91 subaru legacy wagon electrical problem

[osote]

i bought a 91 subaru legacy wagon from the russian guy down the street
and did not really understand what he was telling me about this switch
under the driver's seat that turns the battery on and off.

i was desperate for a car and for some reason thought that switch was
for the 4 wheel drive or something.

anyway, this car runs fine but switching the battery on and off
everywhere i go is not enough to keep the battery charged up. i have
to remove the battery cables when leaving it overnight or the battery
runs down.

how can i figure out what to do about this?

 

[Roger Brown]

i bought a 91 subaru legacy wagon from the russian guy down the street
and did not really understand what he was telling me about this switch
under the driver's seat that turns the battery on and off.

i was desperate for a car and for some reason thought that switch was
for the 4 wheel drive or something.

anyway, this car runs fine but switching the battery on and off
everywhere i go is not enough to keep the battery charged up. i have
to remove the battery cables when leaving it overnight or the battery
runs down.

how can i figure out what to do about this?

Sounds like there is some contant drain on the battery. Get ahold of a current meter (ammeter) and hook it up between the battery post and cable (i.e. disconnect the cable - positive or negative - and hook the meter between the two). Observe the current
flow, then start pulling fuses until the current drops. When it does, something on the circuit is pulling current, find everything connected to that circuit and disconnect components until you find the one drawing the current. Once you identify the
source of the current drain, figure out what it'll take to fix it. Likely is something added on to the vehicle, so that would be the best place to start.

 

[Jim Lofgren]

Good thought on the current drain when the car is shut off. If you don't
have an ammeter, you could try putting a lamp (maybe an 1156) in series with
the battery lead. If it glows, that would verify your load. Make sure the
car ignition is off. If the load is a small one, the bulb may not light,
but at least this would be a less expensive way to go. Then go a head like
Roger said and pull fuses ect. The least expensive way to go would be to
turn the car off and remove one battery cable....then lightly touch it to
the battery post. If it sparks...there is your load...pull the fuses one at
a time as you test for a spark. I haven't tried this with a Subaru, but
unless there is some capacitive loading, it should work....any thoughts out
there?

Jim.

Sounds like there is some contant drain on the battery. Get ahold of a

current meter (ammeter) and hook it up between the battery post and cable
(i.e. disconnect the cable - positive or negative - and hook the meter
between the two). Observe the current

flow, then start pulling fuses until the current drops. When it does,

something on the circuit is pulling current, find everything connected to
that circuit and disconnect components until you find the one drawing the
current. Once you identify the

source of the current drain, figure out what it'll take to fix it. Likely

is something added on to the vehicle, so that would be the best place to
start.

 

[Raybender]

Somebody wrote

The least expensive way to go would be to
turn the car off and remove one battery cable....then lightly touch it to
the battery post. If it sparks...there is your load...pull the fuses one at
a time as you test for a spark.

DON'T DO THIS!!! You don't want to make sparks next to the battery - ok.

Frank

 

[Jim Lofgren]

Yeah Ray...I guess your probably right. On that...My thought was that if it
was a light load....the spark would be barely visible. A highly charged
battery could be outgassing enough to cause an explosion. If you have a
jumper cable, you could go from the negative post (disconnected from ground
cable) with the jumper cable and try touching it to a grounding point a
distance away from the battery. Sorry about that...Jim

 

[Dick C]

Raybender wrote in rec.autos.tech

Somebody wrote


DON'T DO THIS!!! You don't want to make sparks next to the battery -
ok.

Connect the light between the negative terminal and the negative
cable, or disconnect the ground cable at ground, and connect the
light there.


--
Dick #1349
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
~Benjamin Franklin

Home Page: dickcr.iwarp.com
email: (e-mail address removed)

 

[Bowgus]

There is obviously a fault somewhere within the car's electronics ... and
I'm thinking if this guy was loopy enough to install a switch under the seat
that he says is "turning the battery off", what else has he done. I suggest
find a good mechanic and have it fixed. A switch under the seat that "turns
the battery on and off" ... not likely ... that involves some heavy duty
wiring, or relays, I don't think so ... unless maybe he installed a dual
battery setup for some reason???

 

[Jim85CJ]

just curious... what did you pay for the wagon?

 

[Refinish King]

Find the parasitic draw:

That he bypassed by switching the battery feed to the electrical system!

That's the easiest answer I can give you without more information.

Refinish King

 

[Florian Feuser /FFF/]

Find the parasitic draw:

That he bypassed by switching the battery feed to the electrical system!

That's the easiest answer I can give you without more information.

Refinish King

... if the battery itself isn't shot beyond being able to hold a charge.
Disconnect the cable from the battery with all systems off, if you're able to
measure some current between the terminal and the loose end, you need to look
for shorts.

Florian

 

[Refinish King]

Some current as in maybe under 50 amps is not a short!

200 Amps or more, is a dead short to ground. Something is staying on, and
most likely it is that Nippon or Nipponseiki ignition switch. As in the Ford
Escorts, when they switched it over to the Mazda platform.

The Asian switches have some problems, not that I haven't found a good
number of American switches that failed also.

The first place I look for draws is at the ignition switch.

Refinish King

 

[Florian Feuser /FFF/]

Some current as in maybe under 50 amps is not a short!

200 Amps or more, is a dead short to ground. Something is staying on, and
most likely it is that Nippon or Nipponseiki ignition switch. As in the Ford
Escorts, when they switched it over to the Mazda platform.

The Asian switches have some problems, not that I haven't found a good
number of American switches that failed also.

The first place I look for draws is at the ignition switch.

Refinish King

Yes, you're right of course. Replace "some" with "substantial" in my post.

florian

 

[Andrew Garth]

Are you sure he just wasnt being a scrooge and not replacing an old dieing
battery? Some people go to extreme measures to get that last week of life
out of a battery that should have been replaced years ago. A dieing battery
wont hold charge overnight....connected or not.

The other alternative is a dieing alternator. It will slowly put our less
and less volts...until it is barely charging the battery.