I have been noticing lately that I am loosing more voltage than I originally expected on my subie. I installed the Vishnu pulley that is just "slightly" underdriven and much lighter than stock. My XM radio has been cutting out when I am stuck in traffic and I have noticed that the voltage drops as low as 11 volts at times. Should I be dealing with this? I am about to put the stock pulley and belts back on. What a waste of money.

 

I have the Vishnu UD pulley too, but have never had the problems you are experiencing. Even with headlights, fogs, and Valentine-1 on, Blaupunkt cranked up and sitting on the brake lights, I've never had issues. Your belts tight enough?

 

Belts, yeah... I need to check them. I tightened them as tight as I could when I installed it. My wife is currently driving the car back and forth to work (1.5 hrs one way) while I am "stuck" driving our M Coupe 4 miles to work. We are trying to keep the miles down on the bimmer which is fine by me

It may be the battery... but it shouldn't because it's only a '02 WRX but who knows. I took out the stock clock and installed the temp/clock/volt meter from radio shack in it's place. I notice the voltage vary from ~14 volts while cruising to 11.3 volts when at idle. We'll see what happens when I go and check the battery at the parts store.

 

Well, the belts are definately tight. No slack at all. I really don't want to put the stocker back on.

 

i also have the vishnu pulley and i have the same problem. When the car is in motion, its fine, but when i stop, the voltage begins to drop. The lowest voltage my car went was around 10v, thats when all my lighting dimmed. I might just get a hyper voltage system, and see if that would help.

 

You and I are the first two guys that I have heard that are having this problem. All of the searches that I have done have guys saying that they have never had a problem with the power pulley from Vishnu. Maybe time has taken it's toll on the batteries of first batch of WRX's that were sold here. I may have to try an Optima yellow top battery soon. $$$ though.

 

I replaced the Vishnu power pulley with the stock crank pulley, bought a new battery (the parts store said that the old one had a bad cell) and I am still seeing the voltage drop to around 12 v while at idle.

While sitting at idle I do the following so as to take out any variables: I hold the brake, the headlights are turned on, the A/C is cranked up, and the radio is on. This represents what it's like while stuck in traffic in Florida. So, is a voltage drop from 14 v to 12 v normal?

 

Under those conditions with the engine idling, yes. The alternator just isn't spinning fast enough at idle to generate enough output to keep from using battery power. Fast idling 200 or 300 RPM higher with your right foot is usually enough to keep it above the normal battery voltage.

If you have an EcuTek reflash, I think the Delta Dash software (not freeware, though) can raise the idle speed when the A/C compressor kicks in, but it makes the car harder to drive in traffic.

I have an '02 WRX and had to replace my battery last year. I forgot to check the electrolyte levels in the OEM battery and they went way down due to the very hot summers in my location.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

Exactly, that is what happened to me. My electrolyte levels were low and now I know.... "and knowing is half the battle, G.I. Joe!... American hero, G.I. Joe is there" sorry, that was stupid. And yeah, I have had Shiv tune my '02 WRX the Ecutek route and I have noticed the increase in rpm's when the A/C kicks on.

It just boiled down to a worn out battery. I replaced it and now all I need to do is reinstall my Vishnu power pulley.... doh!

 

Shiv has not changed your idle speed unless you've requested him to do so. He normally doesn't change that, IIRC.

The idle speed will increase when the A/C compressor engages - that's normal from the factory. With DeltaDash and EcuTek, the idle speed can be raised or lowered from the factory settings when the A/C compressor engages.

I'm glad you found out what killed your battery. I found out too late that our factory batteries are not maintenance free. Remember to use only distilled water when refilling the battery. Do not overfill, either - the overflow will vent out of the battery and cause corrosion to any paint or metal in the area.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

Wow! I didn't know that...I just assumed it WAS maintenance free. My last few cars have been. I'll have to check up on it now. Glad I've been following this thread!

Thanks...

 

ive had it on my 05 wrx and have hd no problems what so ever

 

Your car is also basically brand new. My car is an '02, so we can see some semi long term effects caused by different mods. (i.e. alternators that are not allowed to spin as fast and therefore have to work harder to produce the same output as one that spins at a set factory rpm.) It's similar to a 18 year old smoker saying that he has been smoking for 2 years and it hasn't affected him at all.