Ask the Car People.SM


Subaru Legacy/Outback Wagons Maintenance & Repair

8644 messages,  Last post on May 22, 2013 at 4:04 PM

You are in the Subaru Legacy & Outback Forum.

What is this discussion about? Subaru Legacy, Subaru Outback, Wagon

Messages Page 855 of 865

#8539 of 8644 2000 Subaru Outback battery drainage issue by squiers

Feb 10, 2012 (6:21 pm)

My Subaru this last week failed to start one morning, noticed that the battery was completely drained to the point that the locks, digital clock and all other indicators were not functioning. Nothing was left on. Battery was 1 year old. So we jumped it and it appeared to run fine the rest of the day. Next morning, same issue. This time the battery couldn't be jumped. Again nothing was left on. I went to an alternator repair place where they also specialized in electrical issues. They replaced the battery because it seemed weak. Alternator and the fuses were all checked with no apparent issues. However, 2 days later it died again! We jumped it again and took it back to the shop & advised to let it sit overnight. The darn car started with no issues for these guys. The culprit has not become apparent to this writing. It is now the weekend & I needed my car. I'm unhooking the battery at night to avoid this issue again until I have a better time to take it in. Being self employed as a painter I can't afford this downtime. Has anyone had simular issues and found out the problem?

#8540 of 8644 Re: 2000 Subaru Outback battery drainage issue [squiers] by xwesx

Feb 10, 2012 (6:49 pm)

Replying to: squiers (Feb 10, 2012 6:21 pm)
This doesn't really help over the long term, but you can buy a manual disconnect battery terminal from NAPA or other auto parts stores. This will allow you to quickly disconnect the battery by simply throwing a switch rather than having to remove the terminal from the battery stud.

#8541 of 8644 Re: 2000 Subaru Outback battery drainage issue [squiers] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Feb 10, 2012 (7:18 pm)

Replying to: squiers (Feb 10, 2012 6:21 pm)
Sounds like a parasitic drain. First the drain kills the battery---you jump it, which is really never a good idea to do to a completely dead battery, and then your alternator works very hard to put a kind of 'surface charge' on the battery. So it's possible all this stressed out the battery. completely, utterly, dead batteries must be slow-charged or you can damage them.
 
if the alternator checks out okay, and if you don't have problems when you disconnect the cable each night, then for sure your issue is a drain.
 
How to Track Down a Battery Drain Issue
 
good luck with it!

#8542 of 8644 Re: 2000 Subaru Outback battery drainage issue [squiers] by angitherias

Feb 10, 2012 (7:47 pm)

Replying to: squiers (Feb 10, 2012 6:21 pm)
Does it get really cold at night? Cold outside temperatures will affect cold cranking amps.
Or do you have warranty on your battery? Could be faulty if it is only one year old.

#8543 of 8644 Re: 2000 Subaru Outback battery drainage issue [squiers] by sghusker

Feb 10, 2012 (9:24 pm)

Replying to: squiers (Feb 10, 2012 6:21 pm)
Double check all of your fuses. The same thing happend to me and it was the fuse for the altenator. It is not marked as such in the fuse box. It is marked something like 'meter' or M (?). It is large and it dosen't look like a fuse, it looks more like a relay. It is in the box under the hood on the drivers side.

#8544 of 8644 Re: Slightly vibrating steering wheel [pathtomax] by winn70

Feb 11, 2012 (5:52 pm)

Replying to: pathtomax (Feb 09, 2012 1:14 pm)
could it be steering stabilizer? I had to replace one on my Jeep Cherokee this fall. Felt like front wheel was falling off. They look like a small hydraulic cylinder.

#8545 of 8644 should i replace the t-stat? by prancingpony

Feb 13, 2012 (11:31 pm)

im planning a 600 mile trip and im having issues with my 1997 Subaru Outback AWD Legacy "overheating"..the quotations are because its not behaving in the least like it is,,it happens randomly..doesn't matter if its in-town driving or highway,the gauge will shoot to the top, but when i pull over,everything appears fine.a few people told me to turn on A/C the next time it happened,and immediately the needle dropped to normal again.im pretty broke so cant afford to take it to a shop,but a friend thought it sounded like a bad t-stat...any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

#8546 of 8644 Re: should i replace the t-stat? [prancingpony] by bradwilson49

Feb 14, 2012 (9:20 am)

Replying to: prancingpony (Feb 13, 2012 11:31 pm)
That sounds like the temp gauge sender. I have had that happen a few times over the years. Once you figure out where the sender is, it is a quick replacement and not particularly expensive. When the thermostat goes bad it will not cool down all that quickly.

#8547 of 8644 Rear Wiper on 06 OB by janice96

Feb 15, 2012 (5:32 pm)

I have a 2006 OB wagon. How do you get the rear wiper blade off? It is not like the front blades. I am afraid of breaking it ..... Don't know why Subaru did this because you can not even get Winter blade for the back. Janice

#8548 of 8644 Re: 2000 Subaru Outback battery drainage issue [angitherias] by squiers

Feb 21, 2012 (6:35 pm)

Replying to: angitherias (Feb 10, 2012 7:47 pm)
The battery that initially suffered the total drain has already been replaced yet the problem persists. We are having one of the warmest winters on record so I don't think that is the culprit at all. It's a maddening issue to be sure. I was hoping that the problem was something that may have come up with others with the same make model & year to give me a clue. I will go for the quick disconnect battery relay cable for now and keep searching. Thank you for you reply.

Messages Page 855 of 865

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement