Hello,

So I have a 2003 Outback Impreza. My stock battery died on Sunday morning so I had it jumped and was able to drive it on Monday. I took it to Winchester Auto to have it tested and they said it was bad.

So I went home and pulled my yellow top optima out of my truck and put it in the subie. I jumped it and drove it around and it was good. This morning, it was dead and I had to jump it again. So I get to work and shut off the car and tried to restart it. Dead again. My my optima should be good, right? Is there some kind of security thing I dont know about?

Also, the terminals on the battery were on the far side of the battery so the positive cable would not reach. I took the wire off the bracket so it could reach. Anyone have a problem with that?

Thanks in advance!!

Chris

 

Hello,

I posted this in the Impreza forum but its kind of a time sensitive issue so I thought I'd ask for help since there is probably more traffic here.

https://www.i-club.com/forums/showth...61#post1405761

Thanks,
Chris

 

Assuming your Yellow Top was good and fully charged when you put it in the Outback, there is apparently something wrong with your electrical system. You need to have your alternator checked to see if it is charging properly. A quick check you can do yourself is to connect a voltmeter to the battery terminals, while the engine is running you should see approximately 13.5-14.5 volts. If it's much lower that is a good indication the alternator isn't working right.
You should also check for an excessive drain when the car is off. This can be done by disconnecting one of the battery terminals and connecting an ammeter between the post and terminal clamp. With the key off and out, car locked, there should not be more than about 20-30ma of drain. If it's much more than that, especially if it's in the hundreds of milliamps, that will make the battery go dead in short order.
A shop can do a more thorough checkout of the electrical system.

 

Not to sound condesending (because I have done this myself) are you sure an interior light isn't on, door ajar or something along those lines?

I'm getting my alternator replaced on Thursday. Under extended warranty so only running $50.
Mines an 02 WRX Wagon. I'd look in to the alternator as the culprit, atleast have it checked out.

 

Thanks for the replies. I'll run those tests today after work.

RedStage, I checked the door lights and all that stuff hopefully I didn't miss anything. I've had that problem before too.

Mulder, if I jumped my (yellow top) battery and drove it for about 15 min. will that be enough to charge it back up to normal? It was completely dead when I put it in and it took a while to charge. I used a charger for about 1 hour then jumped because I was running out of time.

 

...don't forget to check the infamous 'parking light' switch on top of the steering column...

 

Now thats a good one!!

Thanks!

 

Ok, this is additional information that you should have added.
If it was completely dead then that would not have been enough to charge it to anywhere near a full charge, which could explain why it went dead again. That's why I said "assuming your Yellow Top is ok". In order to properly troubleshoot any problems with the electrical system you need to start off with a known good battery.

 

Sorry about that! I'll slow charge the battery over night before running the tests then.

 

Isnt there also a "recharging fuse"? On my old 1984 subaru wagon gl, the fuse blew and wouldnt recharge the battery/alternator. After replacing both the battery and the alternator, it was still dying...thats when I found out about the fuse. Just a thought, good luck

 

So I let my battery charge for several hours and it started up. It wasn't fully charged when I tried start it and it started strong.

It was weird though, there was a hissing sound after I shut it down. The hissing sound came from where my battery was. Anyone know what that is? Its late so I can't really see that well with the flashlight.

I'm going to try and let it finish charging over night at 2amps to see how it does in the morning.

 

How hot should a battery get when charging or being used? Its not hot to the touch but its hot. It seems to be working now but the green light indicating a full charge never went on for it and I charged it over night.

 

[QUOTE=Mulder]A quick check you can do yourself is to connect a voltmeter to the battery terminals, while the engine is running you should see approximately 13.5-14.5 volts. If it's much lower that is a good indication the alternator isn't working right.
QUOTE]

I had Napa check my alternator/battery and they said its pushing about 13.2 back into the battery. Is this significantly low enough to say my alternator may be bad?

Its working now but I wanted to have it checked just in case.

thanks,
Chris

 

13.2 volts is too low for a charging system in good condition. I wouldn't expect to see 13.2 volts or lower except maybe at idle with the headlights on and foot on the brake pedal. Did NAPA perform the charging system test at idle or a fast idle? Usually 200 or 300 rpm over idle speed is high enough to provide close to 14+ volts output even with some accessories on.

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

 

Napa checked the the system at idle. Lights on but no foot on the brake pedal.

Sears just jacked me though!!! Since my fiance bought me the Yellow Top from Sears, I took it there to get tested. While I was there I paid to have the whole system tested.

The tech concluded that he "thinks the alternator was bad" because his machine kept asking him to test it over and over again. I didn't want to deal with them anymore because they seemed clueless so I paid for the diagnostic and asked them to put everything back together. I told them I'd drive the car home, buy a battery and alternator and swap it myself.

When the tech went to put the battery back on the car he hooked it up backwards. +-/+-.

It was around 8:45pm and sure enough, the car wouldn't start anymore. The manager comes out and simply says they're going to have to keep the car over night.

Can anyone advise on what I can expect for compensation for this type of thing?

I'm so mad right now!