ibroad

You're awesome, did you know that? Thanks for all your help today.

So I accidentally ripped the red rubber cover on the cable. Anyone know what that thing is called?

Okay! So I just replaced the alternator! You guys are right, that was easy. I ended up wrapping the cable in the picture above with electrical tape to cover the wires that show. Is this okay to do? Does that cable look okay?

Double post

Thanks for the help so far. I went and bought the ToughOne alternator from Advance because it was the only place that had one in stock and I have to get this done by Monday. My plan is, if it fails sometime, to use the warranty to get a new and just sell it. Then buy an OEM one. So I took the melted parts off the cable and here is what it looks like: Notice where the wires are showing? Is this okay? Can I just wrap that area with electric tape?

Thanks, that's actually what a mechanic I talked to told me as well. Anyone know of a walk through for replacing the alternator? I know you all say it's easy, but I'm new to all this.

I just called my local Subaru dealership and they said the alternator would be $299. Any idea where I can get one for a price closer to what you listed? Also, what makes the battery go bad? If my battery got drained from the bad alternator does that ruin the battery?

Yeah the cable looks fine to me. I guess my main concern is whether this was caused by the alternator itself or something else? I called the place I had it fixed and they said the warranty was over. It's pretty crappy place I'll never go back to again. I'm going to go over to Advance Auto and buy this alternator: http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_alternator--remanufactured--90-amps-toughone_15850022-p?navigationPath=L1*14920%7CL2*14999%7CL3*15587# It's the cheapest one around and they have it in stock and it has a lifetime warranty. Do you have any idea what could have caused this? Is it just the alternator itself? Thanks.

I'm a little confused now. Do you think the alternator is bad if this happened? What would you replace first in this situation? Here are some more pictures:

Last year I posted on here about my brake and battery light flashing on my dash on my '02 Outback. Everyone said it was my alternator. I took it to a shop and they confirmed and said my battery was bad too. So, they installed a new battery and alternator for about $600. Fast-forward to a couple weeks ago, my brake and battery light come on again, but don't flash. They just stay on. I decided it might be a fluke and just continue driving it. Nothing seemed wrong. Now, fast-forward to yesterday. I was driving from an appointment that was in a town about an hour away. I noticed something was wrong when I put the car in first gear and the radio shut off. I continued driving and notice my spedometer stopped working, basically everything stopped working. I was still able to drive about 15 miles close to home until my powersteering went out and I lucky pulled into an offroad. I looked under the hood to see what was wrong and found this: Any idea what could cause this to happen? This is the positive wire that connects to the back of the alternator. It appears to come from under the fuse relay box near the battery. It completely got fried off! So my questions are: 1) What could cause this to happen? 2) Does anyone have walk-through on how to install a new alternator. 3) What brand of alternator is the best? Should I get a re-manufactured or new one?

What exactly does MMO the gas mean?

I had new spark plugs and new original spark plug wires put in a couple months ago, so I know that's not the problem. I'll try the seafoam. Can I just add it to the gas?

I'm been filling up with 87. Should I be using a higher octane? I live on the east coast. I used to live in Colorado, so maybe that's what got me in the habit of using 87.

Same code, it was just more description

2002 Subaru Outback, 2.5 L, manual