassle than tryin all sorts of things.

cyrnel

If it's the starter or solenoid, true.

outdoor

Thanks folks for all the help...I'm at work now, but I'll check it out tonight. Thanks for your help.

flightlessbird

Fuji Heavy Industries engineers are experts at buring things like starters in hard-to-reach places (I am still a little sore about having to remove the intercooler to change the transmission fluid!).