elliusoopius Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 (edited) A couple days ago I noticed my brake and battery lights were coming on at about 2000 rpms, and the brightness corresponded with the increase in rpms. I read that I was probably the alternator, and tested with a voltmeter and saw all the values coming out low, I drove it one more time and the lights all starting dimming, the abs light came on and the speedometer and tachometer started bouncing then went off. I made it home and parked it, and it wouldn't start after that. I put the battery on the charger because it was reading a little low, about 10v. then I went to town and bought a new alternator, installed it and it started right up and drove great for about 30 miles before the battery light and brake light came back on. this time instead of corresponding with the rpms, they are just kind of randomly flickering on and off. I noticed my ground strap on the battery was partially broken, but it still seems to be connecting alright, so I decided to see if wiggling it a little affected the lights, and Iit didn't seem to, but while I was doing this, I noticed that if I step on the gas with the hand brake off, the headlights will come on when the switch is in the off position. the brightness of the headlights corresponds to the rpms. If the hand brake is on, they don't come on. Also, when i give it enough gas for the lights to light up, the brake and battery lights go off, then when I let up on the gas the headlights go off and the brake and battery lights come back on. Sometimes if I keep my foot on the gas for awhile, the headlights will go out by themselves and the battery and brake lights will come back on. but if I keep my foot off the gas the headlights don't come on, and if I turn the headlight switch on the brightness of the lights does not change according to the rpms. I recently had a lot of work done at the dealer, including having a headlight replaced, but I can't afford to take it back to them unless it is something they messed up on and will be willing to fix for free. My plan was to replace the connector on the ground strap and see if it fixed the brake/battery light thing, then think about the battery or the possibility that I bought a faulty alternator, but now that I noticed the headlight coming on I an wondering if my trouble could be due to the dealership messing up wiring the new headlight. Can a bad ground somehow cause the headlights to come on when they are switched off under the conditions I described? I have a tendency to always drive around with the headlights on, so it might have been doing that before I bought the new alternator, and I wouldn't have noticed. Edit: Forgot to mention, my car is a 2001 legacy outback L manual transmission. Edited September 22, 2015 by elliusoopius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 sounds like the voltage may be marginal to operate the DRL module. how old is the battery? was it tested too? ( a Midtronics unit or an old load box is better than just a voltmeter) get that ground cable fixed, it may look 'connected', but it may be dropping voltage at high demand levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 bad battery posts/terminals/connectors. loose or dirty. alternator - have it tested - auto parts store national chains test them for free - on and off the car. autozone, advance, probably napa... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 sounds like a bad alternator, like gary said take it in to any local auto parts store and they should happily test your charging system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 he replaced the alt. but, we all know rebuilt alts have a very poor reputation. his new alt needs testing, as does the battery - and the ground strap and other cables/connection need checking. probably good idea to take a look at the crank pulley in case it is slipping. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliusoopius Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 So I took it to oreilly's which is where I got the alternator, and had them test the battery and the alternator. I put the battery on my house charger the night before to let it charge to make sure I got there. When he tested it he said the battery was weak but not bad, and the alternator was not working at all. So I put on a new one in their parking lot and also replaced the ground connector. It seems to be working fine now, and when before the headlights would come on with the accelerator, now they just are on. I thought they were supposed to turn off when the switch is off, it is the actual headlights not just the yellow parking lights. Is this normal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Headlights on when car is on is normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 You should be able to turn your lights off with your switch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 One time I had crazy instrument panel readings, only to find out that one of the battery cells was bad. Car would start and run, but not well. Have each battery cell tested is my recommendation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 you are seeing the DRLs. THey should get brighter when the headlights are turned on, and they should go off when you set the parking brake. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstevens76 Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 (edited) Someone beat me to it. lol Edited September 23, 2015 by lstevens76 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliusoopius Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 One more thing, When I put the first new alternator on, I noticed an obnoxious whining sound which I thought at first was the alternator, but then it seemed to be coming from the power steering. It got worse when the alt got worse, and when I turned the wheel it would get loud. Also sometimes I could feel a vibration when turning. When I put the next alt on, it improved, but I can still hear it a little, but it doesn't get loud when turning, or vibrate now. I was thinking maybe it was just from the battery being low on charge, but what do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 (edited) very common, almost always air in the system. almost always a bad o-ring on the suction hose adapter on top of the PS pump - cheap/easy fix. do a search - you may find pictures, even a video at youtube. I had to fix both my soobs for that. Edited September 23, 2015 by 1 Lucky Texan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 You have tweaked the suction inlet on the power steering pump, most likely from the belt shroud putting tension on it. Suck the fluid out of the resevoir, fill with new, replace the o-ring on the inlet and reinstall the belt shroud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliusoopius Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 Do I have to replace the fluid to get the air out when changing the o ring? I ask because when the car was in the shop they did the power steering fluid about 3 weeks ago, So it sucks to have to re do a job that I just payed a lot more for someone else to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logic23 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 get a used subaru alternator at a JY. ANY electrical stuff from the box parts stores is JUNK. If you can find a local rebuilder use them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logic23 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 same with your PS pump... used subaru is waaaaay better than the curent rebuilds and 1/8 the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 (edited) it's a little ATF fluid. cover the belt and surround area with a rag or 2, lift the adapter/hose up so it doesn't spill much, replace o-ring(s) , reassemble, top-off fluid wit Valvoline MaxLife dex/merc or similar. clean the area. our cars will clear the air out very quickly, 2-3 trips to full lock, L to R. Just montor after that. if you still have bubbles - could be a cracked hose or fluid tank. PS pumps do fail, but ti isn't common. your mechanic could probably do this for you for - what? - $25 to $40 dollars. Edited September 25, 2015 by 1 Lucky Texan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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