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OBW 2001 problems

When my headgasket went on my OBW, the service manager at the dealer acted surprised and said that he hadn't seen very many of these head gasket problems. Then, of course a week later came the national recall about the head gaskets.

Well, now, my alternator and brake warning lights flash off and on several times per hour of driving. Service writer thinks that I may need a new alternator to the tune of $450.00. He says that he "hasn;t seen many of these fail" and the cost would be on me (53,000 miles). Well, is he telling the truth or just the company line? Are these aleternators failing all over the place or is mine just a fluke? I have not had an alternator fail in any car I have ever owned before the car was at least nine years old, and I have never had a head gasket fail in any car I have owned over the past 30 years. Any opinions? Thanks,

Fred

Reply to
Fredisg
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Check the "fine print" under warranty as I think this falls under "60K miles / 5 years power train warranty".

Good luck.

Voja

Fredisg wrote:

Reply to
Voja

Reply to
Edward Hayes

I guess you should do what Edward said as I've just checked and alternator is not covered under 60 mo./60K miles (100K km) warranty.

Sorry. :-(

Voja

Edward Hayes wrote:

Reply to
Voja

Problem is that the lights just flash for a second or less and it only happens a couple of times in an hour, and sometimes not for a whole day.

Reply to
Fredisg

I'm at 62k and have'nt had any of those issues fwiw.

-- Todd H.

2001 Legacy Outback Wagon, 2.5L H-4 Chicago, Illinois USA
Reply to
Todd H.

The alternator is pretty easy to replace yourself, and I'm not Mr. Car Repair either. I was a bit intimidated by the thought of replacing the alternator, but for about 1/2 of the cost of having it done I was willing to at least try. It turned out to be a lot easier than I thought, because the engine is longitudinally mounted, the belts (and alternator) are right up at the front. And the alternator sits on top. As I recall, there were about a half dozen bolts I had to remove in order to take the alternator out, and all of them were obvious and in plain sight - no hidden hassles. I think I paid about $100 for a replacement alternator, although I chose a cheaper remanufactured unit since my Subie is so old.

-Matt

Reply to
Hallraker

The thing that sold me on my Subaru was when I popped the hood. All the major components right there on top in plain sight and the starter is pretty easy to get to as well.

Reply to
Henry Paul

Lucky you. My '01 started leaking coolant at 42k last December. The dealer replaced the head gaskets, now the magic elixer is the special coolant conditioner / sealer.

Mike '01 OBW

Reply to
Mike

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