cookster

Back home now and no luck with the issue. I hate giving up but working on a car 100 km from home without all my tools just sucks. The car is going to the shop next week. Once fixed,I'll be sure to post with the details. Thanks to all for the help.

Trying to get ahold of another alternator to test in the car just to be sure that it's not the root cause. Original alternator and replacement one both exhibit the same condition so it's unlikely but not impossible.

The fuse that I pulled actually stopped the alternator from charging all together which is why it stopped whining when I pulled it. Every other fuse in the car was pulled out one at a time in an attempt to isolate the circuit causing the problem but the noise persisted and no faulty circuit was identified.

Back at the car again this morning, it's 100 km away so it's a bit of a pain to say the least. Anyway, voltage at starter, battery and right athe alternator are all equal and I've confirmed that all connections are clean. I'm out of ideas.

The car is a daily driver and is parked in an underground lot. No recent work done to the car and no accidents. Aftermarket radio installed by myself a year and a half ago using correct plug adapter. This problem occurred quite suddenly, the car was running perfectly the day before.

I checked the voltage on the two wires in the plug, one is constant 12 v and the other one is 12 v with key in run position so they seem to be okay. I guess the next step is to check for shorts. Thanks for the help guys.

Sorry, should have clarified that the alternator we installed was a new re manufactured unit so we have a new alternator and a new battery. I'll run the voltage tests that have been suggested.

Thanks for the prompt reply. I have a bit of an update, I forgot to check the fuses under the hood so I pulled them one at a time and when I pulled one called Meter SRS lamp the noise went away completely. With that fuse pulled, however there was no output voltage. Just curious, would a bad bearing only be noisy under load?

Hi all. I've been away from the forum for a while, my son wrote off my 02 Outback about a year ago and I've been "Subaru-less" ever since. That being said, my nephew still has his 2000 Outback and since I'm the family mechanic, I still get to tinker from time. This morning when he went to start the car, the battery was dead, assuming it was a bad battery, he went out and bought a new one and the car started right up. I put a meter on the battery with the motor running and got only 13.2 volts (which is a little low in my experience) and I noticed the alternator was whining a little bit and was extremely hot to the touch after running for less than a minute. We then replaced the alternator and have the same issue, whining and getting very hot. I expect something is putting a huge draw on the system but I dont really know how to go about diagnosing it. So far I've pulled fuses one at a time with the motor running to see if I could isolate the problem but no luck. Hoping this problem may be common and that someone can offer some ideas. Thanks.

Thank you, that's the confirmation I've been looking for. After buying an incorrect manual transmission for my 98 legacy because of an incorrect internet listing (3.90 vs 4.11 gears long story) I'm reluctant to believe what I find on the internet. Good old human knowledge was what I was looking for and I appreciate the replies.

Thanks for the reply. Opposedforces indicates 99-Feb - 04-Feb production which means pretty much all model years of this body style. Is opposedforces a reliable source for this kind of info? I only ask because in the aftermarket listings, the 2000 model year has a different part number than 02, 03 and 04. Thanks.

I just picked up a 2000 OBW (auto) and the drive shaft is shot. It's an old beater car and I don't want to spend big bucks on a new shaft so I'm looking for a used one. Can anyone tell me what other years / models. would be a direct swap in? Thanks.

The center diff bearings failed on my 03 Outback (manual) and did a lot of damage, both gears are chewed up badly and the driveshaft bushing is scored. I happen to have a 98 Legacy that I'm scrapping and I'm wondering if I could swap over the complete rear end of the transmission onto the 03? I have both transmissions apart and the components (coupler, bearings shafts gears) are quite a bit different, so much so that I would have to swap over the complete rear case and all parts within. Am I dreaming or is this possible?

I just picked up a 2003 Outback wagon with a bad 5 speed manual transmission, the code on the transmission is 59 TY754VCDCA. I'm looking for advice on suitable doner units, i.e. other models or years that will work. Can you help?