Hello, I have a 1991 Loyale 4x4 automatic wagon with only 80,000 original miles. I drive the car regularly under 40 miles a day( all highway), and lately the car has been giving me some troubles after years of no problems. Sometimes I get in the car and turn the key and I have no electical contact-the car is totally dead. (like there isn't a battery) However, other times the car will have power to light the warning lights , but it will just click and not turn over. So far my dad who is my (personal mechanic) he has replaced one of the ground wires as we thought this might be causing the issues and for a week afterward we had no problems, and then the electrical gremlins came back. Except now this time, the voltmeter was spiking at 18 Volts and the idle would go erratic over 2,000 rpms for idle unable to kick back down--(I thought I had a Toyota acceleration issue on a Subaru!!)

 

My dad took off the alternator and is replacing it with a new one (it was warrantied) however I am not sure if that was the sole problem. My dad also was thinking maybe the battery cables were an issue so he is planning on replacing them. My main question is could there possibly be some other elctrical problem that is being overlooked. I just hate to drive the car somewhere not knowing if it is going to start the next time I try.

 

I was wondering if anyone had any similar troubles and what worked for you? If this has been discussed previously-please direct me to the forum search criteria. I would be happy to research this further if someone can lead me in the general direction.

 

Thank You in advance

Welcome to the forum. You have come to the right place for Suby troubles.

 

The alternator definitely had a bad voltage regulator inside it and possibly bad diodes also so you did the right thing there in replacing it. As for the other problem I think you may have a bad fusible link connection which is fairly common. The 4 links are in a small plastic box mounted on the coolant reservoir. Look for a loose connection, especially on the black link. They are color coded to indicate current rating so don't mix them up. Just pull one at a time or write down the order they are in if you pull them all out. If you find a loose connection you will need to clean the connection up and make sure the connection fits snug in the contacts.

Edited March 6, 201016 yr by Cougar