I had almost the exact same problem as the OP. I have a 2005 Legacy GT, and about 9 months ago I started seeing my battery go dead after a few days of not driving the car. I replaced the battery, which was a few years old, but then the new optima battery started to have the same behavior.
Around the same time, my factory CD changer got jammed and I just figured I'd live with it until I got around to fixing it.
This week I got tired of the battery draining problem and found this thread - thank you all for the great suggestions!
Checking all of the fuses showed no major culprit - current drain with the car off stayed about .7 amp. I pulled the stereo out, and like magic it dropped to .02 amp (20 mA). Apparently, the stereo is not on one of the fuse circuits that I could see.
With the stereo/CD changer apart, I could see that a homemade CD with a sticker label had lifted up and gotten all snagged in the mechanism. I was able to slide the CDs back into their center position near the spindle. Then, I plugged the white harness connector back into the car, and held the eject button until "Eject All" appeared on the display. As it shuffled the CDs out, I helped it along by pulling them gently as they popped out.
After I put it all back together (minus the nemesis sticker CD), the CD changer worked again and current draw with the car off was back where it should be.
Troubleshooting .78 amp Battery Drain - 2006 Subaru Legacy Outback
in 1990 to Present Legacy, Impreza, Outback, Forester, Baja, WRX&WrxSTI, SVX
Posted
I had almost the exact same problem as the OP. I have a 2005 Legacy GT, and about 9 months ago I started seeing my battery go dead after a few days of not driving the car. I replaced the battery, which was a few years old, but then the new optima battery started to have the same behavior.
Around the same time, my factory CD changer got jammed and I just figured I'd live with it until I got around to fixing it.
This week I got tired of the battery draining problem and found this thread - thank you all for the great suggestions!
Checking all of the fuses showed no major culprit - current drain with the car off stayed about .7 amp. I pulled the stereo out, and like magic it dropped to .02 amp (20 mA). Apparently, the stereo is not on one of the fuse circuits that I could see.
With the stereo/CD changer apart, I could see that a homemade CD with a sticker label had lifted up and gotten all snagged in the mechanism. I was able to slide the CDs back into their center position near the spindle. Then, I plugged the white harness connector back into the car, and held the eject button until "Eject All" appeared on the display. As it shuffled the CDs out, I helped it along by pulling them gently as they popped out.
After I put it all back together (minus the nemesis sticker CD), the CD changer worked again and current draw with the car off was back where it should be.