misledxcracker Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 i went to work today, car ran great... a few hours later, i ran the radio for 5 minutes or so... then turned it off. an hour later, tried to start car, dead! dead as a doorknob. another hour passes, i think what the hey... try it, it starts! after work, im driving it home and while in traffic, at idle and brake applied, the volt gauge lowered so bad (to like 8v) the radio shut itself off, the lights went BADLY dim... but the car stayed running! i threw it in neutral, revved a tiny bit, it goes back up. stays at around 12v at 1.5k rpm... at the normal 700 (or whatever) it drops gradually. ahhh and the warning lights are semi-lit... you couldnt tell unless you really looked. ok, so i try the "alternator test"... i leave the car running, disconnect the negative battery cable... car dies, and the wiper moved on its own! yes, the wiper wanted to wipe, yet the switch was off. the wiper only does that when i disconnect the negative... i jump the car, runs great at 12v... then WTF disconnect it, try the negative cable again, the wiper does the same thing, and car dies again. im pretty sure its the alternator bad... but why would the wiper come on?!?! is this the subaru gods welcoming me back or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naru Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 i went to work today, car ran great... a few hours later, i ran the radio for 5 minutes or so... then turned it off. an hour later, tried to start car, dead! dead as a doorknob. another hour passes, i think what the hey... try it, it starts! after work, im driving it home and while in traffic, at idle and brake applied, the volt gauge lowered so bad (to like 8v) the radio shut itself off, the lights went BADLY dim... but the car stayed running! i threw it in neutral, revved a tiny bit, it goes back up. stays at around 12v at 1.5k rpm... at the normal 700 (or whatever) it drops gradually. ahhh and the warning lights are semi-lit... you couldnt tell unless you really looked. ok, so i try the "alternator test"... i leave the car running, disconnect the negative battery cable... car dies, and the wiper moved on its own! yes, the wiper wanted to wipe, yet the switch was off. the wiper only does that when i disconnect the negative... i jump the car, runs great at 12v... then WTF disconnect it, try the negative cable again, the wiper does the same thing, and car dies again. im pretty sure its the alternator bad... but why would the wiper come on?!?! is this the subaru gods welcoming me back or something? AC current from the fried alternator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misledxcracker Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 So AC current from a faulty Alt can cause the wipers to go on by themselves?! That just doesnt sound right... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 DO NOT DISCONNECT NEGATIVE CABLE WITH CAR RUNNING My understanding is, this can fry your ECU on the ea-82s..... I know its a poor man's alt test, I have used it myself and I will again, I am sure.. but NOT on the soob. From what I gather, its *about* the only way to fry the ECU on these cars. Someone with a little more clout care to back me up on this? I've gone and opened my mouth REAL wide, and I sure dont wanna go stickin my foot into it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misledxcracker Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 Oh what the hey, ill replace the ECU if i have to... not like its that hard! it DID throw an ECS code at me earlier... like code 88? something like that.. about the only thing im really afraid of is the wiring harness in a car... horrible i'll look up whether that ECU can be fried when disconnecting the cable... and im still in shock why would the wipers come on either way, is the ECU controlling the wipers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 AC voltage. Replace alt. and im still in shock why would the wipers come on either way, is the ECU controlling the wipers? Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. -- Arthur C. Clarke Just replace your alt - I really am not in the mood to explain the ins and outs of AC voltage for the billionth time on here. Search for it if you care. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misledxcracker Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 i did search... no really, i did. maybe i'm just stupid, i'll shut up now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 The battery basically acts as a filter for AC pulses on the charging system. There may be other problems with you electical system. I would have a check done to see if the system is discharging more than it should be while the car is parked. If there is more than 80 milliamps draw then you need to check for a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milemaker13 Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 This may be a dumb suggestion, but it got me once on this car. Have you checked the tension of the alt. belt? I bought a new battery before I realized it was a loose belt. Same basic simptoms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misledxcracker Posted February 1, 2007 Author Share Posted February 1, 2007 its a tad bit loose... im planning on replacing both the V-belts tomorrow along with the alternator. plus a battery possibly... im debating an Optima or a Diehard.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4x4_Welder Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 My car was having a no-start fit a couple weeks back, for the third or fourth time. While playing with the key from on to start, all of a sudden the wipers went. Most japanese vehicles have some strange feedbacks, like blow the fuse for the cigar lighter, and the horn blows really weak, and won't stop (my dad's nissan, when I found out a penny really dose fit in that hole.) Or a dieing alternator making random lights come on and th voltage regulator whine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misledxcracker Posted February 1, 2007 Author Share Posted February 1, 2007 i REALLY hope there's no more electrical problems... i shouldnt have pulled the negative cable while it was running anyways (thats what caused the wiper to do that) i have a multimeter... i was just too lazy to find it, so i did the quick-n-easy test... no fuses blew though... so maybe nothing else is wrong?? all i get is stupid dim warning lights... and the voltage drain.. haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Well, I mean, I wanted to emphasize it, because it seemed appropriate at the time. I wanted to convey the fact that I also do that, but have learned NOT to do so in any case with my soob. If you seem OK after having done so, then you probably are.. the warning lights are often an indicator of bad diodes, and that can be verified by checking for AC output.. check this at the battery terminals with the car running. If I over did it a little bit, my apologies.. but I think I made it clear, at least Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 When my alternator went on vacation on my hatch the wipers came on too. Just replace the thing and then go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 I can't say this for sure but, I suspect that the wipers are being turning on through the wiper delay circuit somehow. It is the only thing I can think of that may allow power to get to the motor when the wiper switch is off and the wipers are parked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misledxcracker Posted February 2, 2007 Author Share Posted February 2, 2007 hey guys, well I installed a new alt and battery... seems fine! just drove it...with heater on, and brake applied... turn the turn signal on, it fluctuates from like 10-12 volts on the gauge, twitching... lights get slightly dim... start driving normally, about 13-14 on the gauge and lights get slightly brighter...doesn't that sound about right? no warning lights anymore... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 The new battery may be slighly low on charge but it does sound like things are good to go. Relpacing the battery also is a good thing to do when changing the alternator. Especially if it is more than 4 years old. Thanks for the update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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