eulogious

Sad, Sad times man, I hope your car is ok! You have put so much time into fixing it... Good luck man. I would wish you a happy new year but I think it's not that happy, so I will say "Here's to a new year" *raise a glass for a cheer*

Be careful using any type of cleaner/solvant, they leave residues behind that can sometimes only be removed with rubbing alcohol, hence why I suggested using rubbing alcohol. Even grocery store rubbing alcohol shouldn't really be used on delicate electronics because it's impure, they have special alcohol that leaves NOTHING behind to clean circuit boards and other delicate electronics. Granted this is a switch and not a delicate electronic device, but still, residue on the contacts can create a bad connection and cause the switch to not work, even though it appears clean. Doesn't happen very often, but can happen. If you do use a cleaner/solvant, you can rinse the switch with distilled water and let it air dry, and that might clean of any residue that is left behind, but not guaranteed. Hard to say, but can't hurt it. My 2 cents.

I highly doubt that Ohms law has changed This is very true, I just didn't state it for simplicity sake since it doesn't really apply here, but very true. Thanks for pointing that out. In this case I don't think that the increase in AMPS brought on the failure since the fuses didn't blow, so I left that part out for that reason and not to confuse anyone anymore than need be. Good catch.

To clean the switch, take apart the shifter and remove the switch, and then take rubbing alcohol and q-tips and clean it up. You should also be able to take apart the switch itself inorder to clean the contacts for it as well. That's how I would clean the switch...

I hear what you are saying man and I agree. I work with linux and the mainframe on a daily basis at work and have to "think outside the box" and adapt all the time with my work, so ya, I feel ya on that! I am working on trying to adapt those skills to my mechanic skills and I think that I am making process, there's a big learning curve for a newbie I do still work on my car in my garage, I pay for it so I will do what I want in it, I just have to be discreet. That and moving stuff around was not what I wanted to do when I started this post, so that's why I asked the question. I figure before I go out and rearrange my entire garage so I can get the bumper off, I would ask to see if there was an easier way to accomplish this task. One thing that I have learned is that the internet is f'ing incredible in helping you solve your problems. I also try to apply the KISS (Keep it simple stupid) to everything that I do, so the simplest way to solve this problem was to ask before I committed a bunch of time for something that might not be necessary You might have all the time in the world to take apart stuff that isn't necessary, but I don't It was a good thing I stopped and asked, I found my solution that was WAY easier than removing the bumper, drill and tap The sad part is that I have a tap and die set in my garage, I just didn't even think about using them. Like I said, I am glad that I stopped and asked, because sometimes just taking a break from the problem will make the answer clear as day when you go back to work on it. I think that it is the "newer" style, it's a 1990 loyale. When I took the plastic part off the bumper, there was a good six inches or so of steel before the foam, so there is plenty to drill and tap into. Thanks for the pic with the foam off. Helps get a better idea of what it looks like. Granted it took me over 2 hours in searching to find the answer, but alas the lights are installed and working ! All I did was go to lowes and pickup some hex head bolts to use instead of the square ones that came with the lights, and then I drilled a hole, tapped it, and then bolted the bracket for the lights to the bumper. I have a few things to work out in the cab with the switches, but when I am done I will post some pics! They totally light up the road better which is nice considering I work grave yard and most of my driving is at night. Good stuff! Thanks for all the suggestions and letting me use you all as a sound board

Check this other thread out, basically the same thing happened to this person. I have a good explanation there about what could have happened: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=106888 If you are still having issues/questions, start a new thread Good luck!

This just put a big smile on my face Thanks for that! I will agree that the only reason that craftsman are nice is for the return policy... but I only use tools as a hobby, so if they fail, it's not that big of a deal to return it. If this were my bread and butter, snapon, matco, mac, etc are awesome and the only way to go. I don't know about craftsman impact tools, but for impact tools, even I will spend the money on snapon, matco, mac impact tools. Buy once, NEVER worry about them again. Bluebird impacts rule

They are super handy. I don't know which one you bought, but hopefully it does RPM's and duty cycle. Those are nice features to have when woking with car electronics. If you need to check something and don't know how, just use google! I have learned how to use mine that way! Gotta love the internet! Have fun with you new DMM

Well then, it looks like you have done all the "simple" things. I would try swapping alternators like you said and see what happens. Could be you just picked up a bunk used alt from the JY. Good luck!

It's not that I don't want to learn or know about my car... I was to the point of undoing the bolts and pulling it off, but I don't have a lot of room (I have a 1 car garage at an apartment complex that I can't even open both the doors all the way in, and the back of my car sticks out of the garage and I have my motorcycle in there along with some storage stuff... needless to say it's a very tight fit. Also I am NOT allowed to work on my car there, so I have to be discreet about what I am doing. Lame ) and it was going to be a LOT of effort to try to make room for this all to happen. The other reason is I AM going to be pulling off the bumpers to throw them away and install some real, custom bumpers, so I don't want to do it twice. Yes I know practice makes perfect, but time is money, and practice doesn't pay me Drilling and tapping is the easiest way to accomplish what I want, especially because this is by no means permanent. I am not a lazy sack

Good to see you fixed it! Heat is fantastic in the morning, especially with remote start! It's now been weeks since I have gotten into a cold car

I would say that something is going on other than just the alternator failing, and your alternator is gone again... How is your battery? I have seen alternators get fried because of a low charged battery. When the battery is low, the alternator tries to charge it. If it can't charge it for whatever reason, it just keeps on truckin' at full power, eventually wearing it's self out. So I would check/charge/replace your battery. If your battery is good, check all your grounds, corrosion causes resistance, and resistance can fry alternators. Truthfully, I would dump the stock alternator and get a bigger/better one. Nissan or GM, but I would take the time/effort to do it now, and then you won't have to worry about it. This is assuming it's JUST the alternator that went out and that there is no other underlying problem. If there is still a problem, replacing it with a Nissan/GM alternator isn't going to fix it, they will break down as well until the problem is fixed. This of course all costs money...

That's what I was thinking I was going to do, but there isn't enough room for me to get my fingers into the space I would need to get to in order to tighten the bolts, let alone a wrench, and then keep the nut it to get it started... I think there is enough difference between your brat and my wagon to make work for you, but not for me I was hoping it was going to be that easy, but alas. I should be able to spend some time in the morning to get these guys mounted and working. I will post back with some pics when I get it done!

Ok so after some searching, I came up with this: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=94320&highlight=fog*+lights So far drilling and tapping is making the most sense, duh I knew there was an easier way then removing the bumper. Any other pointers on installing these would be great!

Hey all, so I got some nice Hella 500FF for christmas and I would like to install them on my bumper in front of the grill. So today I went to try to install them and realized that I am not going to be able to install these lights into the bumper very easily. Now I have seen some guys here that have them installed into the bumper, how did you do that? Did you use the stock mounting that came with the lights, or make something for a bracket? From what I can tell, all I have is a bolt to mount the light. I have taken apart most of the bumper without taking it off the car, and I just don't see how you got it to work with the stock mounting. There isn't enough room to be able to drill a hole, and then mount and tighten the bolt for the light, at least that I can tell. If I have to remove the bumper I will, I just don't really want to do that if I don't have too. This is on a 1990 Loyale. I now this seem like a newb question, but I have been for a while now trying to figure out how to do this, and finally just decided to come here for help. Any advice/pointers would be great! Thanks!

After 10 posts?? you can post pics. It takes a few post before you can... Good luck!

You still haven't told me what you want to do with them... From what I can tell those wires are for the lights behind the switches, at least that's all I can see they do. They don't control anything within the ventilation system that I can tell. I know they don't control the AC or the fresh air controls. I have studied the FSM diagrams intensely for another project, yes I have them, and there is nothing there at all for these wires, hence why I asked what you were trying to accomplish. After reading the FSM for a long time and running down wires over several pages looking for these specific wires, I gave up since it was apparent they weren't important. I have also been to the pull a part by my house and took the dash apart on an ea82 to follow the wires and I couldn't tell where they went or go to, so I realize there are wires there, but they really don't do anything having to do with the ventilation that I can tell. Everything is controlled by vacuum or a microswitch. If I knew what your end goal was, I might be able to help, but AFAIK those wires don't really do anything important and aren't listed in the FSM that I have. Somebody correct me if I am wrong on this...

I'm glad I could help! I love the internet and I have gained so much knowledge from it that the least that I could do is try to explain things the best I can to spread the knowledge some more. It's kinda like karma, the more I give, the more I can take I am not very good with the mechanical aspects of cars, I am learning , but electrical stuff I am good at and enjoy so I help where I can I am glad I could help you all out!

There isn't any "wiring" there, it's controlled by vacuum. If you are wondering how the A/C is turned on, there is a microswitch that controls this. It's located down in the gas pedal areaish. Other than that, there isn't a diagram for it since it's controlled by vacuum. What exactly are you looking to do with the diagram?

I would EJ it, but only if you like the actual car. If it has all the options and creature comforts that you like, why sell it? If you want more options and don't really like the car, maybe it's time to move on. But I would get another subaru, not a GM product!!! Come on man! I jest... I am partial to the ea82 wagon, but that's just me. I think the legacy are too "big" for what I want. The ea82 seems smaller/lighter and I like that. Again, that's just me. When my ea82t finally goes out on me, I am throwing in an EJ like no other I also really like my car, so I am kinda attached to him, so I will show him some more love before I give him up. For the wife, I am trying to talk her into a legacy when we sell the Kia, but we shall see... I love Subarus and I am going to ALWAYS have at least one in the family

Unfortunately nothing. I think the biggest reason is cost. It's super easy to make a fuse. The principals on how amps work and operate make it easy to create a fuse, and therefore it becomes very cheap to manufacture. A "surge protector", like the ones for computers, are ALOT more complicated in comparison. They are "simple" compared to computers, but complicated compared to a fuse, or even a circuit break, so therefore alot more to manufacture. Now in all honesty what has happened to you doesn't happen all that often. And when it does, it's not THAT hard to fix. It's a PITA, but doable for the "average" back yard mechanic. Alternators usually don't fail in the way you described, and when they do, it's not all that often, so I can imagine SOA decided that it was worth the risk and cost to fix it when it breaks, rather than put the R&D into developing a surge protector for the car, and then manufacturing it/stocking it/shipping it/etc. Also I know that most electronics are designed to operate with in a certain percentage of amps/volts for tolerance, since you can't always guarantee that the perfect operating conditions all the time. For instance, before you turn your car on before starting it, it's operating at around 12v, and when you start it, it's operating at around 14v, so the electronics are designed to operate within a certain range of voltage. With that being said, they can also take a little more for a brief period with being destroyed. I also know that most electronics DO have a built in safety, usually with diodes/resistors/capacitors/etc. Most likely one of those fried within yours, but it's just easier to replace parts, than it is to try to fix what went wrong within the circuit board. I also think that is one of the main reason why manufactures also put a volt gauge on the car, so you can see when something isn't correct. Most likely if you would have immediately pulled the car over and turned off the car when you first noticed the problem, you wouldn't have fried anything. I think the manufactures assume that if it doesn't act right, you will just stop to prevent damage. But not all of us stop when we should This isn't a dig at you or anything, just a matter of fact. I am guilty of doing this as well at some point Of course the manufactures could just make 2 voltage regulators in the alternator for redundancy, but again this comes down to cost versus risk, and the cost usually wins. What's good for the company, isn't always good for the customer... The simple answer is that it doesn't happen enough to warrant putting a surge protector in the car or two voltage regulators in the alternator, but it's totally worth it to put in a fuse box. Again, all of this is just my 2 cents...

This is so awesome :banana: You have definitely raised my confidence level when working on these cars. I can now watch what needs to be done so I have a way better idea of what to do. Thank you. This is fantastic! I have already watch all 5 you have posted so far, and they are great! Keep it up man. Thanks for all your hard work. I for one might donate to this site just for this as soon as I have some money. This is soooo worth it's weight in gold. Thanks again!!!

From what I read and experience the 5 speed D/R is very durable/reliable and more usable than the push button. Even more so with the EJ power, the low range rocks. You can seriously go just about ANYWHERE one typically needs to go with the 1.8 and an D/R, so add the EJ power to that, and wow, good combo. With that being said, I would say rock what you have until it breaks, and then go with the D/R swap. I believe it would just be a bolt in swap... If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The D/R's seem to be fairly cheap, at least around here, so when your push button decides to fail, just pick up a D/R and throw it in. Maybe even pickup up a good used D/R and have it kicking around before hand just in case. This is just my own opinion, but that's what I would do.

You say the washer stopped working at the same time as well? Does the washer motor sound at all? If you run power directly to the washer pump, does it pump anything? How about running power directly to the wiper motor, does it do anything? I ask all this because if the washer pump works with direct power, and the wiper motor works with direct power, then it's the switch. Otherwise it's probably the motor. Since the washer quit working at the same time, I would lean toward the switch failing, or a wire getting grounded somewhere along the way. That would be where I would put my money given the info so far...

Thank my EE (electronic engineer) buddy who explained it to me that way. Same analogy can be used with internet bandwidth and speed, but that's a whole other ball of wax I am glad that it helped, I know that it helped me tremendously in understanding the basics of electronics. Alot of stuff fell into place and made WAY more sense after hearing it explained that way.