Need Help Figuring out Car problemo

acsubie

hey guys need a little help trying to figure out how to get my GF's 2004 subaru RS to turn on, heres what happened:

She was driving home from work, some idiot driver drove out in front of her when she was in the turning lane. The other driver clipped the side of her front bumper which caused the front bumper to come off and hang on the driver side, it was a slow speed crash, basically 15-20 MPH, but the other driver was in a big SUV and it snapped the mounting brackets on the bumper right off..Anyway she said she drove the car about 1/2 block to find a safe place to park it. Since the front bumper was hanging and scraping the ground she called for a tow, she waited in the car with the engine off, she said the car didn't turn off by itself. When she tried to fire it back up the car did not start.

We thought it was the battery and tried to jump start it but it does not want to turn back on. Im not sure if a crash sensor? got knocked out of place or something but i cant see any loose wires. I disconnected the battery to see if it would reset but still no luck. Like i mentioned it was no major collisionand the airbags did not deploy nor did the indicator turn on.

You guys have any suggestions as to what the problem could be or should i have it towed to the dealership?

PS...Am im very upset the tow truck leaked what looks like hydraulic fluid all over the street in front of my house..i mean a ton!

skipf

The guys insurance would cover repairs wouldn't it? If you're not turning in a claim, check the fuses and breakers. Tearing off the bumper likely caused a short that could have tripped one of the breakers or blew a main fuse that controls the starter circuit, though it seems the car would have shut off if a main circuit went out.

thsmith

Also check the battery ground cable on both ends, it may have come loose or disconnected .

LessisNevermore

Some cars (if not all) shut off the fuel pump after a crash. Yours may have done something similar. (possibly the whole electrical system) Find out if there is a reset.

FA - Q

-perfect responces !!!

-all else i can think is...

-there may be a switch in the glove box for the fuel pump

-and since there was a collision, perhaps the neutral safety switch got fubar'ed [clutch depressed or auto trans in park]


-on top of the car hassle, address the hyd fluid quick w/a power washer

bobman1235

Just to clarify, does "won't start" mean it cranks but won't actually catch, or do you mean when you turn the key, NOTHING happens? Do the electronics come on (radio, etc)? Do you hear anything from the starter?

wz2p7j

Also, something might have been grounded to that fender that got tore off, such as the powertrain control module. Now there might not be a ground path.

nooshinjohn

nothing vital mounted inside a bumper skin...more likely a maxi fuse got blown by electrical short and shut down all systems to protect the computers

wz2p7j

I thought the inner fender well got ripped off - not so after re-reading the question - my bad

audiobliss

Since you say you can't see any loose wires, this likely isn't the problem, but I've read that in Cavaliers the whole wiring loom is run in the front bumper skin and so when the front bumper gets ripped off, all the wiring can get ripped out as well.

Hopefully it's something really simple, though.