I have a 2001 Subaru Legacy L wagon which won’t charge its battery and whose entire instrument cluster (IC) doesn’t work. The troubles with both battery and cluster started last fall after a truck sideswiped the front left corner of the car. The collision dented the front left fender (right behind the headlight) and broke the left headlight. Immediately after the accident, I kept driving the car and I’m almost certain that the IC was still working when I drove away from the accident.
While driving around town the next day, I noticed that all of the IC guages had stopped working. I don't know exactly when they stopped working; I might have driven awhile before I noticed. After driving around some more, my battery started going dead.
The next day I took the car to a generic auto mechanic (not a dealership or Subaru specialist) to be repaired. The mechanic determined that my alternator was okay. (I forgot to tell him that the instrument cluster (IC) had stopped working, so at first he focused only on the charging problem. He put in TWO new alternators and neither of them solved the charging problem.) After I told him that the IC didn’t work, he did some research and concluded that a non-working IC could cause the charging problem, so he recommended replacing the IC.
So I bought a used instrument cluster on eBay and installed it in the car. This did not solve the problem, so I bought and installed another used IC, but it didn’t work either. I think the mechanic checked all the fuses. Regardless, I have checked all of the fuses myself, both the ones in the cabin and those under the hood. They all look fine to me.
What should I do next?