DirtyMech Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 1985 Subaru DL 1800 2WD EA82 Stationwagon w/o power steering... Where to start...well it all begain when I decided to rewire my car's clock. I took my clock's ACC wire when I was putting in my stereo a year ago, and its been dead ever since. So after learning some things here, I took off the ignition cover on my steering wheel, located the main accessory wire with a multimeter (it was a blue wire next to the white BATT wire), and split it open so I could twist on my clock's wire. After fixing my clock, my CHARGE, BRAKE FLUID, and STOP LAMP lights on the dash all refused to go off after the engine was started. They would dim as engine RPM went up, and get brighter as RPM went down, until the engine died and they stayed on full brightness with the rest of the display. Soon after this, my battery started dying. I took it into a local AutoZone, which tested it and told me it was good. The alternator on the other hand, failed the test at AutoZone. I've never had any problems with my alternator, but now it is apparently dead. Could I have shorted it when messing around under the dash? I hope not. And to top everything off, my internal air fan control switches are refusing to work (perhaps because it gets juice from the alternator?). The fan intensity switch still works, the hot/cold dial still works, and the off button still works, but the flow of air is stuck in constant front vent mode. When I try to send the flow of air towards my feet or use it as a defroster, nothing happens. The defroster, vent, bilev, and heat buttons are all nonresponsive. I can't get my window unfogged anymore, and it is making driving very dangerous. I don't know what is wrong with my Subaru. Somehow, messing around under the dashboard must have caused all this (I pulled on a lot of wires), but at this point it doesn't really matter. I'm going crazy with everything that is failing on my vehicle. For the moment, I'm going to replace my alternator, but I doubt that will solve everything that has gone wrong. Do any of these problems sounds familiar to anyone? Please, I need all the help I can get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin Soldier Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 It's possible to hurt something, but maybe more just coincidental. Sube alternators just sometimes die. Usually when a large amount of stress has been put on them. Now is a good time to a 100amp GM swap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 The idiot lights on the dash glowing and flickering while the engine is running is a symptom of the alternator failing. Pick one up from the junkyard and slap it on. It may have failed as a coincidence. The climate control failure however, is probably not a coincedence. The flapper doors that direct the air are operated by vacuum moters. By pulling on things under the dash, you may have popped off one of the vacuum hoses. Do you hear a gentle hissing noise under the dash while the engine is idleing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beetreesubie Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 heater air well like ol boy said do u here a hissin niose check out an plug it then u mite get heat to the windsheild and to the floor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyMech Posted January 5, 2006 Author Share Posted January 5, 2006 Okay guys, I'm back home from my crazy roadtrip. I replaced my alternator in the middle of the trip, and the engine lights went off as 91loyale suggested they would (Thank You!). My clock and stereo are also now both working without losing power at strange intervals. The tap I made into the main ignition ACC wire seems to be doing the trick. But sadly, my defroster button was not fixed by installing a new alternator. The internal fan continues to be stuck in front vent mode. This isn't a major problem, but it was a major pain getting back down to the Bay. I had to keep a towel in my lap the whole time going down I-5, so that I could wipe the fog off the windshield periodically. No, I did not detect any hissing noise when looking under the dash while the car and fan system was running, although I did find some places in the vent system where air was escaping. Those I covered with duct tape, but there was no change in the problem. Whatever mechanism causes air to stop comming out of the front vents and come out of the defroster vent instead, it is broken. BUT I may have found a possible cause of the failure. On the passenger's side of the dash board I noticed a small black device connected to a bunch of wires hanging down from behind the glove box. Upon further inspection I found that the device was connected to nothing more than two grounds on the body, through a hole in the body wall that leads to the inside of the engine compartment. Since it didn't seem to be connected to anything but a ground, I removed it. It has a sticker on it that says Cool Star. Here is a picture: Does anyone recognize this device, and if so do you know what it is for? It's a 50/50 chance that it's related to my fan switch problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Have you checked your vacuum cannister in the engine compartment? It is located on the pass side, mounted near the back of the shock tower, against the firewall. good luck, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subarian Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Your heater door control is vacuum operated. Nothing electrical you did or can do will change it. The fan speed control is electrical. You have three places to check, two of which were already mentioned in previous posts. On the passenger side of the firewall in the engine compartment, there is a white cansister with a vacuum line on each side. That's your vacuum reservoir. If either of those lines are detached or if either hose is damaged, that's likely your problem. The next easiest thing to check is the heater door. It's operated by vacuum and should not have any detached vacuum lines. The third place is the control switch. To get it off, you'll need to pry out the top and bottom buttons. there are a couple of phillips screws that hold it on. If any of the vacuum lines are detached, your heater door will not operate properly. These switches also sometimes wear out, but not very often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintersubaru Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Don"t forget to look for a pinched vacuum line! had it happen to me when i de emissioned my car vacuum line got pinched under spare tire and my heater controls wouldnt work. If you dont hear any hissing then you could have pnched a line under the dash. Run your engine turn it off then push one of the heater control buutons and see if you hear a swish. If not you have bad vacuum line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zefy Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 here is another thing... if your dash lights are flickering and giving 'feedback' it is also i sign that your distributor is going... not quite sure if this is true, as i've never seen it myself... but its from a reliable source... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyMech Posted January 5, 2006 Author Share Posted January 5, 2006 Ah sweet Jesus....it was a line going from the vacuum reservoir alright. It was the line between the resivoir and the intake manifold. I must have detached it when I was getting a jump due to the dead alternator. Well at least I know where my fan system's vacuum reservoir is now. Learn something everyday... A big thank-you to everyone (especially Subarian). Still, I wonder what that CoolStar device I took out of my car was for. Perhaps the last owner was trying to install an air conditioner or something. Oh well. That's a few less ounces I'll be driving around with. Into the trash it goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fj401968 Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Can anyone here verify or expound further on this? My dash lights give a faint flicker of feedback, faint enough to only be noticed when it is dark. It happens when I do something to change the electrical load. Oddly, it happens when I do something to *reduce* the load (like turn off the fan or turn off the headlights) the dash lights will flicker. I believe this started after I replaced the alternator (so it is likely no distributor related). I now have a freshly rebuilt NAPA alternator (it had a bad voltage regulator) and the voltmeter on the dash shows well above 12 volts so the alternator seems to be working okay. BTW, NAPA wouldn't warranty the alternator even though it had a 2005 sticker on it because their warranty is not owner transferable and it was the previous owner who had purchased the alternator... so I had it rebuilt for $30 at a local shop. This place does good work. I have taken several alternators to him in the past. He has a great reputation. He said that the NAPA alternator wasn't as good of quality as an OEM but better than the Checker Auto Parts alternators he sees. Aside from the faintly flickering lights everything seems fine. The rebuilt alternator has been in there for a couple months and a few thousand miles. My hunch is the voltage regulator on my rebuilt NAPA alternator is still a bit iffy, for whatever reason... because, if I remember correctly, the OEM Subaru alternator I borrowed from a friend while my NAPA one was getting rebuilt didn't cause any of the dash light flicker. Tracy here is another thing... if your dash lights are flickering and giving 'feedback' it is also i sign that your distributor is going... not quite sure if this is true, as i've never seen it myself... but its from a reliable source... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 The lines to the cannister are pretty a commen fault when you fool around in the engine bay... The pic you posted are not coming up. I'm kind of curious about what you are referring to. Maybe some sort of "dealer-add-on" option. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subarian Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 You're quite welcome. The same vacuum reservoir also serves the pushbutton 4wd on cars equipped with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyMech Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 The lines to fault when you fool around in the engine bay... The pic you posted are not coming up. I'm kind of curious about what you are referring to. Maybe some sort of "dealer-add-on" option. John Oops I guess that was the wrong address. Here's the direct one: Can you see the Cool Star device now? Its a small black box, very small. I doubt very much could fit in it. Whatever it is its sealed very well. Maybe I should have cut it open and examined it before throwing it away.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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