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Showing results for tags 'warning lights'.
Found 5 results
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I’m noticing that after I drive on a highway for a while then come to a stop this interesting light patter comes on. The “brake” and “at oil temp” light are flashing. The the middlE light is solid. what is interesting is that the car seems to be fine otherwise. After I turn it off for a while they won’t come back on. And this doesn’t happen every time I drive it. anyone had this happen? My best guess is that a sensor somewhere may be bad.
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1996 Legacy L. After putting my car back together following a vexing electrical problem, I was happily driving the car around for 2 days with no issue. I still had a mess of wiring hanging out under the dash since I wanted to make sure the electrical problems were resolved before reassembling the lower dash panels. I finally secured the lower dash panels and wiring, did a quick restart test and then went to bed. This morning I drove the car for 20 minutes with all lights on, radio, phone charger when I noticed the Check Engine light came on. The car bucked a couple of times, then popped out an ABS light. I recognized this combination - I have seen before on failed alternators. I turned off all unnecessary electrics and tried to stay off the brakes (brake lights) to get the car as close to my work as possible. I noticed the fuel gauge was bottomed out and was puzzled why I could not see a battery light in the midst of this. I drove another 10 minutes in this state of tension knowing I was exclusively on battery power in Bay Area morning commute traffic. I managed to get the car into my work parking lot and was trying to back into my space when the car finally completely died. The additional 55w reverse lights sucked out the last of the battery charge. I ended up pushing the car into my spot for the last 10 feet. Throughout the work day, I replayed what happened the night before and concluded that I had not plugged in the left side of the instrument panel's connector. The battery warning light is on that circuit. Without that light on the charge circuit, the alternator will not charge the battery properly. Fortunately some wise folks on this forum have already discussed this at length....http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/143889-alternator-not-charging-dash-light-was-to-blame-seriously/ ! When I got off work, I quickly opened up the instrument panel and plugged the connector back in *dur*, and got a jump from a co-worker. The car started right up and drove home with no issues other than a Check Engine light that was an artifact of the power failure when the P0500 Vehicle Speed Sensor. This was reset with my OBD reader and we are back in business. Public Service Announcement - make sure the battery light works and your connectors are installed properly! -
Hello all - 1996 Legacy L sedan with 218,000 miles and an IN-CAR head gasket job completed last month (oh my back! ). Car has been running through 2 tanks of gas with no problems. During mile 38 on 40 mile freeway drive at 2:30am, the electrical system on the car suddenly shut down and I coasted the car to a stop on the road shoulder. Hazard blinkers were functional, along with interior lights and power locks. High beams would turn on brightly, but since the headlights/parking lights are tied to the ignition, these were not operable. I could only conduct a few quick checks roadside: - bang on fuel pump - directly since I took the access plate in the trunk off. Done this routine before on several cars . - check tight battery connections - recently cleaned during head gasket replacement last month - this was fine. - timing belt intact - all fuses in engine bay and under dash continuity checked ok - starter cranked the engine, but the engine simply would not start Then the car got towed home the last 2 miles of my intended drive. Fortunately a flatbed tow truck showed up in 10 min via AAA and I was home only 30min after the mess. - I had to help the tow truck driver get into the shifter plate to manually override the shifter interlock so he could put the car in neutral. With the key-On position, the solenoid for the shifter interlock would not move......no elec power going to it. I have since conducted these tests: - battery voltage in good standing is 12.65V - alternator removed, tested and passed - ohmed out coil pack - pass. No burn throughs. - grounds confirmed good - removed and cleaned again anyway - checked all fuses and the main fusible link with ohm-meter - none blown - pulled and checked all engine connector harnesses (bell housing, MAF, igniter, ECM under the passenger floor). - checked continuity on all positions of the ignition switch - pass. Getting 12V to the backside of the switch by probing the solder points. - pulled and cleaned crank and cam position sensors - not much interesting there. Here's the fun part : - none of the warning lights on the dash will light in the Key-On position - this is what I find very disturbing. . - Starter/solenoid happily cranks the engine, but won't start. I have experienced bad start contacts before - this isn't the what is going on here) - cannot read ANY CEL codes because there is no power to the ECU when Key-On - fuel pump will not turn (can't hear a click from the pump relay anyway) - shifter interlock still not operable because of no power going to its solenoid - tied to ignition key-on. I could start changing out crank/cam position sensors, coolant temp sensor, MAF, etc.....but none of these single point items can easily explain why the entire power circuit is not operating. Even if the ECU died, I should still get direct power up to it. In looking at the wiring diagrams, I am thinking the ignition relay (the brown, really-hard-to-reach-one under the dash) might have conked out. This is the only way I can think of that I can still crank the starter, but hot have any electrical controls that drive the fuel pump, the warning lights, and the ECU. I'm going to attempt to get at the ignition relay today to pull and test it - that will take me all morning and lots of scrapes on arms. Any other suggestions are most welcome as I try to figure this out.
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Different ways you might notice you have a failing/failed alternator 1st case of alternator failure: My '93 Legacy L Wagon was having trouble keeping a charge in the 5-year old battery. I took the car to a national chain parts store for a battery test. It showed "excessive ripple" but the guy who did the test did not know how strongly that condition suggests an alternator problem, and I didn't know anything about excessive ripple either. I figured it was time to replace the battery anyway. After installing the new battery I took a 70 mile round trip with the AC & headlights on. After returning home and re-starting the car and driving a few blocks, it suddenly lost all electrics - no spark, accesories, etc. I got a jump start and the car limped the 4 blocks home with all accessories turned off, just running the spark plugs with the last juice left in the battery. I replaced the original 18-year-old alternator and all was well. I believe the new remanufactured alternator I purchased was a Beck/Arnley. Checking around the forums I learned that excessive ripple might be a sign of a failing alternator. There are several diodes in the alternator, and if 1 fails, the alternator still charges the battery, but has lost a third of it's charging ability. Successive diode failure prevents the alternator from keeping even a partial charge in the battery. Does that sound correct? Anyway, I had no warning from dash lights in that failure, just low charge to the battery. 2nd case of alternator failure: Fast forward 18 months, same car. Driving across town I heard the radio cutting on and off, engine stumbling, and aggravated by use of turn signals. I was near an auto shop and my car limped into their parking lot where it stalled, and would not turn over. Right away they suspected the alternator. I didn't think this was an automatic diagnosis because the alternator was only 18 months old. I was thinking it must be some serious problem, but they were right, it was the alternator. Unfortunately, the alternator I had a friend install was from a reputable locally owned auto parts store, but the warranty was only 1 year for walk-in trade vs. longer for their commercial customers (auto repair shops.) The mechanic where my car stalled called around to find an alternator in stock. The only place was OReilly. They delivered one within the hour and I was on the road again. 3rd case of alternator failure: About 3 weeks after having the OReilly re-manufactured alternator installed, I saw the battery and brake lights coming on at the same time. This would happen intermittently over a period of a couple of days before I searched the web and learned this is possibly symptomatic of a bad rectifier in the alternator. I took the car to the same shop on a Friday afternoon, replacement alternator to be installed Monday. The owner even gave me his card with his cell number, saying if the car broke down over the weekend I should call him because the warranty would cover towing to his shop. I used my charger to keep the battery charged until my shop appointment. The alternator was still under OReilly's full warranty covering parts and labor. I wasn't sure I even wanted another re-manufactured alternator after all this, so I stopped at the Subaru dealer to see about the alternator recall I read about. The parts man was not aware of the recall, but further reading tells me the recall did not apply to '93 models, so maybe that's why nothing showed up for recalls. I asked what an OEM new alternator would cost, and I believe the price he quoted me was over $400. Well I thought I was out of the woods once the 3rd aftermarket alternator was installed, but a few miles after the installation, I lost power steering, and again the battery warning light came on. I drove right back to the shop before even popping the hood. When I got there and looked inside, the belt tensioner bolt had snapped off. They fixed that, but later, when I looked at how the tensioning system works, I suspect they had tensioned the belt with the long tensioner bolt and then failed to clamp down the tensioner, so all of the force was on the long threaded belt tensioner bolt. I'm at the point where I feel like I should just carry a a spare alternator in the car to be ready for the next failure. I hope this helps anyone who is having any of these alternator symptoms in their Subarus, and this is just my personal experience - I'm by no means a mechanic or car enthusiast, just an average owner who loves my Subaru, so check with someone knowledgeable before you go by what I've suggested. -
Cranks fine but no start. Checked all the hoses and everything is connected. Assuming electrical issue since the pre-start warning lights are on all the time even without the key in. I know it's something simple but I'm having a brain fart as to why it won't turn over.
