Troubleshooting .78 amp Battery Drain - 2006 Subaru Legacy Outback

[subaruneedpdf]

Also is there a regulator on the battery/alternator, I assume there is but could not find it.

 

On another car I used to own, regulators were a common problem and if your battery drained it was a good idea to ''feel'' the regulator to see if it was warm.

If warm, it was broken.

Not sure if it is the same setup on a Subaru, but most probably is.

From what I am told the alternators are pretty sturdy and do not die too easily, always pays to check the regulator first.

 

Thanks

Edited December 11, 2013 by subaruneedpdf

[Fairtax4me]

Let it idle on its own until the radiator fans kick on and off once. Stop the engine, wait about 30 minutes (wait an hour if its a really hot day), then restart, let it idle about 5 minutes or until the fans come on again, then go for a short drive. It's best if you can get up to about 50-55 mph, but not necessary.

 

This method works for almost every car I've worked on to get the ECU to learn idle and driving air/fuel settings. It also relearns spark timing, and transmission shift points if you have an automagic.

[1 Lucky Texan]

I see many people posting at times saying after a new battery the car will stall.

This happens to me everytime I disconnect the terminals as it must reset the computer.

This could mean the ECU has been operating at its limit of ability to adjust the car's A:F ratio, and timing. Which means you may have some bad sensor, a vacuum leak, an exhaust leak, bad knock sensor or other issue.

 

And the current regulator is inside the alt.

Edited December 12, 2013 by 1 Lucky Texan

[swiftyrt66]

I had almost the exact same problem as the OP. I have a 2005 Legacy GT, and about 9 months ago I started seeing my battery go dead after a few days of not driving the car. I replaced the battery, which was a few years old, but then the new optima battery started to have the same behavior.

 

Around the same time, my factory CD changer got jammed and I just figured I'd live with it until I got around to fixing it.

 

This week I got tired of the battery draining problem and found this thread - thank you all for the great suggestions!

 

Checking all of the fuses showed no major culprit - current drain with the car off stayed about .7 amp. I pulled the stereo out, and like magic it dropped to .02 amp (20 mA).  Apparently, the stereo is not on one of the fuse circuits that I could see.

 

With the stereo/CD changer apart, I could see that a homemade CD with a sticker label had lifted up and gotten all snagged in the mechanism. I was able to slide the CDs back into their center position near the spindle. Then, I plugged the white harness connector back into the car, and held the eject button until "Eject All" appeared on the display. As it shuffled the CDs out, I helped it along by pulling them gently as they popped out.  

 

After I put it all back together (minus the nemesis sticker CD), the CD changer worked again and current draw with the car off was back where it should be.

[Fairtax4me]

Those Cd changers go bad all the time and will likely cause a problem again even though you have no CDs in it. Best to put in an aftermarket head unit before it kills your new battery.