xenongod Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Okay...I have a '81 GL 4WD Wagon...mechanically brand new...click on "WWW" below for the long story. The short story...brand new alternator...battery...voltage regulator...all fuses are good. This is what happened prior to....life-time warrantied alternator was a year old...Autozone said it was bad...so they exchanged it for a new one...battery was a week old by then...now...hrmmm. As I was taking out the "bad" alternator I neglected to disconnect the positive battery cable and saw sparks when I was taking out the old alternator...and then disconnected the battery and continued my work. After installation of new alernator...the wagon would run for about 15 seconds or so then die. That's what is doing now after replacing the coil and voltage regulator. Somehow...someway...when the sparks came shooting out of the old alternator...something went drastically awry...big time...and I am dumbfounded. Please...somebody else out there in Subaru Land has surely had the same thing happen and knows of a remedy. My instinct now is to go for the fuel pump....and on that note....Is there a relay for fuel?....eh? Diamond sounds sweet running...but only for 15 seconds or so.....sob...come on...somebody....please reply. Damn...forgot to mention...the reason why I went back to Autozone was that my voltmeter was moving erratically up and down...and then would dive for 9 volts and less...then the car would die...so...that's what started all of this...then I bought a new battery and it ran for the day and I went to Autozone when the voltage dropped below 10 volts...there ya go...please help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harpua Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Sounds too me like you ended up with the wrong alternator. I had this exact same problem with my 1980 wagon. I ended up wireing my fuel pump direct to the battery to get it to stay running for more than a few seconds before i figured out that i had the wrong alternator on the motor. the difference between alternators is that there is one that is internally regulated, and one that is not. If your car has an external voltage regulator, and you put in an internally regulated alternator then you get less than desireable results. Try to figure out if your car is externally regulated, and find out if that alternator is internally regulated. That is where i am putting my money....hope it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xenongod Posted January 11, 2004 Author Share Posted January 11, 2004 The new altenator is externally volatage regulated...and I just replaced the VR anyhow...so...the mystery continues. I had my wife start the wagon up while I looked down the carb and witnessed the fuel/air being mixed...and it looks like to me that for some reason it is shutting itself off. Like I mentioned before..this new symptom did not occur until I reinstalled the new alternator...and in the process of taking out the old one....I saw sparks...something somewhere did not like my neglect. Does anyone know of a relay for fuel or carb control that may have taken a dump? Anyhoo....keep up the good ideas...otherwise...I'm gonna tow the wagon to S-Wings and have them take a gander. Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Lack of fuel doesn't sound like an alternator problem to me. Altho I'm not familiar with the older cars, but I'd start with the easy and obvious--when is the last time you've replaced fuel filters? Including the one at the fuel pump (if it's like my son's '82 Brat, that's the one that most people forget about). I know the problem just started when you shorted out the terminal, but stranger co-incidences have happened before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harpua Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Is your fuel pump in the engine compartment on the drivers side? If it is, try wiring it up direct and see if it runs for more than 15 seconds....maybe your voltage regulator fried when you saw sparks.....it may need replacing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubaruJunkie Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 did you replace the VR before or after you sparked the alternator? I did the same thing on my '84 Wagon with an internally regulated Alternator... and it blew the VR almost instantly. -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Check the voltage output at the Alt, and then check it at the battery. If its 12v +, and less at the battery, then the VR is toast. If its less than 12v from the Alt, then its toast. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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