1996 850 Wagon Service Light On Topic is solved

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 14 Jun 2016, 10:54

Thanks, I will check that. The battery is about 3-4 years old.

She drove 30 miles to work on the highway, got off put the window down and the RPMs
dropped and it nearly stalled, gauges went crazy.
I will check for a drain.
We are missing the splash guard so the alternator looks very rusty, really a mess.

Are there any grounds or connections that I should be checking for rust?

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 14 Jun 2016, 11:58

I'm going to put in a new battery, don't expect it to fix it but maybe it will
be more tolerant of any drain, and/or a weak alternator. Then will look into
an alternator after checking the standby current.

If I was to go with a used OEM alternator how far forward can I go year wise?

Post by **abscate** » 14 Jun 2016, 13:32

Dont worry about all the funky stuff Pete. When most any modern cars get low voltage, they act possessed. Its just electronics not knowing the gate from the sink or the drain.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 14 Jun 2016, 17:16

She got to work and it would not start, her boss cleaned the battery terminals and now
it is fine. They did not tell me this in time so I showed up there with a new battery but
first took the car to a gas station where they tested the battery. 667 cranking amps out
of 700 rated, so I think it is fixed and I returned the battery.
Hope it was as simple as that.
I had cleaned the battery terminals within the last year or so and didn't think it could have
been that. I had also recently checked that they were tight.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 04 Jul 2016, 16:42

IT is running really well, no codes.
Changed the oil yesterday, and did a trans drain and fill, 102,000 miles indicated, 165,000 actual.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 06 Jul 2016, 19:24

My son was driving yesterday and hit some debris in the road, punctured the tire sidewall.
Went for a new tire, they tried to align it and said that it needed a tie rod.
I'm going to go look for youtube videos on the repair, but if anyone has a link to some very
good instructions it would be appreciated.
Is it difficult? Tips? I have done some suspension work in the past but not much.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 06 Jul 2016, 22:31

Yes, there's a tutorial in the repair data section of our site: Inner and outer tie rod ends

Post by **erikv11** » 09 Jul 2016, 11:30

A tie rod swap is easy overall, but the lock nut can be very. very difficult to break loose. Give it repeated doses of a good penetrant in advance if you can, and have a torch handy to apply some heat. Make sure you have a good wrench on the nut, so it doesn't get rounded out. After that, just follow the directions it is easy. I like a using pickle fork for the ball joint end.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 21 Aug 2016, 10:06

OK, I've read up on how to do the tie rod ends, and it looks not too bad.
Buying/ordering parts today and the thing I hate is to put in parts that only last 20K when the
originals lasted 100K+. Seems many use Meyle, are these good enough for say 50K in general?
Last time I checked the tie rod ends they seemed fine about 10K ago, tire place told my son
that they were bad.
Thanks again everyone, lots of great tips here!

Post by **erikv11** » 21 Aug 2016, 14:51

Tie rod ends I have only used TRW, they last a very, very long time. So there are likely others that are good, but I'm not sure I have never had to buy them.

1996 850 Wagon Service Light On Topic is solved

Re: 1996 850 Wagon Service Light On