TheBush Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 Okay here is the 411. CAR SPECS 1991 Subaru Loyale Push Button 4WD 5 Speed Manual Transmission 675 CCA Battery Battery is less then 1 week old Alternator is less then 6 months old PROBLEM Lights Flicker (Go Dim, Get Bright Again, etc) Dome Light does this Headlights do this Dash Lights do this Parking Lights do this See, I thought it might be the fact that I have a 500 watt amp running off my battery. But, even when the face of my CD player DECK isn't in, it still does it. It can't be that the car is idling too low, because this does it right when the car is on, and continues to do it like when im driving, etc. Any suggestions? It's really annoying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misledxcracker Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 Sure the amp's not cutting on even when the deck is off? Is the alternator belt loose? Alternator and battery checked? Maybe the grounds need to be cleaned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBush Posted May 13, 2007 Author Share Posted May 13, 2007 Im pretty sure its not the amp, because the remote wire is plugged in, and thats suppose to turn off amp when the cars not on, and the amp's LED light isnt on when the cars off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misledxcracker Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 Did you replace the terminals? Do they stay on tight, are they looking crappy? Are the battery cables loose on either end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBush Posted May 13, 2007 Author Share Posted May 13, 2007 Battery cables are kinda old. Real old. I think they are the originals...I asked my dad and he said that shouldn't affect it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misledxcracker Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 Cheap insurance nonetheless, I'd replace them anyway... Hmmm... I'm baffled. Hopefully someone else can help you on this one... Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 First clean the battery connections with a battery brush, even if they look ok. Then check the fusible link connections in the small box mounted on the coolant reservoir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 why was the battery replaced? went bad? alternators and batteries often fail within short period of time of each other. have the alt checked, many places do that for free. battery connections are the first thing to check. they have to be clean and they have to be tight. if you can turn them by hand then they aren't tight enough. how does the plug at the alternator look, they're usually crap by now. check your fusible links, they can be weak enough to cause problems but still have connectivity. remove and replace checking for brittleness along each one. there's only one that would be the culprit here, but i'm not sure which one, so check them all. i think it's the first one or two from the front of the car...but there's only like 4 so check them all. if you're still having issues, see if the crank pulley is slipping. it has a thin rubber ring inside of it that can separate causing the outer part of the pulley to not rotate as fast as the inner...creating the exact problems you're having. draw a line across the face of it and run the engine. if the line becomes broken, your pulley is bad. also check the wiring above the pedal assembly as a very last resort, the harness plugs there can sometimes corrode and short out...causing similar issues. common XT issue actually, not sure about other EA82 variants though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 heh, been gone for a few days so this is getting a LITTLE bit old.. but I will bump it anyhow. Replace your Battery cables. The stamped copper terminals are CRAP after 20+ years.. My original positive battery cable is now being used as an auxiliary grounding strap, but my original negative cable was totally shot..AND the positive terminal was shot as well. Replaced both and I haven't had an electrical issue since. It never hurts to add additional grounding.. the one little 10 gage wire going from the negative terminal to the chassis REALLY is inadequate; ideally you should have a good cable going between: -battery terminal and chassis, -chassis and engine, -battery terminal and engine (duh, original negative battery cable location) -chassis and intake manifold. (JUST to make sure that all those FI components get AMPLE grounding. this one is the most optional.) As long as one of those is "battery cable" sized (4 gage or so) the other can be smaller, more like 8-12 gage... but the bigger the better. Also, you might want to look into replacing the alternator charging wire; this is the large wire with the eyehole terminal that connects to the charging stud on the back of your alt... and then goes into the fusible link block. If all that fails, go to the junkyard and pick up a 90 amp alternator out of an XT6 (if you are lucky) or a late 80s Nissan Maxima. You WILL need to find a way to get a V-belt pulley installed that will line up with your other pulleys, and with my maxima alternator I found that I could not slip the belt on without undoing the top pivot bolt of the alt... once the belt was slipped on, it was easy to thread the bolts and then tension up the belt; but with both bolts installed I couldn't slip the loose belt over the pulley. An auto electrical shop should be able to help you in finding and installing the right pulley/spacer combination to get you in business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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