Charging issue?!?!?

[mudrunner80]

I have a 2000 outback 2.5. with 145,000 miles.New battery end of april. At driving speed All guages stopped working and it jerked really bad,lost basically all power, wouldn't even climb a small hill then died, Dead battery. I got a boost enough to get home and replaced the alternator, Ran fine a day with everything on ie A/C, radio, headlights, running lights, Now a day later same thing. No check engine light came on butt ABS light flashed, Tach was at 0 till I reved it it worked,then when I turned it off to restart nothing. All signs of a dead battery yet if I boost it for a bit it will charge enough to make it home but to turn on all accessories for a bit then turn off It does nothing. Again no check engine light comes on just ABS flashes about the time the tach slowly stops working.
Any Ideas before I nickel and dime myself would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[somick]

Make sure there is no corrosion on the battery terminals. Try to look under the cable insulation. It sometimes looks good on the outside but still corroded inside.
Check the charging voltage. It should be somewhere around 13.6 volts.
Make sure grounds are clean and tight.

Good luck,

Sam

[mudrunner80]

all twrminals and grounds were cleaned up.
Heres whats been done. Changed the alternator. Still drained, my girlfriends dad got a new starter. (I know that had no part but didnt want to upset him ) BUT something odd happened next. When it died. The battery was so dead only the starter clicked. I know not unusual but When I took the keys out with ignition of of course the clicking in the starter began clicking on its own so I disconnected the battery. I took the battery back and got a new one and no issues yet but highly doubt its fixed.
I also took it to O'reillys and had it scanned. The only code that came up was p0420 which I believe has nothing to do with charging. Just emitions or exhaust. The starter clicking with the keys not even in the car leads me to believe its not fixed. ugh

[mudrunner80]

Unfortunately I was right. Stopped for gas and it wouldn't even turn over. Grrrr. Any ideas guys? I'm completely stumped here!

[somick]

The starter should not click on its own. Make sure you connected everything correctly.

How many volts do you get when the car is running?

Take it to O'Reilly and ask them to check your charging system. They will be able to tell you the conditions of the battery and alternator.

Good luck,
Sam

[mudrunner80]

well... I went back to Napa and had the new alternator tested. It came back bad. I replaced it but that whole starter clicking issue leads me to believe a bad ignition. I have no idea where to even begin to test that. Could a bad ignition cause all these issues?

[mudrunner80]

also I checked and rechecked all connections to the starter. All clean and tight. The reason the starter was even changed was the old one did the same clicking after the battery was drained and key removed

[somick]

I do not have access to the electrical schematics but I believe this is a simple circuit when the key turn moves the contacts that energize the starting solenoid.

Try to wiggle the key. It might be the bad lock cylinder.

Good luck,
Sam

[mudrunner80]

Thank you very much Sa. I think its actually my om. If the problem isnt fixed replacing the ignition is my next step. I believe its all thats left ugh

[somick]

I would replace the ignition switch only as a last resort.

Start with troubleshooting the charging system.

Try to ask the same question at www.ultimatesubaru.org. Post it at the New Generation. You will get a lot more responses there.

Good luck,

Sam

[mudrunner80]

Great. thank you. So far so good. I wont jinx myself and call it fixed but its been 3 days and no issues :-)