sabber Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 OK, so I have a 2003 subaru baja, I know not a legacy but its based off of it and should be about the same as a 2000-2004 legacy. I have put this up on some other forums as well, but was wondering if anyone has had a similar problem to the one I am having. Basically my battery is dying if I dont drive it for a few hours. If I give it a jump It starts right up and will start up fine if I stop someplace, but park it for the night and it's dead as a doornail. The battery jump starter I have been using has an alternator check function on it and it shows the alternator is OK and I haven't been leaving any lights on or anything, so I have no idea whats going on, I'm thinking maybe its a short someplace. Has anyone had a problem similar to this or know what the problem could be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiener2 Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 try a new battery My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEE-OTTO Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Two causes: Your battery is dead and simply replacing it with a new one will fix your issues or Your altenator isn't charging your battery properly and you need to replace that. First get a new battery if you have problem take your altenator off take it to an auto store have them check it for correct output Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabber Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 try a new battery Yeah I forgot to put in the original post that it is a brand new battery, a week old to be specific, bought it because of this problem in fact. I will see about getting the alternator checked by some more proffesional equipment than the $100 jump starter I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AShoe Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 if you have a volt meter you can just measure the voltage across the battery when the car is running. It should be close to 14 volts. If not then you have an alternator problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabber Posted September 2, 2009 Author Share Posted September 2, 2009 tested the battery and the alternator as well as the wires, everything seems fine. From what can be told, there is some sort of drain on the battery even when the car is off. I have disconnected the battery for tonight to see if it will drain itself without being connected to the car. If it does, battery proble, if not, Im going to spend a lot of quality time with it and a voltage checker to try to find were the power drain is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabber Posted September 2, 2009 Author Share Posted September 2, 2009 The baja started right up when I reconnected the battery today, so definately some sort of drain. Now to brake out the voltage tester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pillboy Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I'm gonna bet on a stuck relay somewhere. It is still ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 If I give it a jump It starts right up and will start up fine if I stop someplace, but park it for the night and it's dead as a doornail. First thing I'd do is get the doornail re-calibrated. That would suck if it wasn't really dead and you replaced the battery based on a doornail diagnosis. Second thing I'd do is not park at night, but park during the day. Alternatively, you can fool the battery by keeping a flashlight shined on it at night. It might not slack off if it feels like it's being watched. That's just human nature. Well, battery nature too. Also, you mis-spelled "wired" in your thread title. I just checked and my battery is wired too, so that is not your problem. My '05 LGT My '07 Supercharged Shelby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D_J Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I had a problem like that before, after a brand new battery and alternator...still had problems. Eventually took it to a mechanic and there was some sort of wiring problem. They did some re-wire from the fuse relays and it finally fixed the problem. You really need to be careful whom you choose to do that kind of work though...if they are not experts with electrical work it can cause problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabber Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 Legend; thats is a very good analysis, I dont know why I didnt look at it that way before, I should have known better than to get a car with a sense of humor. However things have changed somewhat. So as I said I was going to I went through the main fuse box with a voltage meter by pulling the fuses and checking the contacts to see what systems were getting power when the car was turned off. Just checked the little ones at first, but the interior lights/clock was still getting power as was the horn. I didnt do anything else with it that day. let it sit for a few hours before work and it started right up, that was a little wierd but sometimes it works when its not sitting for a really long time, so nothing outside of what I would expect yet. On the way to work my check engine light goes on ?!?! what? It's not blinking, so im not tooo worried about it. I go to work, do my thing there and when I get out to my car it starts up with no problem, usually it is unable to be started without a jump at this point, thats unusual and the check engine light is still on. I was planning to pull one of the fuses to help narrow down the problem when I got home, but instead I just parked it as normal to see what would happen. today I go out to the baja and again it starts up flawlessly, check engine light still on. I go out to advanced auto parts and have them check it for me and apparently the error is for my low fuel sensor. This is not entirely unexpected since the last time I had b Baja in the shop they said that the check engine light came on for that reason and they cleared it. OK, so does anyone know why pulling the fuses might suddenly fix my problem with the drain on my battery as well as cause the problem with the low fuel sensor to register once again? would a stuck relay do this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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