2006 Subaru Forester SBF5 Fuse Issue

The morning of the incident I started the car to let it warm up, since it was about 25* F/-3.9*C. About ten minutes later I was going to leave for work and realised that I had forgot my phone. I was going to just leave it running and get my phone, but my awesome wife brought it to me. At that moment the car shut off. I thought I stalled it by letting the clutch out with the parking brake on. Attempt to crank it, and nothing but warning lights. A few weeks prior the starter didn’t engage correctly so I thought it was the problem. Conveniently our house is on a hill so I figured I would roll it out of the driveway, let the clutch out and be on my way.
First thing I noticed was the engine didn’t start with the ignition on and the drivetrain turning it, and it didn’t sound right. Difficult to explain, but like it was loping. The second thing I noticed was the check engine light was flashing. Luckily our street is in a neighborhood, so I could coast the not running car onto a side street.
Later the day, I began searching the interwebs which lead to this forum. First thing I found was a blown SBF 5 fuse. This is where I will admit making a terrible decision. Since the car was broken down away from the house, and I didn’t have another fuse, I jumped the fuse with a section of wire with alligator clips on both ends. The car started right up and ran long enough to back out of where it coasted to earlier that morning, about 30 seconds. I was going to drive up the street and into my driveway, but it began fumbling like it was running out of gas. It idled for a few seconds and then stalled. I pulled the jumper wire off and it was hot. The wire had nearly been melted off one end of the alligator clip. I know this was basically the same as sticking a fork in an electric outlet.
I was able to enlist the help of my neighbors to tow the car up the street. Once in the driveway I began investigating the extent of the damage I inflicted.
The car would not crank or start. With ignition in Run, the cooling fan on right hand side off the radiator would run continuously and the check engine light did not illuminate. I was able to find the schematics online, printed them out, and went to work trouble shooting. The path of power from SBF 5 goes to the main relay. It was also the first component damaged by me.
Replace relay with OEM ordered from a local Subaru dealership, put the correct 30 amp fuse in SBF 5, turn on ignition, and the check engine light begins to flash rapidly along with the cooling fan cycling on and off about every second before blowing the fuse.
I have traced every path of power supplied by SBF 5 and everything checks out as far as power flow and continuity. After that, I traced everything supplied power by the main relay. Again, everything checked out. No other components showed signs of damage, no melted connections, no indication of a dead short in the wiring, nothing. Even with every component unplugged from that circuit, the same behavior of the flashing CEL and cycling of the fan occurred.
After searching through threads of blown SBF 5 fuses, and most lead to problems with the fuel pump. I have tested everything concerning the pump, even tested the fuel pump relay, the power supply and continuity of the harness and associated sensors, and have not found the problem.
I’m asking if anyone has had a similar problem or where to look next?

• This topic was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by Thomas Canino.