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You may have a blown fusible link. Check for that first. After you recharge the battery, first determine whether you have an actual draw on the battery. Unhook the negative cable from the battery and use a multimeter to determine how much current draw you have with the ignition off; anything more than 1/4 amp is suspect. If your battery died in three hours, it would have to be more than a ten amp draw and should be pretty easy to find. If you find no excessive current draw, then start investigating the alternator or battery since one or the other is probably very bad.

Not Subaru related, but fun video from morning of the 10/10 rallycross.

If your wagon is an Outback Impreza version (as opposed to the Outback Legacy), you can fit a 20mm rear swaybar from a 2002 WRX (very cheap since the WRX owner usually throws it away after fitting an expensive aftermarket swaybar). I got mine for $20 and it suits my Impreza L wagon just fine.

Tune up: Just sparkplugs; $10 for the NGKs and $45 for my local mechanic (I'm deathly afraid of cross threading the plugs so I pay someone else to do it). My '97 Impreza L wagon doesn't seem to need anything else other than air and fuel filters which I do myself (I buy OEM parts from Jason in Parts at 1-866-528-5282 and ask for the internet price discount). Brakes: About $90 for pads front and rear; turn rotors $25 each; I do that work myself also. If I remember correctly, the cost for rotors came to $90 for the fronts the one time I needed to replace them. Timing belt: $500 to the mechanic plus parts as needed (last time it was done parts came to another $575--again through Jason). Transmission: I have a manual 5 speed so the cost of quality gear oil came to about $35. Another job I do myself. A bit messy but do-able. Exhaust: 196K on the car and still the exhaust system that came with the car! I'm glad I don't live in NJ anymore!

If you're going south of Las Vegas, you can't (shouldn't) miss Hoover Dam. It is an awesome feat. Plan to spend a little time there if you can. Have a safe trip.

http://www.youtube.com/pdxrallynw#p/u/5/YajXjJEVCJ8 There are more here for you to see.

Anytime Chris. Glad to have you along to navigate.

What he said. Besides with the unstable governments in Africa, I have no desire to go there for any reason. Sorry to rain on your parade. However, if you get this done, I'll cheer you on while you're over there. Best of luck.

Judging from the weather report for Saturday and Sunday, it looks like it's going to be a muddy, fine time!

The program and the price are both pretty awesome. You won't be sorry.

Not funny, fortunate. It could have been much harder to find and more expensive to fix.

'Didn't see your other post until just now.

'Glad you made it home okay.

It's pretty normal for the car to smoke when cold. But keep tabs on coolant level in the overflow tank, just to be sure.

Well, seats from a 2002 WRX fit into my '97 Impreza wagon. Only way to know is to try a test fit.

My success on that that was with Jason in Parts at 1stsubaruparts.com. 1-866-528-5282 (toll free). Have your Vin# ready.

Is the insulation taped up yet?

If you're talking about 1stSubaruparts.com, I never use the website. It inconvenient, doggy slow, and often doesn't home in on the correct part. I still get the same discounted price by calling Jason in Parts at 866-528-5282 and get much quicker, more precise, and better service. Toll free too.

Good move: electrical tape NOW. If you don't have any issues with the alternator in the next month, you might not have to replace it (don't fix what's not broke is my motto). However, take your car to a good reliable shop to check the alternator and battery; not Schuck's or any of the numerous after market parts places, a quality shop that specializes in alternator repair.

That's a great picture. Scary, but great. Glad you fixed it. Looks like you may have dodged a bullet on having it take out the alternator. Keep your fingers crossed.

If the wire portion of the alternator's output cable touched the body of the alternator or engine (electrical ground), it will result in pretty immediate loss of voltage (original symptom you described) and possible damage to the alternator itself. Tape any part of the alternator wiring up with vinyl electrical tape NOW if there's any possibility of the bare wiring touching the metal body of the alternator and/or engine. Hopefully, nothing else was damaged.

Yea, I figured that out when I re-read your post. Sorry, didn't mean to be quite so combative.

Sorry, I have to disagree here. The battery's only purpose in life is to start the engine. Once the engine is started, the alternator supplies ALL the current for the car's normal operation. If the alternator fails to supply the needed current, then the battery takes over again until the battery runs out of charge.

Was either terminal the least bit loose? Reason for my "educated guess" was that you had a momemtary loss of voltage when you turned on the headlights. A poor contact at either battery terminal (or other locations that carry high current), would result in a voltage drop when you called for enough current to turn on the headlights. I'm a firm believer in checking the simple, easy stuff before getting into the difficult causes.

First educated guess: clean and tighten battery terminals.