I recently had a valve job done on my 2000 Outback and now my car drops dead while I am driving on the highway–the electrical all dies instantly so I can’t even get it off the road. AAA jumped it back into action, but I am afraid to drive it now. The garage said they didn’t do it, but this car never had an electrical problem before the valve job. They replaces the battery and wiring, but that didn’t solve the problem. Please help me! I am afraid this car is going to kill me before they fix it.
A “valve job” on a 2000 Outback?
Can you give us some background on what led to this repair?
Has anyone tested the alternator?
What wiring was replaced, and why?
How many miles are on the odometer?
How old was the battery that was recently replaced?
mileage is 170,000
i don’t know if they checked the alternator, but the car worked fine before the valve job.
they replaced battery and battery wires/cables but the battery they replaced worked fine before the valve job–started up after a week of sitting idle in zero wind chill weather.
Did the valve job possibly result from a broken timing belt?
If not, what symptoms led to the valve job?
How old was the battery that was replaced recently?
The electrics dropping out like that sounds like a loose connection somewhere. It must be in a major connection, like at the fuse box, or the battery ground cable. It could also be a short-circuit, draining your power. Both of these could have happened when they removed and reinstalled your engine.
You are probably correct, but I would still like to hear the details on what led to that valve job. I suspect that this is a car that has seen very little maintenance over the past 9-10 years, but it appears that the OP is reluctant to divulge any further details.
The ignition switch and the wiring to it is another area to check for the trouble. You may be able to find the trouble spot by tapping on suspected areas using a screwdriver handle and watching for changes as you tap.
It is really hard to say at this posit if the shop had anything to do with the trouble though they may have distrubed a faulty connection somewhere and now you have trouble with it. It would have to be near the main power distribution panel under the hood.
9 times out of 10 when a tech/mechanic is doing any kind of major engine repair in a subaru, they take the engine completely out of the car and set it on a stand of some sort. It only takes about 45 minutes to an hour depending on the mechanic to take the engine completely out of a Subaru. Most likely if he did this, he would have taken several ground wires out of the top of the engine so he can lift the engine out. If this is the case, on a car this old, one of those ground wires could have a poor connection and not allowing current to flow to the power distribution center (Fuse box). I would have someone who knows anything about Subarus take a look and see what they can find.