OBW 2001 problems

[Fredisg]

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

 

[Voja]

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

Good luck.

Voja

 

[Edward Hayes]

Is there another dealer you could go to?? A competent auto technician can
check the alternator and other electrical parts to determine which is bad if
any and give you an sentiment BEFOE any parts are replaced. Even AutoZone
can do a simple voltage/current check on the alternator/charging system and
it's free.

 

[Voja]

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

 

[Fredisg]

Even AutoZone

can do a simple voltage/current check on the alternator/charging system and
it's free.

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.

 

[Todd H.]

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,

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

 

[Hallraker]

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.

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

 

[Henry Paul]

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.

 

[Mike]

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

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