edrach

The program and the price are both pretty awesome. You won't be sorry.

Not funny, fortunate. It could have been much harder to find and more expensive to fix.

'Didn't see your other post until just now.

'Glad you made it home okay.

It's pretty normal for the car to smoke when cold. But keep tabs on coolant level in the overflow tank, just to be sure.

Well, seats from a 2002 WRX fit into my '97 Impreza wagon. Only way to know is to try a test fit.

My success on that that was with Jason in Parts at 1stsubaruparts.com. 1-866-528-5282 (toll free). Have your Vin# ready.

Is the insulation taped up yet?

If you're talking about 1stSubaruparts.com, I never use the website. It inconvenient, doggy slow, and often doesn't home in on the correct part. I still get the same discounted price by calling Jason in Parts at 866-528-5282 and get much quicker, more precise, and better service. Toll free too.

Good move: electrical tape NOW. If you don't have any issues with the alternator in the next month, you might not have to replace it (don't fix what's not broke is my motto). However, take your car to a good reliable shop to check the alternator and battery; not Schuck's or any of the numerous after market parts places, a quality shop that specializes in alternator repair.

That's a great picture. Scary, but great. Glad you fixed it. Looks like you may have dodged a bullet on having it take out the alternator. Keep your fingers crossed.

If the wire portion of the alternator's output cable touched the body of the alternator or engine (electrical ground), it will result in pretty immediate loss of voltage (original symptom you described) and possible damage to the alternator itself. Tape any part of the alternator wiring up with vinyl electrical tape NOW if there's any possibility of the bare wiring touching the metal body of the alternator and/or engine. Hopefully, nothing else was damaged.

Yea, I figured that out when I re-read your post. Sorry, didn't mean to be quite so combative.

Sorry, I have to disagree here. The battery's only purpose in life is to start the engine. Once the engine is started, the alternator supplies ALL the current for the car's normal operation. If the alternator fails to supply the needed current, then the battery takes over again until the battery runs out of charge.

Was either terminal the least bit loose? Reason for my "educated guess" was that you had a momemtary loss of voltage when you turned on the headlights. A poor contact at either battery terminal (or other locations that carry high current), would result in a voltage drop when you called for enough current to turn on the headlights. I'm a firm believer in checking the simple, easy stuff before getting into the difficult causes.

First educated guess: clean and tighten battery terminals.

Welcome. Nice to see someone who cares enough to take care of their wagon.

I think you found your problem. And I was with GD on the faulty bushing. A common issue with our 25+ year old distributers.

As to your lighting issues, you don't have a shorting/grounding problem. You have just the opposite, an open circuit or bad ground problem. A shorting/grounding issue will blow a fuse or smoke some wires and you don't seem to have that.

If your outback is the legacy version, it should. But if it's the Impreza Outback, no. We're talking wagons in both cases, right?

I've learned lots of "what not to do" at the local pull a part.

Find one in a junkyard. If I'm not mistaken, the dash from an '84 GL wagon or '85 to '87 EA81 hatch is the same. It is difficult to replace. If you have a pull a part yard in your area, practice on one with a crappy dash so you don't ruin the good one you want to buy.

Great information. You should post this in the USMB repair manual forum so that it won't get lost in the future.

Our 99 Forester speedo will intermittantly "sticks" at 43 mph. Rapping the instrument panel on the left side a couple of times fixes it temporarily. Does my symptom fall under the same heading as a faulty ground?

If you can get a can of Yield rust penetrant, that'll work better than PB Blaster. Best of luck with it.