upstater Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 Click is the starter solenoid beginning to engage, it takes almost no power to engage the solenoid (partially). Failure to fully engage the solenoid and actually turn the starter, which also cranks the engine, is a sign of insufficient battery power. Source: my 1977 Toyota Corolla, that went thru about 6 starters, all failing the same way, with that deadly "click". In that case, it was a bad starter, followed by failing refurbished starters that the shop replaced it with (they were replacing them under warranty, you might think they would have used an OEM one the second or third time they had to do it for me for free), also failing badly. Not sure if the Legacy starter solenoid also engages the starter pinion with the ring gear of the engine like it did in my Toyota. That said, the starter on a 2 year old Legacy is likely to be good. The battery on a cold day? maybe not up to two cold starts in a row. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iscariot_XIII Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 As it turns out I contact the dealership today and find out there are two open recalls on my car. One being the ignition relay that has ice crystals on it and refuses to start because of that. Apparently it shouldn't have been sold as CPO at my original dealership in Minnesota with these issues. Kupper Subaru in Bismarck was really helpful in instructing me how to get it restarted by pulling it out and warming it up and will squeeze me in today to get it replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beamercub Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Just wanted to add my 2 cents... I noticed reading a thread the other day that the "Liberty" Austrailian spec Legacy has a bigger battery? Knowing that, I imagine it shouldn't be too hard of an upgrade to install the larger spec battery ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_l_s Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Just wanted to add my 2 cents... I noticed reading a thread the other day that the "Liberty" Austrailian spec Legacy has a bigger battery? Knowing that, I imagine it shouldn't be too hard of an upgrade to install the larger spec battery ? If you look at the battery tray you'll notice there's quite a bit of wiggle room, so installing one of a larger size would be possible. Just measure the tray and pick one that will fit. Lighting Mods: $10 Footwell Illumination | Tail as Turn | Fog as DRL Diode Dynamics C-Lights | RX350 Bi-Xenon Retrofit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seang86s Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I have a Group 34 battery installed in both my 2011 3.6R Outback and most recently (3 months ago) in the 2017 3.6R Legacy. Was 9 degrees when I woke up this morning. Both cars started without a problem. Here's the specific battery: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083C6M9U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STI_. Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Another vote for low battery and tsb stuff. They did my tsb stuff in the fall. I've only had to jumpstart my battery once. It was middle of summer and my exwife let my daughter sit in it with the car on engine off and fans spinning. Killed the battery. It was fine after a jumpstart. Like rob_m we had some cold winter days up here and my car always started (even before the tsb). Do you have any mods that stay on? I don't know if this helps at all but once every two weeks I hook my car up to a battery tender overnight. Especially on cold nights. It's something I've done since my BMW days. I got two extra years on a battery the dealer wanted $400 to swap out. A Battery Tender is necessary on more cars now than ever, with all the computers in modern cars that seem to stay partially awake all the time. My experience with BMW and Audi taught me well. I also believe it takes 7-8 miles of driving to replace the lost charge of a single start, so for people who constantly do short trips with cold restarts, a Battery Tender is useful even in mild climates. We go to Europe every summer for three weeks and have found it necessary to connect my wife's Volvo. As a precaution, we always connect my car also. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda_One Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 As a regular routine I tender all my batteries once a month. I also learned from my Audi ownerships. Going back a few years the A100 battery was under the back seat a real task to get to. The VW Quantum was in the front wheel well. Laughter is the key to happiness Laughing at Oneself and with Other is good for the Soul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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