Battery Problem??

saxon.hall.00 · Post by **saxon.hall.00** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 9:50 am

Hey,

I have a Subaru, L Series, sports wagon, 1.8L, 89 model
I have a clarion stereo in it with just two speakers in the front and a couple of tweeters.

Lately if I turn the car engine of and still have the stereo turned on, I can’t turn it up as loud as I could when the car is turned on other wise the speakers start to crackle and distort until it is not even listenable. Also when the AC is turned on whilst listening to the stereo this will affect the performance of the stereo as well

Is this a problem with my battery or a problem with the wiring??

Just after some opinions on what it would be and if I should get it fixed, and if so how much would it cost??

Cheers.

the gumbi brumby · Post by **the gumbi brumby** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 10:23 am

get your alternator tested or it could be interfernce on the stereo

ol kid · Post by **ol kid** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:14 pm

Whats the condish of your battery?? Could be causing it.

Cheers Ethan

saxon.hall.00 · Post by **saxon.hall.00** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 8:34 am

The car sometimes has trouble turning over in the mornings if you know what i mean? flat battery sound?

tex · Post by **tex** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 11:39 am

First off check all your battery terminals for security, sounds like your battery is undercharged but this could well be from your alternator chucking it in instead. It pays to check the fluid levels in your battery too if it is below the plates they need topping up with distilled or demineralised water (Tap water will work but not as good distilled stuff is like 70 cents at a hardware store) most battery and some tyre shops will do a free battery check.
If you only have an radio issue with the ignition on accesories and not with it on on (without the engine running) then its a wiring issue. check the fusible links and the wire heading into them for security and corrosion etc and if nothing helps check back with us!
Sorry all about the long post!

saxon.hall.00 · Post by **saxon.hall.00** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 2:14 pm

No worries abou the long post, cheers, ill check it out

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 8:10 am

tex wrote:Sorry all about the long post!

Wait til he reads a "short" post from Discopotato... He gives good info, especially if you want to know about turbo's...

Back on topic - Your problem sounds like it could be a combination of things:
- dodgy wiring - you may want to check to see where the head unit sources its power from, how the speakers are wired in.
From what I can tell, the factory speakers used a common earth to the speaker, if your speakers are setup in this way it could be part of the problem. I'm not sure if you can do it with an aftermarket head unit though.

- I'd say that your alternator is fine and that the battery is on the way out. The "flat battery" type cranking is what I experience with my 88 L (I haven't looked into it yet - I just live with it), I don't know what it is but a weak battery certainly won't help. My thinking is that my starter is on the way out or creating resistance when trying to start - after the initial crank or two it will pick up as it should from the start then shortly after that goes flat very quickly...

What type of head unit have you installed? Is it a cheapie? One thing I don't agree with is a cheap head unit. I've always stuck to brands that I know, this has served me well so far...

Let us know what you've done, looked at and found out... Pics of wiring with annotations from yourself can really help too.

Cheers

Bennie

tex · Post by **tex** » Sat Oct 11, 2008 8:16 am

One other thing I just noticed your down south but if a battery is questionable they wont normally take too kindly to cold winters so if its lasted the cold so far thats generally a good sign. A little off topic but if on a cold morning your battery needs just a little more oompfh to start your car tip some hot (not boiling) water on it and should get you out of trouble (It gets it out of bed on those cold frosty days).