Electrical Issue

[GregFromWV]

Hey Guys,

 

I'm experiencing an issue with my 2015 Legacy. At first, i thought I had a bad battery, but I replaced that and as soon as I turned the key, it immediately killed the battery. I charged the battery on a portable charger all night and put it back in the car. Remote worked fine...all lights, horn, radio, etc worked but as soon as a moved the key past auxiliary into the start position it totally killed the battery. No click or anything. Thoughts? Thanks!

[capttris]

What symptoms did you originally have, which led you to replace the original battery?

Assuming a no-start, but lights, radio worked?

When you say that turning the key killed the battery, can you define this? Do you mean that the battery went dead to low voltage (as measured at the posts)?

It seems strange that a brand new battery went dead or dropped to a low voltage upon trying to start.

It sounds like a loose connection and/or bad ground.

Are your battery connections clean and free of corrosion, and tight on the battery terminals?

 

Please explain what you mean by " as soon as I turned the key, it immediately killed the battery"

How do you know the battery was immediately dead when you turned the key?

This doesn't seem to make sense.

 

Let's see what we can do to help you

[Norskie]

I don't know if you can discharge a battery that fast without burning something.

 

By "totally killed the battery" do you mean you measured it and it reported no voltage?

 

Or there were no lights on the dash?

 

I'm tempted to go with a break in your battery cables; there's enough contact to get some juice to the car to light up the dash but not enough to trigger the solenoid when starting. Every time you move the battery the cables move and you get some contact again.

 

Use an ohm-meter and measure continuity between the battery and starter solenoid while wiggling the cable. Do the same on the ground cable.

[larrya07]

I had something similar with my old Stratus. It had a shorted winding in the starter motor or Solenoid that kept blowing a fuse when I tried starting it killing almost all the dash lights. Not sure how the Legacy is wired but you may have the same thing happening.

[WILLINH]

Time for a good mechanic, one that you TRUST!

[GregFromWV]

What symptoms did you originally have, which led you to replace the original battery?

Assuming a no-start, but lights, radio worked?

When you say that turning the key killed the battery, can you define this? Do you mean that the battery went dead to low voltage (as measured at the posts)?

It seems strange that a brand new battery went dead or dropped to a low voltage upon trying to start.

It sounds like a loose connection and/or bad ground.

Are your battery connections clean and free of corrosion, and tight on the battery terminals?

 

Please explain what you mean by " as soon as I turned the key, it immediately killed the battery"

How do you know the battery was immediately dead when you turned the key?

This doesn't seem to make sense.

 

Let's see what we can do to help you

 

 

So after I charge it, I can use the remote and turn the car on auxiliary and everything works. As soon as I turn the key all the way into the ignition position everything goes dead. The engine doesn't turn over, the lights all go out, and the batter no longer has enough charge to use the remote or any auxiliary functions.

 

I cleaned all terminals and made sure they were fastened down tightly.

[capttris]

Next steps:

This is helpful with a 2nd person, or you can prop the multimeter so that you can read the screen while sitting in the car.

1. With the car off (no key in the ign) use a multimeter to measure battery voltage at the battery terminals. a normal fully charged battery should be 12.7V. (if you just charged it, it could be resting around 13V, which is fine)

2. Turn on the headlights and measure voltage. (It shouldn't drop much - maybe from 12.7 to 12.5V within 10-20 seconds.)

3. Put the key in and turn to accessory position and turn on the radio and headlights - and measure voltage. (same as above, it shouldn't drop much)

4.Now, try to start the car and carefully watch the voltage on the meter.

 

Is the starter motor making ANY sound when you attempt to start? Are you hearing any sparking sounds from under the hood or anywhere? A 2nd person to listen under the hood while starting would help too.

Let's see what you get, and please report back