Alternator Options. '97 OBW.

[SuBrat84]

Is there any kind of upgraded alternator available? Something that puts out a little more juice? I think I've narrowed my misfiring down to a weak alternator. (Stops charging when it gets hot?) When I left home today I checked my battery. 12.64v. Started the car checked the voltage. 14v at cold idle. Turned on as much electrical stuff as I could: 12.4v. Turned off everything electrical that I could except the AC on speed 2 or 3. Drove around for about an hour in 100F sunny Tucson. Started misfiring while in drive thru at Dairy Queen. Made it home.. stalled out in driveway. Check battery voltage: 12.24. Everything under the hood is too hot to touch.. does that seem normal for 100F weather? Temp gauge reading normal.. starts out cold and goes up to normal and stays.. Is it possible I'm over-heating and the temp gauge is faulty?

A. Have the alternator I have rebuilt?

B. Buy a Genuine Subaru Alternator? (Reman?) $70 + shipping.

C. Buy a Duralast Autozone Alternator? $129.99 + 9.1% tax.

D. Will the one out of my '89 XT6 fit?

E. Win the lottery and burn this car to the ground?

[SuBrat84]

D. No

[bearzbear]

Usually the diode stack in them dies...

 

My "old lady's" '93 OBW had the darndest symptom - it would run fine for a while, and then usually on a cool damp day, you could come out and the battery was DEAD.

 

Turned out that when I replaced the alternator it never did it again.

 

I would like to find a higher amperage unit that just bolts in... but there

isn't much space like on older US cars.

 

The alternators themselves will likely fit mechanically, but they changed the plug set ups from year to year, maybe a few years they used the same plug set ups... and I think they went from 2 wire to three wire.

 

If you have the FSM or a similar diagram of the alternator & the wiring you might be able to determine if you can clip the leads of the old one and the wiring harness of the new one and make it work.

 

But, barring that, I'd buy the rebuilt - cheapest one I could find...

 

_-_-bearzbear

[Rooster2]

If you have narrowed it down to a weak alternator, then simply replace it. I have had good luck with Autozone alternators. All have performed well after many years and miles of work. I also like their lifetime warranty, if I ever get a bad one, they will replace it for free. Just be sure to keep the sales slip. Subie dealers don't offer a lifetime warranty.

 

It is a very easy swap out to install a new one. Even if you have never changed a Subie alternator, it is really easy to figure out which bolts to remove. The adjuster bolts make tightening the belt very easy.

[SuBrat84]

Yeah, I've done whole engine swaps.. transmissions.. clutches.. axles.. timing.. radiators.. everything really.. I know my way around a Subaru.. alternator is a cake walk. I'm just trying to get opinions on a course of action here.. I don't have the money to do anything about it right now anyway.. Thanks guys.

[porcupine73]

I would go with the Subaru reman. Not only is it less expensive you know it is remanufactured properly. The lifetime warranty options are fine if that's what you're looking for; for mine I figure if the original alternator lasted say 150k miles and Subaru has it remanufactured properly it should last that long again.

 

You could get your existing alt rebuilt, but if it's not much cheaper than the genuine Subaru reman'd I would just get the Subaru one.

 

Oh hey I just thought of something, some of the soobs from that era had a recall on them for the brushes in the alt and that it could stop charging or get intermittent. I'm not sure if '97 was included, but it might be worth checking, since if your alt is original you might be able to get it replaced free from Subaru. Also I think that's why that year range Subaru reman'd alt is less expensive than other years, because Subaru probably had to get a boatload of them to do that campaign.

[Rooster2]

Yeah, I've done whole engine swaps.. transmissions.. clutches.. axles.. timing.. radiators.. everything really.. I know my way around a Subaru.. alternator is a cake walk. I'm just trying to get opinions on a course of action here.. I don't have the money to do anything about it right now anyway.. Thanks guys.

 

With little money, suggest buying a used one from a wrecking yard. Should be cheap.

[bstone]

Maybe try these folks?

 

http://www.alternatorparts.com/

[SuBrat84]

Subaru reman. Not only is it less expensive you know it is remanufactured properly.

 

 

I've lost my faith. When it took them 3 reman'd transmissions to get one that operates properly.. that was it for me. I'll check the recall thing and if that doesn't work out then I will probably end up getting the duralast when I can afford to.

[SuBrat84]

The one that's in there is a reman SOA alternator.. so it was either changed under warranty or changed by a previous owner.

[porcupine73]

Sounds good. Subaru pretty much uses third parties to remanufacture parts to the specs Subaru provides them. Sorry to hear about the transmissions. It's probably a different company remanufacturing the alts than the transmissions. I have some miles racking up on two genuine Subaru reman'd alts and they are working great.

[idosubaru]

i'd go with the subaru remann'ed.

 

nearly every EJ that's come through my hands has an alternator that says "reman" on it, that's odd to me. recall was only one year though right? there's plenty of folks that use non-OEM parts that i find it surprising how many Subaru reman i see.

 

i'd first verify that your numbers indeed mean it's the alternator. 12+ volts on the battery and 14+ while running sounds semi-normal? but no one has said anything so maybe that's not right?

 

if it's charging/electrical then when it's bucking and misfiring and stalls in the driveway a quick jump start and leaving the cable connected should rule all that out in a matter of seconds?

[SuBrat84]

i'd first verify that your numbers indeed mean it's the alternator. 12+ volts on the battery and 14+ while running sounds semi-normal? but no one has said anything so maybe that's not right?

 

I think that 12.4V with the car running / engine cold seems a little low.... granted I had a lot of electrical stuff on (I don't think that should make THAT big of a difference?)

It only does it when the car is hot.. like, too hot to touch anything in the engine bay.. I'm thinking something in the ALT is failing when it gets too hot.

 

I suppose next time it is acting up I will try hooking it up to another running vehicle and see how it acts.... I wonder if I will get enough amperage through jumper cables to produce a good spark..? I just can't imagine what else it would be.

[john in KY]

I doubt if the alternator is the cause of this problem. Recall reading somewhere that the electronics in the car will work down to 10 volts. Below that and the ECU goes "offline".

 

As for everything being too hot to touch, sounds perfectly normal to me.

 

Edit: When the car stalled out in the driveway, did the battery still have enough juice to crank the engine? If so then the charging system/battery is working just fine.

 

Edit: If you just want to throw parts at the problem, replace the plug wires, the coil packs and that thing on the firewall.

Edited August 4, 2010 by john in KY

[SuBrat84]

I doubt if the alternator is the cause of this problem. Recall reading somewhere that the electronics in the car will work down to 10 volts. Below that and the ECU goes "offline".

 

As for everything being too hot to touch, sounds perfectly normal to me.

 

Edit: When the car stalled out in the driveway, did the battery still have enough juice to crank the engine? If so then the charging system/battery is working just fine.

 

Edit: If you just want to throw parts at the problem, replace the plug wires, the coil packs and that thing on the firewall.

 

One guy suggested the alternator as the culprit.. 10v will still give it a strong enough spark? Yes, it would still crank but not start. After letting it sit for a while it would start again and act just fine. As far as throwing parts at the problem I have already thrown as much as I can afford: Plugs (NGK at $11 a piece, Supposedly genuine wires, genuine fuel filter, pcv valve, and cleaned pcv hoses. Adjusted knocked sensor.) What thing on the firewall?

Another person suggested the front O2 sensor could be the culprit.. but, it is not throwing O2 codes.

What else could be the culprit?

I Was leaning towards alternator because it is worse with heat and worse with more electrical load.

Let's hear what you have.. I would like a solution rather than just throwing parts at it.. But, I'm at a total loss. How hard is it to remove and clean injectors?

[Fuzpile]

I believe you need do some things which are B4 messing with injectors. You already told us clues and a shorting alternator or being driven nuts by a ground will definatly slow down and sometimes defete proper ignition.

[Gloyale]

One guy suggested the alternator as the culprit.. 10v will still give it a strong enough spark? Yes, it would still crank but not start. After letting it sit for a while it would start again and act just fine.

 

No way this is an alternator issue.

 

 

Ignitor.

 

On the back side of the engien bay....top center.

 

Any one from any 90-99 legacy or Impreza will work.

 

They are ussually in cars at Junkyards even if the engine is not.

 

 

Also, check the wiring for the Cam and Crank sensors.

 

But if you want to throw parts try the ignitor first.

[SuBrat84]

I can't find any issues with the wirings.. I haven't ran any impedance/ground fault tests with them hot though. The "ignitor" is the thing right behind the intake that says "Power TR Unit" on it?? Would I be better off trying to buy one new or just snag one or two from the local u-pull?

[john in KY]

Since there is a U-Pull nearby, grab the ignitor and the coil packs. Have you ever checked for spark when experiencing the no-start condition?

[idosubaru]

i wouldn't buy that new, they don't fail enough IMO to warrant new prices. john has a great question about whether spark exists when it stalls or not.

[SuBrat84]

Since there is a U-Pull nearby, grab the ignitor and the coil packs. Have you ever checked for spark when experiencing the no-start condition?

 

Honestly the thought never crossed my mind. I guess that would be a good idea.. but if there is spark.. there is no real way to gauge its strength.

[john in KY]

Gap an old plug to .080. If it can jump a spark, figure the ign system is good to go.

[SuBrat84]

Thanks.. am I right that part behind the intake is the "ignitor" you guys are talking about?

[davebugs]

It's mounted on a plate basically on the firewall in the center behind the throttle body.

 

Black, held on with 2 screws.

 

You can follow the wireing from the coil pack to it.

[Allpar Mod]

After you either confirm or rule out the ignitor and ground issues, I'd still check the alternator then again. 12.4 volts at idle still sounds a bit low to me even with a load, though the 85 amp models do drop off at idle normally. I did a thread earlier about alternator issues dimming performance, from experience.