weirdfish

Last night I noticed the battery light and one other, ( can't remember which one, could have been the brake warning light ), flickered on a couple of times, no real pattern, but just flickered on for a few seconds.
I tried loading the battery, air con, fans etc but it still seemed to be the same.
Today I put a meter across the battery terminals and it read 12.5 volts, then fired the car up and It went up to 14.4v and stayed there, this was both, with the lights on and off, so I'm assuming all is good with the charging side of things.
Checked all the connections on the alternator we ok.
What else is there to check before visiting the local auto electrics place.
It's a 2001 wrx wagon.

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

14.4 is fine when engine is running, id say the alternator belt slipped a bit check the tension on it.

weirdfish

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

That's what I was going to say.

Check also the tightness and cleanliness of the battery terminals.

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

if the belt had slipped wouldnt the steering have felt heavy for a few seconds ? and there would have been a screech noise.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Not so's you could feel it, the pressure would need to dissipate, and unless you were turning hard at low speed when it did...

The belt might have squealed but it doesn't HAVE to when slipping, that's just a symptom.

weirdfish

Just to update this thread, when I checked the belt it was tensioned ok but looked a little tired, so I decided to change it, once I'd removed it I found that it had actually split along it's length for about 2" and was quite cracked across the ribs.
I've checked all the connections that I can think of, and get to, so it's just a matter of seeing if the lights come back on.
Funny that the power steering was mentioned above, I have actually noticed on a couple of occasions first thing after starting from cold that the steering was a little heavy/notchy when turning the wheel when stationary, no squealing of belts though, so I just put it down to cold fluid.
Will keep an eye on that too.

weirdfish

Another update, power steering seems to be alright now, not sure if the belt cured it or not, but, more worryingly the battery light started to flicker again, tested the voltage going into the battery and its down to 11.8, same figure coming from the main lead at the top of the alternator.
So it looks like a new alternator is required, or at least this one reconditioned if possible.
Any half decent suppliers of subaru alternators that people have used, or is it just a matter of doing the normal searching for the best price.

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Check the live feed connector on the top of the alternator. On my 03 blob STi the connector had come loose and was arcing electric current when the alternator was attempting to charge the battery. Technically you would know this by a scorching of the red connector protector. Mine had started to melt, and just needed a new connector, as a new alternator for the blob is in the hundreds from a stealers

weirdfish

All sorted now, recon unit from local place, £110.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

The symptoms remind me of a failing Lucas 18ACR alternator which was fitted to my MkI Escort. It failed on me and my mate at Montauban in southern France, on the way home from camping in Spain.

A local car electrician, who had never seen a Lucas alterntor before, removed it, stripped it, REWOUND it, bench tested it and rempounted it, all for the princely sum of £8...although it WAS 1973.

Back in the UK, when the same type of alternator went on my Escort Mexico, it was, "Recon unit, sir, no-one can repair these, £38 please......"

weirdfish

I know what you mean, but I have dealt with this guy before and he is quite honest, if he can fix it at a reasonable cost he will, he showed me my old one and explained what was wrong with it, I'm happy that I got a good deal in the end.
I have to start another thread soon regarding this, the car seems to be running a little roughly after all this, wondering if anything has happened since I disconnected the battery to change the alternator.
I'll try and explain a bit more when I post a new topic, I want to run the car a bit longer and be sure of what's happening.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Nah, you got me wrong, I wasn't saying that, just that here in the UK, our auto electricians find it easier to swap out......and always have.

I used to work with a guy who drove a Rover 3500. His alternator went. He was quoted £100 for a new one.
We took it off, stripped it, pressed out the bearings, drove to a local bearing place, who sold us two new ones, replaced them, replaced the alternatror and away it went.
Total cost was under £5

weirdfish

Absolutely, we do live in a "throw away" society, not much " old school" engineering left these days.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

You've got it. On the one hand we are hounded to recycle, save, not to waste, etc, on the other, we have things like electronically controlled air fresheners....what the **** is that all about????