today when i was driving my battery light and my brake light came on at the same time for a minute then went off. this every happened to anyone else?

It's typical of a failing alternator. Check the alt connections, but you're probably going have to replace it soon.

alternator on the blink.

 

it is usually accompanied by the ABS light as well.

no abs on my car

 

but ya ill check the alternator out. thanks guys

I know I say this all the time. I'd go ahead and get the thing replaced or you'll wind up stranded on the side of the road.

Perhaps you already know this, but I will still repeat. If you go to a car parts store, the counter guy will check out your charging system at no charge. It only takes a couple of minutes of time, and the guy will do it in their parking lot.

 

I agree with the other guys, it sounds like your alternator is going south.

What year is the car? There were a few years in the mid 90's that had alternator issues. Subaru sells reman units for those for like $70. Way cheaper than any parts store.

94 legacy is what i have.

 

it hasent happened again and i havent had any problems so far. ill still get my alternator checked out.

Happened to me. (no ABS light though, and yes, I unfortunately have ABS).

It was intermittent for about 10 miles, then just stopped working. Banged on the alt with a hammer and it worked for a few more miles before stopping working all together. You can drive for quite a while with a failed alt. Just keep lights and stuff off, but once your battery dies ... on the side of the road you go until you charge it up! What happened on my alt was that one of the wires to the brushes just broke off.

i got lucky. we were on the way to MI from NH last week, and the alternator failed while on i-88 in oneonta, ny. i noticed the battery and brake lights were on, so i pulled off the highway at the closest exit. stopped at a state police barracks, and they pointed me to a napa just down the road. tested the output, and with the engine running, battery was putting out fewer volts than with motor off.

 

they (napa) had an alternator in stock, and 25 minutes later (good thing i brought my metric wrenches/toolbox) i was on my way again.

 

averaged just over 30.5 mpg for the total 1700 miles, all without 4th gear. :-\

who needs 4th gear when ya got 3rd

 

the lights havent come back on. i cleaned the alternator connections since i could at least do that easily.

 

havent had any problems with that. im still going to check the output next time i go by an autoparts store.