Determing if it's a wiring problem or need a new battery

[timmyk]

1991 legacy turbo 5 spd awd

every now and again, lately, my cars headlights will dim, and interior lights and all the icons will pop up [battery, e-brake, ect.]

i'm not sure if it's poor wiring, cause i have had several issues with the wiring so far, or if it's the battery...however it has started up everytime , thats the only reason it makes me doubt if its the battery

is there any way to figure out for sure if it's my battery or wiring problem thats doing this?

[PhyrraM]

Could be either, but first thing to check in that situation is your battery terminals and cables. Make sure everything is clean, not corroded and tight. Corrosion likes to hid in the 'crimp' between the cable and the terminal.

[kimokalihi]

It's probably the alternator.

[tahiti350]

or a bad ground....

[log1call]

I'd suspect, (based on statistics) that it will be the alternator playing up. Bad earths or dirty connections can cause these symptoms but more often than not it is the alternator. Drive in to an auto-electricians and ask them to test your alternator and it should only be a twenty minute labour charge to know for sure.

[evolutionmovement]

Sounds like alternator.

[bluebaru]

I have the exact same problem on my 93 Legacy ~145k miles. I have just had the alternator replaced in 2008 and the problem is back. Same symptoms, headlights go dim battery and brake lights on. I will check the battery connections. Any other ideas?

Thanks! patrick

[evolutionmovement]

Did you get a remanufactured alternator?

[bluebaru]

Here's the full story-

About four years ago, the car suddenly died while driving. It was towed to my mechanic (not the dealer) and a re-manufactured alternator was installed. 4 years later, the battery and brake lights started to come on occasionally, after a while they were on constantly. I brought the car to the same mechanic and they said that the alternator was again bad. They installed another re-manufactured alternator. Not even a year had passed and the battery and brake lights are beginning to turn on again.

I called my Subaru dealer to see how much a genuine replacement alternator would cost and they indicated that since it is an older model (1993) they only have re-manufactured units!

Do you find that they are not as good as the Subaru alternators? Do you think this is the problem?

I checked the wires today and found no loose connections or corrosion anywhere. All belts are tight.

I appreciate your help.. Patrick

[Saskatoon Subaru]

replace alternator

[evolutionmovement]

All remanufactured starters and alternators are junk. They're not better than ANY OEM. I even have a theory that the "Lifetime Warranty" ones might be worse (if that's possible), but I won't get into my reasoning now. Regardless, they're all built in China by slave labor with no quality control. Warranty doesn't cover labor, though there's no need to pay that on these cars. Seriously, in my experience working on cars and talking to other mechanics, the under 2-year failure rate on them has to be around 70% and there are many that fail within weeks (try having a car that sucks, like an Audi where half the front of the stupid Nazi car has to be removed. My friend paid $800. Twice. In the space of a month. For a 1.8T that would probably lunch itself from its poorly-designed oil pick-up tube before 80k miles, but that's another story.)

I recommend a used OEM. The newer Subaru units should work, but would probably require a bit of newer harness to get the connector. That's a guess on my part, but someone else might know for sure.

[bluebaru]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to make sure this is done right this time with an OEM alternator.

Pat

[bluebaru]

It is very hard to find a new alternator for this car. Even the Subaru dealers only have reman alternators.

I was able to find a new OEM alternator on line, so it should be here soon. The dealer was nice enough to take back the bad alternator and refund the money.

It looks like I should not have trouble changing the alternator, but I'm wondering if there are any instructions available. I found a youtube video that may help.

By the way, sorry for hijacking this thread, but I think it is the same issues for timmyk's issues.

[def09]

An older or weakening battery may have taken out your alt. in the first place.

I caught the Interstate battery driver at work one day and he called it when I told him what battery I had. An Optima yellow top about two years old and being daily driven. Dying @ the expected lifespan.. the red tops go for @ three years).

Had to repair the obvious... the alternator wiring melted and the original alternator failed (over 200K).

Frequent trickle charges were helping at first but needed them more all the time. After sitting the batt would return to 11-12V. Which seemed good to me at the time till I replaced my batt. Wierdness and runability problems gone after that.

[evolutionmovement]

Wow, aren't those batteries expensive, too? The only battery I replaced that was less than 10 years old was killed by a bad alternator and I just buy the cheap mid-range Die Hards. Had an Interstate once, but thought it was overkill.

[def09]

Yea for having the advantage with extra reserve and capacity with the disadvantages of up front cost and frequency.

With the optima installed initially I had accidently left my radio on (low)all weekend once and it fired up Monday morn. I was very impressed with it then.

Dont think Ill get another optima unless thats the cheap alternative for trunk mounted batteries.

Unemploment is a disadvantage.