SoCalSubaru Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Last night, my car shut off in the middle of starting it while I was in my driveway. It's a 2005 GT bought in November 2004 with ~59,300 miles. Thinking nothing of it, I went back inside then this morning, when I went back in the car, I saw that the interior light completely melted into the roof liner. It started up today but wouldn't start last night. I'm scared to drive the car and it's in front of my house. What should I do? I'm about to contact SOA and then my insurance. http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/9903/img1232do.jpg http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/3662/img1228n.jpg http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6918/img1231md.jpg http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/5023/img1230l.jpg http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7299/img1236gx.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalSubaru Posted May 22, 2010 Author Share Posted May 22, 2010 http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/5347/img1229g.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgtgirl06 Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Wow that's nuts. Did you leave the key in the car over night? That looks like a wiring issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rao Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 That might possibly be a wiring issue Pull the piece out of the headliner and unplug everything that is attached to it. Also, follow the wire from the mirror and disconnect that as well. Then drive your car to the dealer of your choice. It is probably a simple short, but if you are not comfortable with troubleshooting it then let a dealer handle it and the replacement of the headliner and mirror. Good luck. Rob IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CAR YOU SHOULD NEVER DRIVE IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Looks like a short in some way combined with a way too large fuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalSubaru Posted May 22, 2010 Author Share Posted May 22, 2010 Wow that's nuts. Did you leave the key in the car over night? That looks like a wiring issue. No, I took out the keys afterward. I needed them to go back in my house That might possibly be a wiring issue Pull the piece out of the headliner and unplug everything that is attached to it. Also, follow the wire from the mirror and disconnect that as well. Then drive your car to the dealer of your choice. It is probably a simple short, but if you are not comfortable with troubleshooting it then let a dealer handle it and the replacement of the headliner and mirror. Good luck. I'm scared as hell to touch anything in the car after that. I think I'll give SOA a call. Looks like a short in some way combined with a way too large fuse. Never touched any of the fuses in my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Never touched any of the fuses in my car. Just check that the right fuse was installed for the interior lightning. Sometimes it's wrong already from factory, sometimes it's replaced by a larger one by a sloppy maintenance dude since they can't find the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteyjr Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Scary WTF, not a common thing on Subies. VW's i would consider regular issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_sharp Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Wow... SoA recall? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalSubaru Posted May 23, 2010 Author Share Posted May 23, 2010 I hope I can get someone from Subaru Corporate to come out and inspect the car, or at least make arrangements for the car to be inspected at a dealership and have the results reported back to them. I sent Subaru of America an e-mail describing what happened and asking them to call me as soon as possible since they're closed on the weekend. I'll give them a call on Monday if I don't hear back. I'm concerned about the safety of my car, the safety of my family and the worst thing is that I had no prior issues, no warning lights or anything that would lead me to think something like this would happen. I'll keep you guys updated on what's going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
napstermike Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 I hope I can get someone from Subaru Corporate to come out and inspect the car, or at least make arrangements for the car to be inspected at a dealership and have the results reported back to them. I sent Subaru of America an e-mail describing what happened and asking them to call me as soon as possible since they're closed on the weekend. I'll give them a call on Monday if I don't hear back. is the car still under warranty? if not, there not going to come out. hell, the dealer might even charge you money to look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 For a spontaneous burning thing liek this, I'd expect them to want to identify the issue. Either them, or the NHTSA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chameleon Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 wow...that is crazy...i can see why your uneasy about driving the car. I really hope SOA takes interest in this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalSubaru Posted May 23, 2010 Author Share Posted May 23, 2010 is the car still under warranty? if not, there not going to come out. hell, the dealer might even charge you money to look at it. My car isn't under warranty, but unlike an engine knocking problem or even a gas leak, an electrical problem is something that can be quickly fatal and fiery with little to no warning. I would hope that Subaru of America takes that into consideration. Also, my car is five years old and has ~59,300 miles, so it's not like I'm complaining to them about a 1985 BRAT that's not starting. And I don't want to take the car anywhere until I speak to Subaru. Firstly, because if I take it to a dealer or a repair shop, they'll just replace things and call it a day. Most importantly, I'd at least like to know that someone took the time to ensure that my car is safe for my family and it can be determined whether or not there's a problem in the Legacy wiring design, or just something particular in my vehicle. For a spontaneous burning thing liek this, I'd expect them to want to identify the issue. Either them, or the NHTSA. That's what I'm hoping for as well. I would hope that Subaru can see that this is an urgent issue and will handle it accordingly. I've already filed a report with NHTSA. wow...that is crazy...i can see why your uneasy about driving the car. I really hope SOA takes interest in this Thank you, and everyone for your support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 You seem to take the right route here. Better to be patient in a case like this. You may also want to contact your insurance company and have them prepared to be involved. At least some insurance companies do have special inspectors that follows up on faults and accidents. A secondary thought here is that this may be caused by a broken cable somewhere else since you also stated that the car didn't start - so what if this happened to be the grounding path when the primary ground failed for some major component? Car manufacturers today are very happy with providing grounding through the cable harness to a few central grounding points and not to local points in the chassis. A lost nut for a grounding point at the dashboard can be sufficient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teK-- Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 I can attest that the manufacturer will thoroughly investigate any incident like this whether the car is within warranty or not. This is what happened at a local manufacturer I used to work for. If you ignore the vehicle owner these things tend to go public very quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBamin Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 yeah i wouldnt touch a damn thing and see what they want to do to go forward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatboyfsx Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Have you checked the fuses? Just because you have never replaced a fuse doesn't mean someone else didn't, unless you are the sole owner then I'll shut up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pillboy Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Too bad the sucker didn't burn to the ground while in the mall parking lot (that's what I would have wanted). Get a lawyer and sue any and everyone you can think of. It is still ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shtbxr22 Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 def. looks like the path that the auto-dim mirror wiring goes. it probably got pinched, and wore away the insulation on the wire, and shorted to ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalSubaru Posted May 23, 2010 Author Share Posted May 23, 2010 Have you checked the fuses? Just because you have never replaced a fuse doesn't mean someone else didn't, unless you are the sole owner then I'll shut up Original owner, took the car off the lot with 16 miles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Power-B Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 Too bad the sucker didn't burn to the ground while in the mall parking lot (that's what I would have wanted). Get a lawyer and sue any and everyone you can think of. -1 I really want to see what SOA has to say. I agree they will investigate whether or not the car is under warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 I'm not sure why this hasn't been asked yet... but how did the mirror get melted in all of this? It's not directly under the light, so dripping plastic didn't cause it. Does it look like anything (molten) fell from the headliner at all? (onto carpet, dash)? Otherwise something melted the mirror from the inside... or lasers. Either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalSubaru Posted May 24, 2010 Author Share Posted May 24, 2010 Well, I already spoke to my insurance and they're going to send an adjuster over. Since I didn't get a response to my email sent on Saturday, I also called and spoke with Don at Subaru of America, who told me that the only thing Subaru could do is recommend that I take the car to the dealership and that they couldn't promise that I wouldn't have to pay anything to have the car looked at, even after I explained that this was a safety issue and I just wanted them to look at it. I also told him that I informed other Subaru owners at LegacyGT.com and Edmunds' Subaru forum about the matter and others are interested as to what the problem is. And SOA was unwilling to give me a note or anything telling the dealer to diagnose it instead of just looking at what needs to be replaced. The last thing that I want is for the dealership to take the car in, charge me just to look at it and then tell me that everything's hunky-dory without really finding out what's wrong. I then offered to send him the pictures, which I just did to customer@subaru.com, where someone named Claudia will receive them and I'll go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBamin Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 hmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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