Ride_The_Snake

You should see the "gas gauge" i keep for my '70 GMC--a 5' piece of marked 1"x1". Just stick it in then look for the wet mark lol.

The diode in my alt had taken a dump on me, as it turned out. Shop I had bought it from gave me half off a replacement, since it shouldn't have happened but was outside the 1 year warranty. I thought all was good until later today at work, she wouldn't start. Luckily I was on a slope so I could push start, then later the starter worked fine, then nada yet again, then I tried a couple whacks on it with the dead blow hammer and freed it. I guess it's so small a unit you can't even hear the stuck solenoid click. I'll pop a new one in there. That explains why it wasnt cranking with the old alt in there with a fresh battery. Thanks for the help, guys! And appreciate the info about the oil separator, although I'm figuring the cost in labor is about the same as the rear main seal, yeah? And I'm strongly considering a new clutch and definitely the timing kit while it's up there. I know I could do the timing myself but I can't afford for this thing to have downtime beyond a weekend if something goes wrong. After borrowing my roommate's raggedy-azz 2010ish Civic, I have a renewed depth of appreciation for how well the Legacy rides and for its boxter engine that doesn't sound like a buzzsaw. Cheers

Yeah, I will do so and follow up. Just too dark tonight after work and I don't feel like tweaking out with my headlamp. And yeah it's a 5MT. But I already went through pulling all the fuses on both panels (twice because i didn't trust my attention), and found no drop in the load. So I guess the only culprit could be non-fused circuits like starter and alt. I appreciate the help, guys.

Unrelated note, but this car had a single owner before me and was obviously very well taken care of aside from their possibly poor shifting technique (THIRD?! gear is very crunchy and its 50k clutch is almost gone). Got it at 250k, its now at 281k. 95% sure the rear main seal and possibly oil separator are leaking. Worth spending $900 to get that fixed? The motor still feels strong for what it is, but it's hard to justify dropping a grand just for a seal on an ancient ej22. But who knows, it might have another 50k left in it. Anyone got an opinion on that? Btw, I've been ignoring it for well over a year and the smell of oil burning off the exhaust is embarrassing.

Thanks guys, I will try to do what you suggest. Am I just making my own ground strap in that case, to ensure I don't have a poor ground issue? Like, Just going from negative post to somewhere on the engine or frame? I am getting no click from the starter whatsoever. It's not an aftermarket alt, it's OEM for a Mitsubishi Eclipse iirc, and is apparently the same model as what goes in my Legacy. I got it from a reputable local shop that just sells starters and alternators. And it's only two years old. Even if I discover my alt is bad and is the source of the draw, I still don't understand why a brand new battery isn't cranking the starter at all, as seems to be the case by the lack of any solenoid click. Comorbidity, I'm assuming for now.

Hello folks, just looking for any insight as I diagnose a problem with my old wagon. '96 Leggy. Daily driver. After sitting two days, come to find a dead dead battery--no accessories work. Fails to jump, giving only enough juice to accessories. Zero action from starter--no solenoid click, no nothing. Battery has only 8V. It's a two year old Duralast Gold. When i got this battery I also put in a new alternator, as the old one had gone bad and wasn't charging. I had had no charging system or battery issues since. Duralast was still under 3 year warranty so, put in the replacement. Clean terminals, apply electrical conductor goop. Accessories light up, zero action from the starter. Starter connections look good visually, but have not tested voltage to it. Wired my multimeter in series with the battery and i have a 3.4A draw when everything is off. I don't have any weird aftermarket accessories or alarms. I pulled every single fuse in both panels and didn't see the load drop down. I am at a loss as to what to test next, but Im wondering if i have multiple, possibly separate issues (the load on the battery when it's all off, and the starter being unresponsive). Thanks for reading and any input you may have.