McLegacy Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 Hi guys I was having an issue where my headlights would dim along with fluctuating fan power and instrument cluster dimming as well while driving. I decided to, before I replaced anything, clean up the stock grounds and add a few extra grounding cables. I added one ground, from my alternator body to the chassis by the fuse box. I cleaned up the four grounds on either strut tower, the two grounds by the front passenger side and the two battery terminal grounds. As well, I chopped off the two terminals running from the top of the alternator (very corroded) and put on new connectors further down. My batter now puts out 8v and does not start. I push started the car and got it to idle for a while, but it slowly discharged the battery and the car died. As well, the instrument cluster no longer works. Things I think it could have been: - I mistakenly attached my new ground to the bolt (positive) where the other two terminals are. When I went to reconnect the battery, it sparked a whole bunch. Fried the battery/alternator? - During some other time, I stupidly had left the battery ground connected. I accidentally touched the two positive terminals from the top of the alternator to the alternator body, creating lotsa sparks again. Fried alternator/battery? - incorrectly attached one of the grounds. - screwed up the positive terminals atop the alternator by attaching the new terminal connectors. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnegg Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 your alternator is probably bad. recharge your battery and try starting the car. have your alt. checked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 i would trace back what you changed and see if there is a cross somewhere. 8v could be showing drain, regardless of whether you blew the alt or not. that may be an issue as well, but fix the wiring first, changing the alt will do no good if the issue that broke it isnt fixed first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudewerx Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 Make sure your alternator plug is all the way in too. I pulled my engine to fix some gaskets and didn't fully press the alternator plug back in, it drove for about 20 mules then my tach went to 0 then my speedo then back to normal, kept fluctuating, then all my gauge cluster lights came on for a second, then the car rolled to a stop. Checked everything, found the loose plug, jump started it and haven't has a problem since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McLegacy Posted April 16, 2016 Author Share Posted April 16, 2016 The alt was bad. Replaced it, 14v and I've never seen the headlights this bright haha. Thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcthemvp Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 The alt was bad. Replaced it, 14v and I've never seen the headlights this bright haha. Thanks guys! Where'd you get your alt and how much? Having similar issues as well as alt whining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Where'd you get your alt and how much? Having similar issues as well as alt whining. There was a large recall for our generation for alternators so lots of dealerships have extra in stock, if you can get the dealership to give you commercial rate, you can get a NEW alternator for $62. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcthemvp Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Really? Sounds like I'm going to have to give them a call Monday. Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Really? Sounds like I'm going to have to give them a call Monday. Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk The part service guys are usually pretty chill, you can usually just ask if they can give you the Jobber/commercial rate. They do require a core though, so bring your old one with you. The next cheapest alternator option is from Advance autos website if you use the promo code TRT30 or TRT40 they are 30% and 40% off respectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brackets Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 it drove for about 20 mules How many miles do you get to a mule? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McLegacy Posted August 10, 2016 Author Share Posted August 10, 2016 Recently my fluctuating headlights & cluster problem has been returning. It's not a fun feeling driving on the highway and suddenly you can't see the road anymore. Last winter I was having misfire issues which I traced to a corroded connection between the coil pack and the spark plug wire on the front passenger side cylinder. I replaced the coil pack and the spark plug wires. The misfire problem completely went away, but the headlights would still dim, so I (above) replaced the alternator. Prior to that we had the battery replaced. Just recently i noticed that the same connection on the front passenger side cylinder between the coil & the wire had begun to corrode again ever so slightly. I realized that there must have been damage to the plugs themselves, so I replaced them and hoped all of my worries would be gone. But, no, the dimming still happens. What might be causing this?? I've been racking my brain thinking of what it might be. The parts were not replaced at once but with months inbetween, so maybe I need to do a full replacement so no damaged parts can harm the new ones? Maybe there's a short somewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McLegacy Posted August 10, 2016 Author Share Posted August 10, 2016 My gas mileage is also about 16-17. That might be unrelated but I get the feeling that it's running rich because of my old spark plug problem. I'm going to buy a bluetooth OBDII scanner soon to help diagnose it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choover1101 Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 A couple of quick questions. How are your battery cables? Have you done the ground strap additions from the sticky in this section? On older cars the grounding system was often barely passable from the factory and age does not help that situation. Lack of sufficient grounds can cause many odd problems. One of my jobs as a Ford mechanic was to diagnose "ghosts" electrical problems that only appeared when they wanted to. Enough problems were caused by worn or broken ground points to make that one of my first upgrades on a vehicle. That would be my first item on the checklist. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McLegacy Posted August 11, 2016 Author Share Posted August 11, 2016 Theyre not in bad condition. I may replace them anyway. Anything if it fixes the problem. I did two grounding cables, I can't remember exactly where. There was definitely one attached to the block, one on the alternator, and one attached by a fuse box bolt. I didn't like the guide I followed very much. I think I'm going to scrap the cables and follow a different guide I found on NASIOC for a WRX. Slightly different but I should be able to make it work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wish Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 The part service guys are usually pretty chill, you can usually just ask if they can give you the Jobber/commercial rate. They do require a core though, so bring your old one with you. The next cheapest alternator option is from Advance autos website if you use the promo code TRT30 or TRT40 they are 30% and 40% off respectively. just replaced my alternator today. local subaru dealership looked at me like I had 3 heads when I asked about the commercial rate and said they only had 1 alternator in stock. TRT30 code worked so I got an alternator for $100 from advance, changed it in the parking lot and returned the core. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublechaz Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 I had a thing a while back where my headlights would blink out and back on and my head unit would reboot sometimes when I touched the brake pedal. The resolve was that my positive battery cable was coroded nearly in two right at the battery connector. New end and all was well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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