Alright guys, I need your help w/ ideas on what can be wrong. The other morning, it was chilly out, so I decided to auto start the car. It wouldn't turn over. I went out and tried to manually start it. It wouldn't turn. I jumped it and drove it for a little bit and went to work. The car sat for about 8 hours while I was at work and it started right up...alright maybe it fixed itself.
The car all day Tuesday, and I went to start it this morning and it wouldn't turn. I jumped it went to United Auto and bought an Interstate battery...$80. I installed it and it wouldn't start...jumped it and drove it to my dad's house real quick. I clean the terminals and car connections and it started fine. We talked for a little bit and I went to start it and it wouldn't. We were thinking something is drawing a charge while the car is off.
We put a voltmeter to the battery w/ the car off. The charge went from 12 down to 10 in about 15 minutes. We thought maybe a relay is stuck and is drawing a charge, so we decided to pull 1 relay at a time while watching the meter. If the meter stopped dropping w/ a certain relay pulled...we would find the stuck relay. So, I'm in the process of doing this now.
Are there any suggestions on what could be wrong??? Sorry for the long thread, but I don't want to miss anything. I have an 02 WRX w/ 55,xxx miles. Let me know guys. I'll keep checking the relays...

Mike

First you want to be sure that your battery is fully charged, sometimes when you buy a new one it isn't although they are supposed to be. Next, assuming you have a known good battery it's time to do a proper parasitic drain test. Disconnect one of the battery terminals, and connect your test meter, in current measuring mode, between the terminal and battery post. With the key out, car locked, and after waiting a few minutes observe the reading. It should be no more than about 20-30 milliamps. If it's more, especially if it's higher by an order of magnitude (i.e. hundreds of milliamps), then you have a problem. Begin disconnecting things until you see the drain return to normal. Start with any aftermarket devices or accessories, then pull fuses one at a time for vehicle circuits that are fed constant 12V. Eventually something you disconnect will cause the drain to drop down to normal, that is the faulty device or circuit. If it's a fuse with multiple devices on it you then have to trace out which one is the culprit.

Thanks for the info, Mulder. Unfortunately, the voltmeter I have reads volts only, so I don't think I'll be able to do the parasitic test.
I did run the car a little bit and put the voltmeter to the terminals...it read 14.5 V. Well, it looks like the alternator works. I let the car run for about 15 minutes and shut the car off and read the terminals again. It reads about 11V. Ok...it charged a little while I let it run(it started at 10V w/ the car off). I'm going to try to see if the battery is bad. I disconnected all connections from the battery and I'm going to read the battery in a little while to see if it drops.
Now, you mention that a fuse may be bad. How will a bad fuse drain the battery? If the fuse is burnt, there should be no power going to it.
You also mentioned aftermarket accessories. I do have Prodrive headlights w/ HID, hella supertones, and custom rear fog light. I've had these for quite sometime now(over a year for the prodrives and hellas), so I'm guessing it can't be these.
Any other input guys??? Keep the info coming. Thanks!

Mike

No, I didn't say a bad fuse would cause a drain. I was explaining how to trace the problem to a specific circuit by pulling fuses until the drain decreased to normal.
If your battery is not fully charged, a few minutes of running the engine won't be sufficient to properly charge it. It's not a good sign though that it dropped to 11V immediately after shutting the engine off. This indicates there is either a very substantial drain, or the battery is either undercharged or NG. You need to know the true condition of the battery before going any further. You also need to get a meter that measures current. A cheap Radio Shack DMM will suffice as long as it has an ammeter function.

Thanks again. I just spoke to my dad and he mentioned what you just did. He told me to pull fuses to bring the voltage drop to a stop. Which ever fuse it is, that's the problem. He thinks the alternator or starter could be the problem. I don't see a specific fuse for the starter under the hood. There is a fuse listed as "alt s"...I believe. It's a 10 amp fuse. Is this for the alternator? There are 6 big fuses(30 amp and up) but it doesn't give a specific part it goes to. Does anyone know which fuses are for the alternator and starter on an 02 WRX? Let me know guys. Thanks again, Mulder.

Mike

Well you're swatting eagles with a flyswatter doing it that way. You really need a meter so you can watch the actual current drain change when you disconnect things or pull fuses. Just watching the battery voltage is much less precise, and if the voltage is low because of the battery itself rather than a drain then you're looking in the wrong place to begin with. That's why I said first verify the condition of the battery, then get a meter and do your checking.
And there is no starter fuse, there are some main fuses in the underhood fuse box (the big square ones) but pulling those may not tell you much even if the drain then stops, as they will disconnect much of the stuff in the car.
It would also help to have the wiring manual for the car so you can do more accurate troubleshooting.

Well, I'm charging the battery as we speak. I'll have to buy a better test meter that reads in milliamps. Now when you say I have to put it between the terminal and battery post, does it matter what side I do( + or -)? I'm guessing it's the starter, alternator, or the ignition that's faulty. My dad said if the alternator is bad, the current may backwash into the alternator, forming a circuit. It must of had to do w/ something w/ the remote starter that cold morning. Keep the info coming. Thanks again!

Mike

It shouldn't matter which terminal you disconnect.
It's possible that the alternator is at fault but don't rule out other things. You can isolate the alternator without disconnecting anything else by pulling the main power wire off the alternator, just be sure not to let it short to ground or you'll blow one of the main fuses.

My Carbon monoxide/explosive gas detector in my house just went off. It read gas. I went to the basement to check the charging battery. I've never listened to the battery as it charged before, but it is making a bubbling noise. The charger is warm too. I'm assuming the charger makes the acid hot in which charges the battery. Is this right or is the thing going to blow? I took the charger off the battery for a second and read it w/ the meter. It read a little over 11V...it started at 10V. So, it looks like it is charging.

Mike

Should the battery read 12V when it's fully charged? If not, what should it read.

Mike

fully charged should be around 12.6-12.7V (a fully charged lead-acid cell is around 2.1V, and your battery has six of them in series)

Is the bubbling sound normal??

If the battery is actively bubbling and still reads only 11V it may not be in good shape. By the time it's bubbling I'd expect to see it closer to 12V.
If it has removeable cell caps you should take them off while charging. The caps can be left sitting loosely on top of the cells to prevent acid from splashing around while allowing the gas to escape. A charging battery will vent hydrogen gas as part of the process.
You can get a cheap battery hydrometer (looks like an eyedropper) from the parts store and use this to check the charge level in the individual cells (assuming it does have the removeable cell caps). This will tell you A- when the battery is actually charged and B- if any individual cells are weak. Also look for low fluid level in any of the cells, that indicates a possible shorted cell. They should all be bubbling equally, one bubbling a lot more may also be shorted.
And, the basement isn't the best place to charge it as you don't want hydrogen gas building up down there. Do it outside or in a well-vented area like the garage.

I did disconnect the charger for the evening. It seems as though the charge is lingering around 11V. It was making a bubbling noise when I disconnected it, but only read 11V. I will resume charging the battery tomorrow after work(in a ventilated area). There are 2 caps on the top of the battery, but it says not to mess w/ them. Should I still open them and let them sit loosley on the battery while it charges? Is it a rare thing to buy a defective battery? Could this be the root of my problem, or do you still think there's a defective component in the engine. Thanks again for all your help, Mulder.

Mike

Oh yeah, if the battery is good, should it hold the 11V charge until I go to charge it again tomorrow? I planned on checking the voltage before I resumed charging it.

Mike

Not to be a pedant, but do all 6 cells of the battery have the proper electrolyte (fluid) level. Loud bubbling may indicate that one or more cells are low on fluid to the point where the top of the plates are not submerged in electrolyte.

EDIT: A "good" battery will read much more than 11V after charging.

Since that battery is brand new the best thing to do may be to go back to where you bought it and get them to exchange it for another one. At least have them test it and verify if it's good or not, it doesn't sound like it is.

Harbor Freight has a small cheap Chinese digital volt/amp meter for $3. Everyone should have a few of them. I keep one in the trunk of the car, one on the bench in the garage. In addition to my good Fluke and Tek meters that I usually don't subject to automotive uses. Nice thing about $3 meters is that you just don't care if they get abused, and they do work well enough to do almost anything on a car. For the price of a gallon of gas you can test fuses, batteries, wiring. Get one.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90899

Could this potential faulty battery is the root of my problems?

Mike

Alright, here's an update: I charged the "new" battery for a couple of hours last night. Before I took it off charge, I measured the voltage. I could only get the volts close to 11V. I decide to check the voltage before I leave for work this morning and it dropped to 6V. It looks like all the cells are filled. I would think a good battery would hold it's charge w/ nothing hooked up to it. What do you guys think?

Mike

Your battery is NFG. Get it replaced with a good one and go from there.

Looks like you lost a cell or two altogether... definitely time for a new one

Wow - 6 volts! That's really bad. You sure you got a 12V battery??

Well, I went to the parts store where I got the battery. I swapped it for a fully charged one. The one I returned couldn't even light up their electrical meter. The one they gave me read 12.5V. I put it in the car and it fired right up. I let it sit for a few hours and tried again. It fired up again. It looks like the battery was the problem. I really appreciate everyone's input and suggestions. Thanks!

Mike