Bucky may be back on the Road sooner then thought

[Bucky92]

I am completely over my head right now with the XT6..Its back to not charging ( I just replaced the serpentine belt and had the Alt rebuilt along with new battery and terminals,and the alt plug) put new rims and tires on it..noticed the one front wheels camber was off...found out that you can't adjust the camber so upon further investigation...I have a bent lower control arm:banana: (note the sarcasim) and found the water leak ...the rear window is loose...leaks like crazy around it ( found this out at the car wash since I was it every 2-3 days to keep the salt from doing any further damage)

All and all I have alittle over $1000 tied into it now and I cant do anymore work on it myself ..I lack the confidence to get into doing the control arm ..plus it needs a new clutch..Looks like I am going to attempt to put a new booster and master into bucky and hope that gives me enough brakes for now...the wheel bearing will have to wait...If I screw this up I am totally screwed...but since everyone local thinks I am super mechanic or something..I can't get a hand anymore doing anything with my cars.

 

Not sure what I am going to do right now.

 

end of rant

[heartless]

Connie, sorry to hear of the problems - seems like when it rains, it pours doesnt it? Sure wish we were closer, I would be there to lend a hand in a heartbeat!

 

Hang in there, it does get better.

[idosubaru]

that's cracked up girl. those rear windows are a PITA to remove, i mean a real pain. i would do whatever you can to try and seal that up without needing to remove the window.

 

the lower control arms aren't that bad. the only tough part about the whole deal is rust. lack of rust would be a nice score for you right now.

[joostvdw]

I removed my lower control arm just recently on my XT because I had to replace a ball joint, and to be honest, it was a breeze, you will need to buy 1 special tool, a balljoint remover, which will cost you roughly $20, it looks like a big pitch fork :-p but it works like a charm. It's only 4 bolts (subframe, 2 from the leading rod, front stabi) and the balljoint, even with home mechanic tools it can be done laying on your back.

 

you do want to jack it up and remove the wheel though, I didn't and I can't say that was very smart

[daeron]

it looks like a big pitch fork :-p

 

 

My dad calls them "pickle forks" and they make life O so much easier. a bent control arms is NOTHING to replace, if you have the spare part. the window, yah, have fun with that.. sorry, but I am no help there.

 

Not charging... do you have an indication while running that its not charging? IE CHARGE light on, warning light, horrible idle, or something that would come and go as your issue comes and goes??

 

I ask because if the XT6 is anything like the ea82s, all the power used in the car is fed through an alternator charging wire into the fusible link block. Try wiggling the wires between the alt and the fusible link block while running to see if you find a bad spot.

 

MY GL10 once in a while does this trick where I turn the key to on, just like normal, then click to start and I get total failure, as if my battery had been disconnected. I just pop the hood and wiggle the 3rd fusible link back from the front of the car and the fan spins up, my radar detector turns back on, and I sit down and crank her right up.

 

Search for alternator swap threads for older cars (your XT6 already has the 90 amp alt, so i dont think anyone has ever bothered upgrading that one) and find one that discusses replacing the charging wire.. its one of the wires on the plug you had to replace, so thats why it is my first thought. It *really* sounds like thats about the only place left for a problem, and if I am right all you need is inexpensive wire an maybe an hour of work to fix it... diagnostic time, might be longer :-p

[Bucky92]

My one friend is supposed to stop over with a meter later today or tomorrow ( we will see..) He thinks its the Cyber pump draining everything...but who knows..BUT..This is the last straw..if it can't be fixed this weekend it is going....I dont have the time/money/nerves/patience..for this anymore...I can't afford $80+ an hour labor to take these POS cars to the garages here..and I have entirely too much money tied into this XT6 right now for it to be causeing me this many issues..I could have dumped that money into Bucky and he would be about done with for the most part

[moosens]

My one friend

 

aww come on Connie,you've got more than one friend.

 

Whatever you think you need please ask me and I'll do my best to help.

 

For Bucky:

Between your heroe (former?)Andrew and Charlie they have plenty accessible parts,and I'll be happy to toss you whatever I have that you need that I can actually get my hands on.You know the deal.

 

At least two cars at Charlie's are mine to still pick from.He's headed past your way soon to see a guy in Peekskill so he can probably meet you down by I-84 if you're willing,and things work out timewise.

 

Good luck,sweety.

 

Neither Charlie nor I have XT parts.

[Bucky92]

aww come on Connie,you've got more than one friend.

 

Whatever you think you need please ask me and I'll do my best to help.

 

 

(quote]

I really am not too worried about parts..I need hands on help...wrench turning help..dont forget...Tommy is even more clueless then me when it comes to cars and his theory is...it still runs ..drive it.( of course he has a new(er) truck that he just drops off at the dealer and gets a loaner when there is something wrong and puts the bill on his credit card)

And just to prove my point...my friend who said they were coming out...never did ..nor called to let me know that they werent coming. Maybe I will be lucky and during tomorrows "wintery mix" Bucky will loose whatever brakes are left..go skidding off the road with his terrible tires causing the bad axle to break as the rear wheel falls off.

[joostvdw]

that's not the way to think, I know it may look bad now, you just have to hang in there for a bit, you've had good times, they'll come back

 

if I weren't half the world away I would come help you, but I don't think either of us can afford the ticket now

[Gloyale]

Okay, some one tell me, What the @#$% is a Cyber pump?

[Caboobaroo]

Okay, some one tell me, What the @#$% is a Cyber pump?

 

The XT6s didn't have a mechanically driven powersteering pump. They have an electric powered power steering pump up on the firewall and it uses a special Subaru only powersteering fluid which is like liquid gold or so they say. Thats what the cyber pump is...

[daeron]

okay, I cannot give you more details about the alternator charging wire, but My money is on either that, or a slow battery drain like your mechanic friend suggests.

 

If the battery has a slow drain, there is a two step process to verify that. You DO need a multimeter for this test, but I know they are on sale at harbor freight tools this week for like six bucks.

 

First off, with the ignition off, check the battery voltage, leave the leads on the battery cables, leave the multimeter on, and walk away for like, an hour. Come back and see if the voltage is lower than it was. If the voltage has dropped with the key off, then voila!! you have a battery drain.

 

Second, to verify that the drain is in fact in the vehicle's wiring, Disconnect the battery, get a couple of clothespins or something, and once more, check to make sure the battery is holding voltage on its own. Check voltage, come back in an hour or two, and check the voltage again. If the battery is still losing voltage, not connected to the car, then guess what? defective battery!

 

Now, IF the battery is NOT losing volts connected to the car with the key off, then the problem is NOT that the battery is DRAINING, but rather than the battery is not being charged. Try taking the alternator in and testing it (I know, its new, but they aren't always good) and then if the alt checks out, and the battery checks out, and there is no drain, then the wire i mentioned earlier is the culprit.

 

All it takes is one spot of corrosion somewhere, and you know what that plug looked like!!! there is NOTHING in a wire to keep rust and nastiness like that from moving into the wire, from the nasty old plug. Picture a copper pipe on your hot water heater.. if the coupling that connects the pipe to your water heater rusts apart, do you REALLY think that the pipe its connected to is all that clean???

 

Now, if you ARE experiencing a drain, then come back and let us know. Wrenchwork is EASY, its figuring out the causes of problems like this that is hard, and thats what we are here for.

 

Come on, you are a female motivated to work on your own car.. you KNOW you have the intellectual support of damn near this entire forum and Intellectual support is all that is needed to deal with electrical problems. Well, intellectual support, patience, and beer........