Car Won't Start After Stereo Installation

I just finished installing new speakers, a 4 way amp, and a powered subwoofer. Turned the power to ACC, and the stereo works great. Now the car won't start, though. I hear a soft whining when I try to crank it, but that's it, and the engine doesn't turn over.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

Chris '05 Subary Legacy

dead battery

The battery seems to be OK, everything else (stereo, windows, seats) works fine except the starter won't turn over. I just now noticed that whirring noise seems to be coming from the rear, perhaps it's the fuel pump?

Uh-oh. Did you screw the amp down? Or the ground screw? Did you check what you were screwing into?

My initial guess is battery too. You would have enough juice to run the stereo, but not enough to start it. Try jumping it first, then post back if that doesn't work.

 

Edit: Yikes ... I hope Patagonian is wrong!

what did u ground ur amp too and sub to?

yeah what patagonian said..lol

Oh dear.... this could be bad

You broke it.

I hope I am wrong too. It would be pretty hard to hit the pump, as I believe it's under the seat. Someone correct me if I am wrong on that.

 

Unless you ran the stereo for some period of time with the motor off or left your interior lights on all day while doing the install, there shouldn't be an issue. If you used a 12V constant instead of switched for your amp turn-on, the amp would stay powered up all the time even though the radio turns off with the car. Check your amp to see if it's on after turning the car in. If so, fix it and jumpstart the car...you should be fine.

I had the battery unplugged during the entire install, and I didn't run the stereo very long before trying to start the engine. Also, if the battery was low, I think it would try to crank, the car isn't turning over at all right now.

 

As for grounding, I drilled a hole in the front left (looking from rear) corner of the trunk, and attached the ground wires there.

 

I just tried unhooking all of the stereo equipment to see if that would help, but the engine still isn't turning over.

 

Is there any way that the starter could have been disabled?

Just a thought. Did you try checking all of your fuses?

Where did the drilled hole for your grounding wire come through? Did you verify that you didn't hit anything?

 

Fuses would be my next check also.

Is there a fuse that would keep the car from starting?

Here's another (long shot) thought - when playing in the passenger dash, there's a green connector above where the passenger feet would be, it's typically DISconnected. You didn't connect that, did you? If so, it MAY be the cause of your trouble - it's a diag port that shouldn't be connected for normal use.

What is happening when you turn the car on. Does the instrument panel tell you anything? Any CEL or error codes? Try checking the OBD? http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2895

 

What else is happening?

When I would try to start the car, all of the lights on the dash would be lit up like the car just stalled. One weird light I noticed was the CRUISE light would flash, not sure if that means anything. I'll check to see if I have any CEL codes tomorrow night after work.

That cruise control flashing is a red flag for the green diag connector being connected - you don't have a Cobb AccessPort do you? I had something similiar happen when my battery was disconnected & reconnected, had to re-flash the map.

Cruise flashing means a sensor is whacked. My guess is something got disconnected under the hood. I disconnected my MAP sensor this weekend while cleaning under the hood and had the same thing happen (well, it started at least) and "cruise" was flashing with a CEL. 5 restarts and the code cleared though. Use the link I gave above to find the code, then find out what the code is for.

 

Good luck.

You didn't by any chance route your power wire behind your clutch pedal, did you? If you did, it might be preventing the pedal from traveling far enough to activate the starter.

 

Just a thought.

 

Also, check all your fuses under the hood to see if you fried one accidentally. This might help you figure out where the problem lies.

Cruise flashing means a sensor is whacked..

 

The cruise light coming on only means a CEL. It doesn't mean a sensor is toast unless the the CEL code says that.

Good ideas guys...

 

I did reflash to Stage 1 with the Cobb Access Port awhile ago. I'll try re-flashing as a

last restort...

 

I also ran my power cable (4 gauge) behind the clutch, so maybe it's keeping it from being pressed down all the way.

 

I thought I may have pulled something off in the engine bay while pulling that power cable through the firewall, but I looked around and couldn't see anything.

 

Would the security system disable the starter for any reason?

 

I'll check the CEL code tonight.

 

I also ran my power cable (4 gauge) behind the clutch, so maybe it's keeping it from being pressed down all the way.

 

 

If I had to put money on the fix, I'd say this is the winner

I'd recommend finding a place for the power wire that doesn't get pinched just FYI...

 

Pinching a power wire to an amp isn't a good thing..I know.. (especially if it doens't have an inline fuse in the engine bay. (get one of those too)

Ran mine through a grommet in the drivers side kick pannel that leads through the fender well. Basically follow the hood pop cable.