Alternator given up?

[petterekman]

Hi there! Quite new to this board and to the world of Subarus, but I really need some expert guidance here...

About 4 months ago, I bought myself a -92 Subaru Legacy Turbo. Great car, and I was very pleased with it.

Well, today I got my drivers license back after the police having it for nearly 3 months. (Long story short, they suspected me of something I was today freed in court from).
I was happy that I had my license, and planned to go out driving all night long!

After driving no more than about 10 km, I slowed down when coming to an intersection, I then noticed that the speedo wasn't slowing down in a steady manner, it was sort of "jumping" down in steps of about 15 km/h. I thought that the wire had frozen and was breaking. Kept driving, and after about 1 km more, the speedo died, and the "Anti Lock Brakes" light came on. I realised that the speedo is electronic and that the wire can't be broken. Instead, I thought that I was having major electronics malfunction in the dash (the backlighting died a little while ago, haven't had time to fix it.). Interestingly, the odometer still worked...
Got to a friends house after a total of about 12 km, parked on his driveway, and waited for him to come out. After about 30 seconds, the idle dropped to about 400 rpm, and I immediatly thought that I had fuel leakage. Turned the car off, got out, took a lap around the car but found nothing. Got back in and tried to start. Nothing. Lights and everything worked, but the starter wouldn't even click.

At this point I got a bit stressed out. My friend drove up his car next to mine, and we used booster cables to start mine up. Started like a charm.
Now I started to suspect the battery or something thereby. Took a voltmeter and put it on the battery, about 12 volts. Took the booster cables off, and the volt started dropping. After about a minute I was down to 7 volt and 400 rpm idle. Turned the car off.

Then we started troubleshooting the alternator. Checked the pins on the plug, and everything checked out. The batterylight in the dash works too, but it doesn't turn on when the car is dying.

After some testing, thinking, more testing, troubleshooting, and thinking, I decided that the battery must have gone bad. So, new battery was bought and put in place.
Started the car, 11.64 volt (or something), steady. Not dropping. We thought it was a bit weird since it should be a bit higher (a car usually gives out 12-14 volt, right?), but didn't think more of it and took the car out for a spin. After about 30 minutes or so, the "Anti Lock Brakes"-light came on again. The speedo started dying. Everything went crap, AGAIN.
Back to the garage, out with the voltmeter, now it was at 9.54 (or so...). Turned the car off, cursed Murphy and then got onto this board.

Now, my question is, is it the alternator that has gone bust? CAN it be something else, and are there any ways I can test this by myself? Or do I have to give it to a workshop?
Also, IF it is the alternator, what does a new one cost?

I hate this. The car is a blast to drive, but having had leaking fuellines (took MANY hours and lots of cursing to fix), dead instrumentlights, and some other small problems, I'm really starting to feel tired! And add to that, that I just got my license back and was really aching to get behind the wheel again!

Any help would be appreciated,

Petter

[Manarius]

What you describe sounds like alternator issues to me. However, I'm not the best electrician around here so....just wait 'til vrg3 responds..he'll confirm.

[Splinter]

Sounds like the alternator to me

See if theres a local shop that can test it for you

[Bheinen74]

i am probably wrong, so someone else chime in,
But I would have to say that the alternator would have nothing at all, zippo, zilch, nodda, nothing to do with the speedometer problem in a 92 SS. The speedometer, is connected to a metal cable, which is attached to the tranny, which inside the tranny has 2 plastic gears, that turn when the axle turns, and that turns the cable, which turns the speedometer.
So, the speedo problem may be a problem, but I am 100% certain that that is not tied to an alternator problem.
Sounds like you got a car that needs some maintenance, ie, battery already replaced, might need starter contacts, and might need an expensive repair to the speedometer gears, or else it is the typical "you need to replace the speedometer end part that threads into the transmission problem".
Replacing the backlighting for the instrument cluster is simple.

good luck though, when you get it right, the car will be fun.

[petterekman]

i am probably wrong, so someone else chime in,
But I would have to say that the alternator would have nothing at all, zippo, zilch, nodda, nothing to do with the speedometer problem in a 92 SS. The speedometer, is connected to a metal cable, which is attached to the tranny, which inside the tranny has 2 plastic gears, that turn when the axle turns, and that turns the cable, which turns the speedometer.
So, the speedo problem may be a problem, but I am 100% certain that that is not tied to an alternator problem.
Sounds like you got a car that needs some maintenance, ie, battery already replaced, might need starter contacts, and might need an expensive repair to the speedometer gears, or else it is the typical "you need to replace the speedometer end part that threads into the transmission problem".
Replacing the backlighting for the instrument cluster is simple.

good luck though, when you get it right, the car will be fun.

Well, I'm absolutely certain that it is an electrical problem. Because, when I replaced the battery, the car did work like a charm for say, 30-45 minutes, then the voltage apparently dropped to below 10, and during that time, the speedo worked flawlessly. But, as soon as the volt dropped, so did the speedo. The speedo and the "Anti Lock Brake"-light are the first indications when the volt is dropping. I guess that the speedo must have at least XX volt, otherwise it dies completely. Not like lights, cause they work even if the volt is very low, they are just dimmer. (Which all of you know, I was just making an example...)

Anyone else? Please, I desperately want my car back and running again!

Petter

[petterekman]

Update:
Well, not feeling like waiting for you guys to give me a reply (I guess most of you are in a different timezone and were well asleep earlier today), I took off to a shop and asked for a new alternator.

270-something € was the first bid I got. I almost swallowed my head! Jesus-H-Christ!
After some looking up in catalogues, he gave me a better bid at 176€. I said "Fine, whatever, I just want my car back running."
Unfortunately, they didn't have one. And ordering one would probably take 'til late next week!
So I headed off for another shop.
There, they gave me the same bid of 176€, and they had one in store!
I bought it without hesitation, went home, mounted it, and TADAA! Now my car works as it should! Charging a nice 14+ volt and no problems at all!

Even thought it had its costs (176€ for alternator + 93€ for the "unnecessary" battery, but at least now I know it's brand new and in great condition... ), I'm happy. After 3 months without my drivers license (for no reason) I just want to drive around my car, period. And now I can!

So, hope this can help someone who might ever experience this someday.

Thanks to those who took time to write replies,

Petter

[Manarius]

i am probably wrong, so someone else chime in,
But I would have to say that the alternator would have nothing at all, zippo, zilch, nodda, nothing to do with the speedometer problem in a 92 SS. The speedometer, is connected to a metal cable, which is attached to the tranny, which inside the tranny has 2 plastic gears, that turn when the axle turns, and that turns the cable, which turns the speedometer.
So, the speedo problem may be a problem, but I am 100% certain that that is not tied to an alternator problem.
Sounds like you got a car that needs some maintenance, ie, battery already replaced, might need starter contacts, and might need an expensive repair to the speedometer gears, or else it is the typical "you need to replace the speedometer end part that threads into the transmission problem".
Replacing the backlighting for the instrument cluster is simple.

good luck though, when you get it right, the car will be fun.

I would agree with you, but the fact that the ABS light came on at the same time screamed of electrical problems, which turned out to be the alternator.