Cold Weather Issues

[amajr316]

Hello all,
I have a 2007 Outback with the 2.5 l engine. The car has approximately 33,500 miles, and I have had no issues with it except for the following:
-I live in the Capital Region of New York, and we have had somewhat of a cold spell. Not too bad (the temp this morning was about 9 degrees f). The other morning, I got into the car after a chilly overnight (maybe in the teens that night) and the memory for my radio was gone. I had NO ISSUES WHATSOEVER with the car besides this (and the fact that my seat belt alarm was buzzing again) - I found this when I got into the car over over the weekend. So, I think nothing of it - I figure it must be a fluke. I reset the stations and disable the seat belt alarm. This morning, a few days later, I drive to work, no issues at all. I park the car. When I come out of work 8 hours later, the radio stations were cleared again. Now that this has happened twice within a week, it concerns me a bit more. As I stated, the car turns over and starts normally - even when using the remote starter. As we are just getting into the winter, and I expect that things will get colder - I am concerned about what is happening with my ride. I could test the battery, I know, but everything works normally, except for the memory reset. Could it be that the voltage is just dropping too low when it sits?

I appreciate any and all ideas you may have. I would rather not buy a new battery if I dont need one - and I have no real reason to suspect the battery - but aside from this, I just dont know.

Thanks, and happy holidays!

[subiesailor]

Cold temps do impact electronics no surprise there. My guess is that when your turning on the key to start the car that yes the cold temps and weak battery kill your radio pre sets.

When my battery was on its way out I had the same exact thing but I ran the car another two months before I finally hit the point the car would not start. Drove a week longer by making sure I parked on a hill I lived in SF and it was a MT LOL.

[SovereignAxe]

I'd say it's either a voltage drop when it gets really cold (more likely) or it's an issue with the radio not liking the cold (less likely, I'd think). The only way to test the latter would be to switch out the radio.

Do you know what CCA rating your battery has? Does the engine take noticeably longer to start when it's cold? My car takes about twice as long to start up as it would on a warm day (and by twice as long I mean about 1.25 seconds instead of about .75 seconds). I don't know my battery's CCA rating, but I'm anxiously awaiting for that battery to die so I can put a more powerful one in.

[MikeC5]

One way to test the voltage drop theory (while cranking) is to try the radio before starting the car (key in on but not cranking position). If it still fails the memory test I'd be more inclined to blame it on the radio since if you can still start the car, there should be plenty of voltage to maintain memory (which draws very little current).

[plain OM]

It's very likely the battery. The loss of radio presets has been traced in past threads here to a weak battery.

The radio memory requires a minimum voltage to maintain the presets. (Search: loss of presets) When the battery is strong, even when cranking hard, that minimum is not reached. But with a less robust battery, when cranking, the voltage will drop below the threshold.

Is the radio the Subaru 6 CD changer, or the single CD unit?

[amajr316]

Hello again, and thank you all for your replies. I will do the battery test (checking the presets before turning the key) for the next coule of days to see if something comes up. It is warner here for the next few days, so I dont know how this will work.

The battery is the original, and I do not know the CCA. Personally, when replacing a battery, I usually go for max CCA - as long as it fits in the car!

The radio is the original Subaru single disc. I have read on other threads that the connection for the radio is prone to contraction in the cold - sometimes breaking the contact. Any thoughts on that possibility?

Again, thank you all!

[ETC]

If it still works, the is no contraction/contact issue.

Most auto parts places will test your battery in the car for free so ... might as well eliminate that obvious possibility before moving on to other theories. Just a tip, go to the closest one possible to try to test it as cold as you can ... even failing batteries will perform better when warmed up.

We are of course assuming that you've checked that the terminals are tight and clean and not covered with green fuzz ;]

[cougar70]

Not sure if anyone is still looking at this thread but my wife's Outback has had the problem since she got it. She has an 07 OBW 2.5i with MT and a factory am/fm/cd (not changer) stereo that we got in November of 07 with only 7K miles, as it was a dealer car.
So we've had it for three years and every winter the presets are lost when it drops into low 20s or into the teens. There has been no other problems with the car, including no issues with the battery.

It has been an annoyance to her but not enough to drop it off at the dealer to look into it.
Since there have been no problems with the battery it almost has to be a problem with the stereo itself.

So if anyone else has found a cure for this let us know! Thanks!

[Bimmer]

I don't know how to fix your problem, but once when I lived in Montana and I had left my radio on and then tried to start the car the next cold (-10F) morning, it just buzzed for five seconds or so... Then it came on and acted normally.

[plain OM]

Cougar70: Next time it gets cold enough to expect to lose the presets (presumably after the car has been parked overnight), get into the car, turn the key to ACC (only) and try the radio to see if the presets are still working.

If they're not, then it could be a fault in the radio itself, or a bad connection in the memory back-up power circuit.

If they are working, then turn the radio off, start the car, and then see if the presets still work. If the presets are gone, then it's likely the battery voltage (at least the voltage reaching the radio) is dropping too low when the starter loads it down.