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battery drain radio/AC unit on 05 OBW

6K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  maland2 
#1 ·
I am chasing down the dreaded battery drain demon - 250mA with key out, doors closed. 0.75mA with BIU fuse pilled. I have pulled the radio/AC head out - all one piece!

Question 1: is there a separate fuse for the CD player?I see #24 for the Audio unit/ clock.

Question 2: Is there any aftermarket audio option?

Question 3: I am planning to put the BJU on a switch so I can turn it on to drive, off to park. not very concerned about radio memory or security/keyless entry. Any drawbacks?

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Check for a CD stuck in the changer. They're known to hang up either cycling from disc to disc or ejecting, and it feeds from the constant power line (why, Subaru?) so it can drain the battery.

I don't think there's a practical way to reassign power given that the distribution is on the PCB.

See my signature for aftermarket replacement info.
 
#3 ·
... and I just tested the current draw at (-) battery terminal with the radio head connected, 245mA, all disco'd, 40mA.

With the big white connector out, 2 small black connectors in, 40mA.

With the big white connector in, 2 small black connectors out, 245mA

There are 6 CDs stuck in the dead player, it will not eject or play.

Ideas?
 
#4 ·
you won't be the first or the last person that has tried to power up a CD changer on a bench with a wiring diagram to eject cds,

before tearing it apart to get them.
 
#6 ·
yup, thanks for the moral support. I probed out the red/blue/silver dots power lead, cut and spliced out leads for a toggle switch. Tried to pry out the top CD, but I'll worry about that after dealing with the rest of the gremlins ; ]
 
#7 ·
Crap, this probably explain my issues too then. I have a non working CD player and previous owner claimed of battery drainage.....sigh......
 
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#8 ·
I don't suppose you could remove the +12 constant from the radio and still have full HVAC function?
 
#9 ·
with the electronic hvac controls, needs the constant battery for memory and operation, that's why i have that lead spliced out to wirenuts at the moment. drain is below 40mA when I disco that lead. you can hear the cd player working when coneecting the lead before starting the car. There is a link above from rasterman for a total replacement of radio and controls with JDM parts - expensive but very cool. removal is simple - start with the auto stick in drive (parking brake/whell chocks!), pry up the trim ring around the gate, and follow the trail of screws.
 
#10 ·
I have a 2008 I just "inherited" when we got my wife a 2016 Forester for her drive. So now I have her CD's stuck in "my" car.

Does not seem like there is a drain, but the car does get used every day.

Can you get the CD's out when it is powered up on a bench with a little prying, or do they stick due to mechanical breakdown of the moving parts.
 
#11 ·
This appears to be my problem as well. 270mA draw continuous when the car is off. It's my wife's car and she only listens to the Radio, the CD's have probably been in there for 15 years! I cannot even get the unit to switch to CD, all I get is AM and FM1/2. I'm good at busting stuff, so glad to hear there are readily available replacement units if it comes to that.
 
#12 ·
Holy cow! I've been trying to track down a slow drain on the battery for ages and this is definitely it! Pulled the radio out at on the healing bench it's pulling ~2.5W with only power going to the "+12V Memory" pin. When I connect 12V power to the accessory pin I hear it try to remove the disc, but can't see any movement. I'll update here if I'm able to get the CDs out/ figure out what's going on.
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#13 ·
Holy cow! I've been trying to track down a slow drain on the battery for ages and this is definitely it! Pulled the radio out at on the healing bench it's pulling ~2.5W with only power going to the "+12V Memory" pin. When I connect 12V power to the accessory pin I hear it try to remove the disc, but can't see any movement. I'll update here if I'm able to get the CDs out/ figure out what's going on.
I had to pull my CD's out manually, but it's actually pretty easy through the opening in the top of the changer. You can pull up on collapsable "sleeves" the corner back passenger-side corner to get the disc to the top, use a screw driver to slip the center hole of the disc up over the center spindle and then push it out the slot. My load/unload motor (at least) is seized/doesn't work. I just pulled the whole 6 Disc Changer out and put the head unit back. The parasitic draw dropped from ~275mA to 15mA, problem solved for me. I didn't know what I was doing so I took more apart
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than I had to (like the heat sync could have stayed in place), but all in all it wasn't too bad. If you put a disc in there now it will just drop into a hole!
 
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