No ignition power

[02scoobywrx]

I have an 02 wrx I bought about 3 months ago without an engine, and finally got my ls1 in and mostly wired and ready to fire. But, theres one problem...theres no power going to anything when the switch is turned on. No dash lights, no windows...nothing. Only the park lights, odometer, hazards and clock which all work without the key in it. I checked all the fuses under the hood. The only thing not hooked up is the starter wire to battery, and the wrx alternator wire (bigger white wires, which do I even need to hook that up at all?). I have a ground going from the battery to the engine, engine to frame, and battery to body. Brand new battery. I also had this problem when I tried to roll a window up when I first got the car...needless to say, the window is still down.

[Anub1s]

I fear you are pretty much on your own on this one, an LS1 in a WRX is not anywhere near the realm of normalcy for us to know what you have and have not done. Wiring up a swap like that can be a nightmare.

Have you hooked the LS1 alternator wire to the battery? That is kinda important, and you'll want to hook the starter up to the battery as well. I'm not sure about this, but the car may require some kind of signal back from the starter before allowing spark. You've definitely missed something somewhere, or have cut into something you shouldn't have, if your interior lights aren't working.

[02scoobywrx]

No I haven't wired the alternator to the battery yet. Not sure if I should just hook up the subaru's alt wire or leave it alone and run a new wire. It seems like the main relay is bad, if thats what turns everything thing on, but i dont know. Theres 6 pins in a U shape on that brown relay, and the bottom 2 pins after pulling the plug off have power, and nothing changes when turning the switch on. I assume I had the right relay...Im not an expert with wiring.

[Anub1s]

To your knowledge, was anything cut in the wiring harness when the engine was pulled from the car in the first place? Anything amiss inside the car? Any wires near the fusebox that were cut or fraying?

What all are you doing to fit this engine in and get it running, how are you mounting and hooking up the GM ECU, and integrating that with the cars harness?

[mycologist]

LC1...

[02scoobywrx]

Everything looks uncut and unmodified, except for the radio stuff, which the previous owner removed. The GM harness is wired up through a Painless fuseblock and and is completely separate from the subaru harness, with the exception of the VSS, tach and a few other misc. wires. There really isn't anything complicated about this wiring swap since they're on their own circuits. I did figure out there isn't any power at the battery wire at the ignition switch, which would be the problem...I just need to trace that wire down and see why its not getting power. Im trying to figure out the wiring diagrams but its a little confusing. Any idea where the wire leaves the fuse block and goes to the ignition switch?

[02scoobywrx]

I think it is the ignition switch. I probed the little hot wire going in, and it has power but none of the terminals on the other side get power when I turn the switch. Is this it, or could something else be missing?

[02scoobywrx]

Well it would help if it was plugged up. I went to buy a switch and they showed a pic of it an the plug, and I remembered seeing the exact plug just hanging there. I thought it was just another test plug for the ecu or something because there is a couple there used if you get an accessport. Everything works now as far as I know. I'm not even sure why someone unplugged it.

[Anub1s]

Well, lucky you, an easy fix.