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Background: I bought my 99 outback about 1 to 2 weeks ago (5 speed if that matters). The car has been doing fine, and the car had a ton of work done to it before I bought it…. Including the alternator (reman I assume)
Anyways I was on my way to the grocery store (car started up fine) The radio mysteriously stopped working, well I tried to wire in a auxiliary input to play music from my phone a week ago, but the solder I was using was walmart special and wouldn’t stick to anything so I got frustrated and put it all back together. I thought that maybe I short circuited the radio and it finally died. Then the tachometer stopped working, then the ABS light came on, then the speedometer stopped working, then the dash lights got real dim, and the windshield wiper motors were slowing down (all of this happened within a minute). I had A LOT of accessories going: Blower motor, low beams, radio, wipers, heated back glass. I then made the stupidest decision I made all week (I make many) I turned it off at a red light. I figured that maybe if I just turned it back on then it might work again, but no it did not, not at all…. It wouldn’t even crank. I called my dad and he came down to help, we jumped it to his truck and it fired right up, not 30 seconds later the tach went dead, the relays were clicking so fast it sounded like something was boiling, the lights flicked on and everything worked for half a second, but the car lacked engine power and eventually died again. As I am writing this I realize it has to be the alternator, but I want a professional opinion. Thoughts?
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Does the car last any longer before it dies if you turn off all the gadgets, defroster, headlights, etc?
How old is the battery?
Are the connections at the battery terminals loose or corroded? Any burnt looking wires?
Measure the voltage at the battery with the car off and also with the engine running and report back what you find. See if there is any change in the voltage when you rev the engine up to 2000 rpm or so.
Normally the alternator warning light would illuminate if the charging system wasn’t working, but sometimes a weak alternator can keep the light off while not maintaining proper voltage. Check that the warning light itself works by turning the key to run position without starting the engine.Well its too late for any of that, we left the car right where it died, outside of a friends shop. I took off the battery, and Ive brought it home to charge it. Im going to have autozone test the alt and get a new one if needed. Ill measure the voltage with my multimeter before I charge it.
That sounds about right for unable to crank, especially if the battery isn’t in good shape.
Any idea on how old it is?[quote=”MetaphysicalEngineer” post=118556]That sounds about right for unable to crank, especially if the battery isn’t in good shape.
Any idea on how old it is?[/quote]
Brand new
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