edrach

Probably a moot point that it failed like that. Hard to tell by the photos but looks like the lining was worn down close to the rivets. Likely very close to failing anyway.

Connie, NorthWet has the exact sequence needed to check out where this discharge is located. Along with a primer on electrics. The water/plumbing analogy is quite accurate. Only difference is that you can't see the electron flow and the electrons won't spill out of the wiring like water flows out of a pipe. Again, this Board is not about who's smarter than anyone else, but helping out when one's own special expertise will be useful. Hang in there, Connie, we're all just trying to help.

Connie, we both know that there is a drain on the battery. Your voltage readings and overnight losses tell you that. But the voltage readings don't tell you anything about what is causing the drain. Drop me a PM with your phone number (I had it once but can't find it right now) and I'll talk you through some initial testing to see where this problem might be.

GD is right on the money. Electrical problems can be a pain, but it's not black magic. I use a two pronged approach. Throwing parts at it based on past experience is quick and easy if you have enough data to support the technique, but can prove frustrating since you spent time (and sometimes money) and don't have a good outcome. But sometimes, the quick attempt yields results if you're lucky. The methodical engineering approach takes longer but is usually always successful in tracking down the culprit. Even if you haven't resolved it along the way, knowing what items were eliminated as the cause is progress.

Okay, Thanks for the update on the battery. I took your comments about the 15 minutes to charge it at face value. Just so we're sure, you did fully recharge the battery after it was drained; correct? Also, an update, I measured our '82 Brat as I described and found the resistance I measured at greater than 20 Meg-ohms (i.e. offscale). So what's the resistance reading with your coupe? By the way, do you know the charge current on your battery charger?

Connie, I finally have to step in and add my two cents to what you're doing. You can't charge a discharged battery in 15 minutes on the alternator. You might be chasing your tail here thinking you lost all charge overnight when in reality, the battery was only 10% charged to start with. It wouldn't take much draw to drain off that 10% overnight. Get, borrow, or rent a decent charger and FULLY charge your battery. When it's fully charged take it to your friendly neighborhood autoparts store and have them LOAD TEST the battery to be sure it is fully charged AND a good battery. Enough on the battery side. Now for the drain. A bad ground will not drain your battery. A bad ground adds resistance which will cause LESS drain. However, a partial ground somewhere which shouldn't be grounded can cause your excessive drain. You have a digital multimeter now. As someone else said, connect the DMM between the positive and negative battery terminals (no battery in the car, or the battery fully disconnected) and check the resistance. It should read infinite or really, really high. Something in the kilo-ohm range is probably normal (I'll check the reading on our '82 Brat as soon as it's light out and give you a number from a car that's not draining the battery). Any reading below 1000 ohms might be suspicious. Anything below 100 ohms is very bad. Let me know what you're reading and we'll go from there. All this time, your battery should be on the charger. Once it's fully charged we can try to figure out what's causing the drain.

I'm partial to Redline 75W-90NS.

Having gone through three kids who used all of our early Subarus sequentially, we had multiple spare keys made and one emergency key hidden in our lockbox. Make yourself some spares from the masters you have now just in case you lose one or both.

Glad to hear that you might have found the battery drain source. Exhaust should have been a bolt in, but you never know until you try it. As you could see from the condition of the pipe it would have been a shame to toss it.

I won't argue with your choice of lubricants, but our locksmith swears by tri-flow.

Sorry, but I'm going to suggest my favorite battery charger too. I bought it at Harbor Freight two years ago for $60 or so and it's saved me a ton on batteries. Having bought my share of batteries at PAP, this allowed me to check out the battery quickly and return the junk ones within a short period of time for a refund. It will tell me if the battery has a shorted or open cell and watching the charge current go down gives me a good indication on whether the battery is taking a charge or not. Lots of other features available. http://www.battery-rechargeable-charger.com/vector-VEC1097A-car-battery-charger.html

It could be the ignition lock has a few sticky parts. Get some tri-flow lubricant (squeeze bottle, not spray) and put a few drops onto the key and try the ignition lock a few times. With luck it will get better.

On the older gen cars, the key code is only on the front passenger side lock cylinder. 'Don't know if newer gen cars added it on the driver's side. It shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes to remove the door panel and slip an inspection mirror near the lock cylinder and read the code. Once you have that, any decent locksmith can cut you a master key.

One issue that hasn't been discussed is whether your car is FWD only or 4WD on demand. I think the intermediate pipe is different for each....at least it is on the EA81 wagons since the 4WD version has to clear the rear diff. The reason I bring this up is that in the beautiful relatively rust free NW, used and usable exhaust parts can still be found. That being said, a quality muffler shop should be able to fab what you need without breaking the bank. Good luck.

You might talk to Subarutex about the artwok and such. I know he's in that business.

Good grief if you go to that extreme you're going to get hassled by the narcs!

Maybe you can sell a 2nd version of the LSD label for those of us that have converted to a 3.900 or 4.111 version (not sure what part number I'd be using for that). But I would buy some of each.

I'm not sure I'd want an LSD label on my underwear.....too many possibilities!

I'm actually thinking of trying to make it out to the event. I'll repost when my plans are more firm.

I specifically asked the Interstate guy about the warranty on their "blems." His comment was they guarantee them the same as their "non-blems." Moot point since I've never had to return one anyway.

While singing the praises of Interstate, I was asked by my older son to look for batteries for his 850i BMW (it uses two!!). Batteries are a european type unique to BMW and the dealer wanted $400 each for the replacements. I went to Interstate and they had them (in stock!) for $150 each plus tax! I asked them if they had any "blems" and the couter-guy smiled and said he'd check but didn't think so. He came back shortly and said they were out of "blems" on that battery, "the dealers snap these up as fast as we get them!" he added.

Just a comment on measuring battery voltage (any kind of battery, not just a car battery). No load voltage readings mean nothing. Even a dead battery will read close to its nominal output without a load on it. So for a true indication of battery condition measure it with a load on it. Judging from your results, your battery is not fully charged; since the alternator is putting out good voltage this is likely a bad battery. However, check your wiring and connections first to see if they are contributing to the lack of charge.

Just a comment on Consumer Reports and their ratings. Low price trumps all other criteria. They are biased toward value for the buck, not quality. That said, they are still a good comparison source. Considering your battery is only 2 months old, I'd go back to Walmart and have it replaced. Assuming you don't have a bad connection, ground, .....this battery is not taking a charge. I'm partial to Interstate batteries. I'm fortunate to have an Interstate distributor within 10 miles of my home. When I purchase a battery from them I always ask for a "blem". I've never found a reason for why the battery is considered a "blem" but it carries the same warranty of a "non-blem" and is just about half price. I've also never had an Interstate battery give me anything less than reliable service for 5 or more years. Just a word about "Diehard" batteries. I used to buy them until I found they never lasted the full lifetime claimed in their ads. I usually had to turn them in after 2 to 3 years and paid the "pro-rated" price for the new one....which failed 2 to 3 years later. After adding up the costs of new plus pro-rated amounts I felt the Diehard wasn't such a great value after all.

Third event of the season on May 3rd. Details can be found at www.oregonrally.com For those weather-watchers among us: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=Hillsboro,%20OR&wuSelect=WEATHER

From the USRM: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=97885