V
*Vanguard*
92 Subaru Legacy
2.2L engine
A few days ago, all the dash warning lights lit up and stayed on. This
includes the check engine, battery, and brake lights. When I pull up on
the parking brake handle, I can see the brake light gets a little bit
brighter. Before this occurred, I could smell a plastic burning scent.
I looked under the car in case I snagged a plastic bag on the exhaust
and found nothing. When the car was hoisted for an oil change, still
saw nothing underneath. It isn't the smell of engine, tranny, or
automatic fluid smell dripping from a leak onto the exhaust (and I can't
see any smudges left on the exhaust from the remnants of the burn off).
It isn't the smell of a dragging brake pad and I've touched each wheel
and found none of them hot (beyond those of the other wheels caused by
normal braking). It isn't the sweet smell of leaking coolant or the
smell of sulfur from the exhaust. It very much smells like a plastic
bag burning up on the hot exhaust but I can't find anything on the
exhaust manifold (well, okay, some oil) and pipes. Also, sometimes the
scent occurs when I've only gotten a few blocks from home.
Before this, the check engine light came on occasionally. I could be
driving at it was off and then came on. Or when I start the car it
stays on. I've had it into the dealer and a car shop 4 times and they
could find no code to read to indicate what was the problem. You can
hook together 2 black connectors under the dash by the ECM (engine
control module, or maybe it's called the MPFI module; i.e., the computer
in a bracket mounted vertically under the dash near the fuse box). This
has the check engine light flash to tell you an error code (long flashes
are ten's digits and short flashes are one's digits). It looks to flash
out a code of 35 which, I think, means a problem with the EGR valve.
Yet I've been driving the car without problems for 3 years with this
symptom and the car shops can't read anything from the computer.
I tried the trick of disconnecting the negative cable on the battery to
see if the computer would reset. Nope, no go. The only thing changed
recently before this all-lights-on problem was to replace the 2 fan
belts. I started wondering about the alternator and/or battery. The
following are the voltages measured across the battery's terminals under
various conditions:
#1 - When NOT running, the battery's voltage is 12.2 volts (which is
close to 6 cells x 2.1 V/cell = 12.6 V; it's a 6-year Delco battery that
is now 4 years old).
#2 - When I first start the car, voltage drops to 10.6 volts (which is
probably due to the amps getting sucked up by the starter) and then
comes back up to 11.8 volts.
#3 - When running at idle (<1000 RPM) and I turn on the headlights,
voltage drops a bit to 11.6 volts.
#4 - When running at idle and measuring 11.8 volts, I rev the engine up
to 4000 RPM but voltage doesn't change much (it drifts up to 11.88
volts).
For condition #2 and after the car has started and is running, shouldn't
the alternator be generating amps that up the voltage measured across
the battery terminals to between 13.5 to 14.4 volts? Even with an old
battery, shouldn't the voltage be higher once the alternator kicks in?
When running and I turn on the headlights, voltage drops a bit down to
11.6 volts.
So it seems I have low volts across the battery terminals. Voltage is
nominal when the car is not running as I get the expected 12 volts
across the battery's terminals. However, shouldn't the voltage be
higher when the car is running due to the spinning alternator? I also
have to wonder about that elusive plastic burning odor that can be
smelled when the car has only been driven a few blocks. I'm wondering
if the alternator is burning up from a bad bearing. If it was a short,
I would think it would smell and affect voltage even when the car was
not running.
If the alternator wasn't putting out the current it is supposed to up
the voltage, would that really have an effect on the idiot lights that
are all on? The battery warning lamp is on but my wiring diagrams don't
show it (and it probably goes back to the computer anyway) so I can't
tell what conditions might exists to make the battery warning lamp go on
and stay on, and if that would make the other warning lamps also stay
on. Or is it worse and maybe the computer is kaput?
2.2L engine
A few days ago, all the dash warning lights lit up and stayed on. This
includes the check engine, battery, and brake lights. When I pull up on
the parking brake handle, I can see the brake light gets a little bit
brighter. Before this occurred, I could smell a plastic burning scent.
I looked under the car in case I snagged a plastic bag on the exhaust
and found nothing. When the car was hoisted for an oil change, still
saw nothing underneath. It isn't the smell of engine, tranny, or
automatic fluid smell dripping from a leak onto the exhaust (and I can't
see any smudges left on the exhaust from the remnants of the burn off).
It isn't the smell of a dragging brake pad and I've touched each wheel
and found none of them hot (beyond those of the other wheels caused by
normal braking). It isn't the sweet smell of leaking coolant or the
smell of sulfur from the exhaust. It very much smells like a plastic
bag burning up on the hot exhaust but I can't find anything on the
exhaust manifold (well, okay, some oil) and pipes. Also, sometimes the
scent occurs when I've only gotten a few blocks from home.
Before this, the check engine light came on occasionally. I could be
driving at it was off and then came on. Or when I start the car it
stays on. I've had it into the dealer and a car shop 4 times and they
could find no code to read to indicate what was the problem. You can
hook together 2 black connectors under the dash by the ECM (engine
control module, or maybe it's called the MPFI module; i.e., the computer
in a bracket mounted vertically under the dash near the fuse box). This
has the check engine light flash to tell you an error code (long flashes
are ten's digits and short flashes are one's digits). It looks to flash
out a code of 35 which, I think, means a problem with the EGR valve.
Yet I've been driving the car without problems for 3 years with this
symptom and the car shops can't read anything from the computer.
I tried the trick of disconnecting the negative cable on the battery to
see if the computer would reset. Nope, no go. The only thing changed
recently before this all-lights-on problem was to replace the 2 fan
belts. I started wondering about the alternator and/or battery. The
following are the voltages measured across the battery's terminals under
various conditions:
#1 - When NOT running, the battery's voltage is 12.2 volts (which is
close to 6 cells x 2.1 V/cell = 12.6 V; it's a 6-year Delco battery that
is now 4 years old).
#2 - When I first start the car, voltage drops to 10.6 volts (which is
probably due to the amps getting sucked up by the starter) and then
comes back up to 11.8 volts.
#3 - When running at idle (<1000 RPM) and I turn on the headlights,
voltage drops a bit to 11.6 volts.
#4 - When running at idle and measuring 11.8 volts, I rev the engine up
to 4000 RPM but voltage doesn't change much (it drifts up to 11.88
volts).
For condition #2 and after the car has started and is running, shouldn't
the alternator be generating amps that up the voltage measured across
the battery terminals to between 13.5 to 14.4 volts? Even with an old
battery, shouldn't the voltage be higher once the alternator kicks in?
When running and I turn on the headlights, voltage drops a bit down to
11.6 volts.
So it seems I have low volts across the battery terminals. Voltage is
nominal when the car is not running as I get the expected 12 volts
across the battery's terminals. However, shouldn't the voltage be
higher when the car is running due to the spinning alternator? I also
have to wonder about that elusive plastic burning odor that can be
smelled when the car has only been driven a few blocks. I'm wondering
if the alternator is burning up from a bad bearing. If it was a short,
I would think it would smell and affect voltage even when the car was
not running.
If the alternator wasn't putting out the current it is supposed to up
the voltage, would that really have an effect on the idiot lights that
are all on? The battery warning lamp is on but my wiring diagrams don't
show it (and it probably goes back to the computer anyway) so I can't
tell what conditions might exists to make the battery warning lamp go on
and stay on, and if that would make the other warning lamps also stay
on. Or is it worse and maybe the computer is kaput?
