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Bad/dead alternator - association with whine?

Oddly, when I started my 95 Legacy up this morning I heard a new sound, a whine. The whine (not a screech) was audible right away but was a little more noticeable when the accelerator was pressed. I drove about 5 miles in city traffic, then the car was parked for 90 minutes, then drove 40 miles, car parked for 2 hours, then drove another 40 miles. Car was parked for 45 minutes. Then it wouldn't start.

Fortunately I was at AAA at the time :)

Got my battery replaced (previous one was 4 years old anyway) and was told that I need to replace my alternator! The guy was very thorough in diagnosing the problem with his little printout thingie. So what I'm wondering: Is it likely that the whine is directly associated with the bad alternator? I want to have an idea of what to say when I take the car into the shop tomorrow.

Any other advice re: alternator (should I request a rebuilt one?) appreciated as well. I didn't see anything too recent about Subie alternators in the archives.

I hope car problems come in 3s, not 4s...

Rebecca

Reply to
Rebecca Wagaman
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YES! The whine is from a shorted diode in the alternator. I had the same problem with a Datsun years ago.

The shorted diode will both drain your battery and greatly reduce the ability of the alternator to charge the battery.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

Thanks so much, Jim. I was able to read that before I took the car in; the mechanic confirmed what you said.

Is $400 for parts/labor about right (not that I had a choice!)?

Unfortunately for the garage, when they put my car back together they didn't put the serpentine belt back on properly. I heard a loud crackly noise and turned back - when I stopped and opened the hood there was a tangle of rubber and a steel cable; about 1/2 of the belt was chewed up to spaghetti! Jeepers.

Rebecca

Reply to
Rebecca Wagaman

Glad to help

I don't know, I do all my own work.

I hope they didn't charge you for the new belt. It would appear the clowns didn't even start the engine to check their work. Find another mechanic if you can.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

I know it sounds bad. However, it's an AAA-approved garage, and I've been going there for 2+ years without incident. I've already changed garages since I've lived here (one bad thing about moving! having to find new servicepeople). No, they absolutely didn't charge me for the belt. They did start the engine and pulled the car out front for me; the belt was okay until the car was driven at more than 5 mph.

Rebecca

Reply to
Rebecca Wagaman

Hi,

I'm with Jim--a new mechanic seems to be in order!

I don't remember exactly what the dealer's quote was for the alternator on my Subie, but an Autolite branded rebuilt from Kragen cost me somewhere around $75 a coupla years ago (and I do as much of my own work as possible, too!) IIRC, it seems that was about half the dealer price. (A rebuilt for my Totota pickup was $100 from AutoZone on New Year's Eve, so things HAVE gone up a bit.) It's a coupla hours' work to replace my Subie's alternator, including generous coffee breaks, so at local rates of around $85/hr, that's $170, which still leaves a reasonably nice dinner out of your $400!

If you, a friend or family member are a bit of a wrench, you might want to invest in a Haynes or Chilton's book for your car and learn what you can do yourself. It'll probably be one of the best $20 investments you can make...

Rick

Reply to
Richard E Courtright

Yeah, It's hard to imagine spending $400.

When the alternater failed in my Datsun, I was able to buy a new diode block for about $25, total cost, along with a couple hours of work. But that was about 20 years ago.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

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