Cougar

Whenever problems like this occur it is wise to check the fuses under the hood and dash first for a problem. Since they both went out at the same time it is a very good possibility that a fuse has blown.

The Sport came to my mind also, along with the Forester.

The trouble might be with the ignition relay or main relay if you have one.

The throttle position sensor may be developing a dead spot.

This feedback doesn't tell us much. What did you do to test things?

As Ihscout54 kind of hints at, this problem may be due to a bad wire connection between the battery and the voltage regulator. I think you will find the problem you are having there. You need to make sure that full battery power is getting to the regulator. A bad connection heats up and the resistance can increase causing a bigger voltage drop.

I assume you were getting the 35 volts when you first set the meter probes across the battery and I could understand that. It does sound like the alternator is ok to me also since you didn't continue to see the voltage. Hopefully the code will stay away.

There isn't any kind of temperature kill switch. You cannot just look at wiring and say it is good. You need to verify things are ok using a voltmeter. I suspect that the wiring between the battery and the voltage regulator has a problem.

The pump shouldn't be cycling like you say unless the ECU is in the test mode. There is a black set of jumpers besides the green ones also used for testing. Make sure they aren't connected. Make sure fuse #5 is ok and getting voltage. If the horn works then it should be ok.

You stated that you checked the fuses and they were ok but how about the fusible links, did you check them? I have to wonder if one of them is getting hot due to a bad connection and causing this trouble. I think you are correct about finding out what is causing the warning lights to turn on and leading you to the real trouble. Unfortunately I have no data that covers the wiring that old.

Check the fuses and fusible links to make sure they are ok. Then check to see if the fuel pump is working. You could spray some starter fluid into the intake to see if that makes the engine fire up. Check the fuel filter also as it may be clogged up.

Hopefully the belt for that side didn't break.

Have you checked for AC voltage across the battery while the engine is running, yet?

Since you don't need to purchase a new car right away then I suggest you just wait a while and see what happens. Usually the longer you can wait for a good deal to come along, the better the bargain gets. Don't be surprised if the deals get even better than the one you missed. The cash back offer will appear again at some point and perhaps even with lower financing costs also. When the right incentive comes along be ready to make the deal. Time is on your side. You can even save more while you wait to have more cash ready when the right deal comes along. When I purchase a new car I like to get all the extra options since I tend to keep vehicles for a long time (over 10 years). If the dealer doesn't have what I want in stock I may order it. This can add more to the final cost since it may not qualify for a in stock sell off sale but I get what I want and will tend to be happy with it longer and not want to get something else.

I assume the choke is electric and so it could cause a shorting problem. A DMM is short for digital multimeter.

When trouble codes appear for the CAS usually the plugs have no spark getting to them. Though you say spark is ok. Try spraying some starter fluid into the intake and see if the engine will fire using that.

It sounds like you are having trouble getting power to the main panel under the hood. If so you need to check the wiring between the battery and the panel. Use a test light probe to make sure power is getting to where it should be when the key is turned to ON.

You're welcome for the help. I suspect that the trouble may have been at the SMJ connector(super major junction, as Subaru likes to call them). Hard to say now that it is working. You may have been picking up some extra noise on the return wire due to a slightly bad connection. Check the power for any AC ripple with the engine reving. The return wire isn't really chassis ground since it is so high above the DC reference ground.

Welcome to the forum. The trouble you are having may be due to a bad crank angle sensor. It is under the plate in the distributor. Make sure it has power getting to it.

Are you sure you got the correct wire back in place for the oil pressure light? The clicking relays may be due to the diagnostic connectors being tied together. They should only be tied together when troubleshooting a problem or checking things.

After reading through the posts on this problem it does sound like the return side of the sensor is too high for some reason and the return side is isolated from true chassis ground. Since you have logically replaced both of the suspected components and still have the same problem this may mean something like the power source isn't right. Have you checked to see if the alternator is putting out any AC voltage across the battery while the engine is running? There should be less than .1 volt of AC across the battery if the alternator is ok. That might account for the voltage difference you are seeing. If that is ok then check the resistance between the return wire and the positive battery cable. Disconnect the positive battery connection and the connection to the ECU before measuring it. There should be no connection between the two points, an open circuit. If there is some resistance seen then you need to clear the unwanted connection to that return wire.

It does sound like the alternator isn't working at all. Charge the battery up using a battery charger. Then start the car and check the voltage on the wires going to the alternator. They all should be close to the battery voltage. Make sure the charge warning light turns on when you turn the key from Off to ON. If that light doesn't work the alternator will not get any exciter voltage needed to start the charging process. Edit: I see you stated the warning light was on. Replace the alternator, it is bad.

The warning lights are tied to the alternator circuit. You may need to replace the alternator. But the wiring between the alternator and the regulator needs to be checked for a problem before that is done.

If we do some testing over the phone I will follow up here with the results so everyone can see what happened.

Along with checking the fusible link make sure power is getting to the main power under the hood when the trouble happens again.