[WallyFort]

Hi All!

I dropped a line in the New Member forum. I have been lurking for a while, but now I have a question of my own. I have a weird, intermittent, and hard to diagnose electrical issue in my Forester. Ruby is a base model Forester with very few bells and whistles.

Issue: At random points in time, irrelevant to duration of sitting, ambient temp, moisture, and other atmospheric conditions, my clock, radio, and wipers do not work. The issue presents immediately upon starting the car. Wipers do not work, clock is not on, and the radio doesn't work. Climate controls remain operational and I have found no other items that go out with this particular gremlin.

The problem is only at startup, never happens mid-drive, and can be remedied by simply shutting the car off, counting to three, and restarting the car. It has led me to wonder if the issue is in the ignition itself, but that seems like a weird list of items for a bad ignition switch.

I have asked my mechanic and he can't make the car replicate the problem. It happens maybe 6 times a year or so. I have no issues after it goes away, everything works fine. It's very weird. Could it be a faulty ground?

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Kyle

 

[2.5x_sleeper]

Have you checked your battery to make sure it's fully charged? A fully charged conventional (wet battery) will measure 12.6V after sitting overnight. If the battery voltage is low, starting will cause the battery voltage to drop even lower, This could cause the electronics to glitch.

As to grounds & loose connections. If you live in an area that salts the roads in the winter, there is a pretty good possibility there could be poor connections caused by corrosion.

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]

 

[Inspector]

I would start by looking at what accessories are on what circuits, and keep an eye on what's driven by fuses and/or relays. Could be a flaky relay. I had one go bad once on a Honda that caused issues upon startup.