Gen 6 Battery Replacement Info

Nice. That's not as high a price as I thought it would be.

 

I've got nearly 60k on mine and it's starting to slow down (a little to moderate amount). This may be it's last winter. It still passes a load test and one of those small testers shows it's stil GOOD.

 

I put a smart charger on it weekly to keep it going.

 

I've got a jump pack in my trunk, just in case. If it fails to start one time I'll be getting a new battery.

@gathermewool Im not a mechanic, but you could always add distilled water to your battery.

@gathermewool Im not a mechanic, but you could always add distilled water to your battery.

 

Water level is fine, well above the plates and just below the max level.

 

Level should always be above the plates. If the battery dies and the level is below the level of the plates, add just enough water to cover the plates, then charge fully. If the plates are covered with water already, charge the battery to full and add, if necessary.

Edited January 19, 2021 by gathermewool

I was able to fit group 65. It is probably the biggest battery you can fit in the tray.

 

Tray is 11" L and about 6 3/4" W I had to cut little trim from the bottom of the battery and make my own battery bracket. I selected Walmart's Everstart Max 850 cca.

 

Walmart's web site lists this battery as 11.9" long, but that is the top dimension, the bottom of the battery is exactly 11" L.

 

Here is the reason why I selected this low price battery:

Edited May 12, 2021 by aki334

Just had (In my honest opinion) a great experience with Costco to exchanging my car battery. In Dec 2018 I purchased an Interstate 42 month battery from Costco. July 2021 I took my car into the dealership for a multipoint inspection, and they noticed my battery was medium battery life left and should replace it in a few months. I contacted my local Costco to see how to do an exchange on a battery saying my dealer said I needed a new battery soon. I took my battery out, and took it to Costco, and they only charged me $8.## for a new battery since the new battery costs more then I purchased the old one for, also the new battery comes with a new 36 month warranty (not pro-rated from the old battery). I say that was a good deal. NOTE, Costco does not install car batteries, it's a DIY. Edited July 8, 2021 by Whitesnake

Thanks for all this battery info. Will the Optima Batteries 8025-160 fit inside the 2018 and 2019 Legacies with the OEM hardware?

do keyless entry [push button] models need a ob2 settings 'saver' plugged in to keep settings before battery is disconnected??

do keyless entry [push button] models need a ob2 settings 'saver' plugged in to keep settings before battery is disconnected??

Need? No. But doing so will avoid having to re-initialize the power windows and re-program a few other volatile options settings.

 

There are also occasional (rare) instances where intentionally disconnecting the battery is done to force a "hard reboot" of all the car's systems.

Edited October 8, 2021 by ammcinnis

do keyless entry [push button] models need a ob2 settings 'saver' plugged in to keep settings before battery is disconnected??

 

Today our 2018 3.6R had a dead battery, (original battery) she left the map light on overnight.

 

When I put the battery charger on it, voltage was 10.6amps, I began to charge the battery, for some reason, only the right cooling fan cycled on.

 

I disconnected the charger, I went and got my jumper cables, started the Spec B, and connected the cables. The outback started right up. I drove the outback for 10 miles to fully charge the battery. Volt meter read +13v with engine running, then I shut it off, volt meter read12.7v. An hour or so later, the volt meter read 12.4v.

 

During the test drive, I noticed the passenger side window didn't work from the driver's door. I asked google about it, found a youtube video how to reset that window.

 

 

Start car, lower passenger side window all the way down from its switch, then fully raise the window and continue to hold switch up for 5 seconds after it's fully up. The driver's side switch will now lower/raise the passenger side window.

 

I also cleaned both cables on the Outback before charging.

Need? No. But doing so will avoid having to re-initialize the power windows and re-program a few other volatile options settings.

 

There are also occasional (rare) instances where intentionally disconnecting the battery is done to force a "hard reboot" of all the car's systems.

 

thanks!

 

Got a OB2 power saver ... then after plugging it in... forgot to connect it to my jumpstarter so did end up having to do pwr window reprogram.. wasnt hard; but also found dealership was one resetting my seat presets every visit by doing their battery check! The service mgr still claims nothing is reset by disconnecting the battery!

 

the good news is that I got to reprogram my ECU-CVT behavior and now as long as its warm;now it actually goes when I floor it making a turn from a stop sign:icon_mrgr

 

so far I am much happier with a red top optima than the crap factory batteries my car was eating

Edited March 14, 2022 by mwlegltd

Today our 2018 3.6R had a dead battery, (original battery) she left the map light on overnight.

 

When I put the battery charger on it, voltage was 10.6amps, I began to charge the battery, for some reason, only the right cooling fan cycled on.

 

I disconnected the charger, I went and got my jumper cables, started the Spec B, and connected the cables. The outback started right up. I drove the outback for 10 miles to fully charge the battery. Volt meter read +13v with engine running, then I shut it off, volt meter read12.7v. An hour or so later, the volt meter read 12.4v.

 

During the test drive, I noticed the passenger side window didn't work from the driver's door. I asked google about it, found a youtube video how to reset that window.

 

 

Start car, lower passenger side window all the way down from its switch, then fully raise the window and continue to hold switch up for 5 seconds after it's fully up. The driver's side switch will now lower/raise the passenger side window.

 

I also cleaned both cables on the Outback before charging.

 

yeah - spent over a half hour cleaning the + connector

it was so bad after 5 minutes of wire brushing it; i got dremel out with sanding drum and took that to it!

then coated it good with dielectric grease before connecting to optima

https://www.harborfreight.com/battery-terminal-cleaner-94450.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12144811130&campaignid=12144811130&utm_content=117789310718&adsetid=117789310718&product=94450&store=321&gclid=CjwKCAjwlcaRBhBYEiwAK341jU9KBRzqOGSK6InNVm7eg3LyWmCgBk94a2nqB1Lkpu3U3Z_6hLpY5xoCro8QAvD_BwE

 

I have two of those that I use to clean the terminals. The old one I have I bought back in the 1970's.

 

I also finally got around to installing those green and red felt protectors on the battery on my other cars. I got them from Tractor Supply by the batteries for a couple of bucks.

Edited March 16, 2022 by Max Capacity

Just replace the original battery in the Outback 3.6R with a MaxxEverstart group 34 $149.00, its date sticker is 5/22.

 

I had to do the passenger side window reset... I don't understand why that is an issue...

 

I did use my battery charger, but did notice after I disconnected the cables from the battery, it had shut off for some reason...so I turned it back on to full charging.

I did get the felt pads for under the terminals, they were 97 cents.

Car has 26,620 miles we bought it Oct 2017.

 

So the rear hatch won't open after replacing the battery. Here's the fix. STUPID Engineers, take something so routine and simple and make it difficult.

 

I had to disconnect my battery while replacing the roll conntector ( horn not working)  When I attempted to get a state inspection sticker, the car failed for emissions because the battery had been disconnected..  My question is, how long or how many miles / drive cycles need to be done before the OBD will register for emissions...    Any insight is appreciated..

100-150 miles I believe.

You can check the readiness level with most generic obd2 scan tools

On 10/2/2022 at 11:01 AM, Beamercub said:

I had to disconnect my battery while replacing the roll conntector ( horn not working)  When I attempted to get a state inspection sticker, the car failed for emissions because the battery had been disconnected..  My question is, how long or how many miles / drive cycles need to be done before the OBD will register for emissions...    Any insight is appreciated..

Unless it's changed, 50-60 miles used to be the norm for the system to be ready. That's what I heard one of the Techs tell a customer once.

plugged into a battery maintainer today... had not looked at positive terminal since September - that #%$# thing was totally covered with corrosion even with anti corrosion felt pad and dielectric grease on post! 

what the h--- is wrong with subaru's charging system?

Edited December 21, 2022 by mwlegltd

On 12/21/2022 at 12:17 PM, mwlegltd said:

... positive terminal ... was totally covered with corrosion even with anti corrosion felt pad and dielectric grease on post!

what the h--- is wrong with subaru's charging system?

Such corrosion isn't caused by the "charging system." It usually indicates long-term acid leakage from the battery, either from the cell vents, the case seal, or the terminal post seals.

4 hours ago, ammcinnis said:

Such corrosion isn't caused by the "charging system." It usually indicates long-term acid leakage from the battery, either from the cell vents, the case seal, or the terminal post seals.

This.  The battery holder and clamps have torque specs, but who does that??? For the curious, the battery holder nuts on my '17 are 7.5nm or 5.5ft-lbs. And the clamps are 6nm or 4.4ft-lb. Over tightening the holder nuts cracks the battery case or pops the vents open, over tightening the clamps breaks the post seal.

Edited December 23, 2022 by silverton

I can't believe Subaru's negligence about the battery situation.  I have a 2018 Legacy Limited.  It has so much electronic crap, including the Component Area Network of devices, one of more of them parasitically drains current from the battery, even when the ignition is off.  Subaru is aware of this, and have been, since 2015.  Yet the still have done nothing to fix it.  In my cold weather climate, I can get no more than 2 years from ANY battery.  The crappy ones that Subaru OEMs, are even worse.

I'm trading up to a different maker.  Like I said, subaru has known about this since 2015 and they've done NOTHING to fix it.  There is a class action lawsuit in progress,but good luck getting any significant reimbursement from that.

17 hours ago, gizmoprof said:

I can't believe Subaru's negligence about the battery situation.  I have a 2018 Legacy Limited.  It has so much electronic crap, including the Component Area Network of devices, one of more of them parasitically drains current from the battery, even when the ignition is off.  Subaru is aware of this, and have been, since 2015.  Yet the still have done nothing to fix it.  In my cold weather climate, I can get no more than 2 years from ANY battery.  The crappy ones that Subaru OEMs, are even worse.

I'm trading up to a different maker.  Like I said, subaru has known about this since 2015 and they've done NOTHING to fix it.  There is a class action lawsuit in progress,but good luck getting any significant reimbursement from that.

Where are you? I have a 2019 in NY and I'm still on the original battery. Had the car exactly 4 years this week.

10 hours ago, DougKelly20 said:

Where are you? I have a 2019 in NY and I'm still on the original battery. Had the car exactly 4 years this week.

Yeah, I imagine whatever issue they are experiencing would be the same with any vehicle manufacturer.  Unless they have another problem free 2018 Legacy Limited, using it in exactly the same way as the one with "issues", it's not likely the car.

On 12/29/2022 at 2:13 PM, gizmoprof said:

I can't believe Subaru's negligence about the battery situation.  I have a 2018 Legacy Limited.  It has so much electronic crap, including the Component Area Network of devices, one of more of them parasitically drains current from the battery, even when the ignition is off.  Subaru is aware of this, and have been, since 2015.  Yet the still have done nothing to fix it.  In my cold weather climate, I can get no more than 2 years from ANY battery.  The crappy ones that Subaru OEMs, are even worse.

I'm trading up to a different maker.  Like I said, subaru has known about this since 2015 and they've done NOTHING to fix it.  There is a class action lawsuit in progress,but good luck getting any significant reimbursement from that.

If you're worried about the "Component Area Network of devices", it actually stands for Controller Area Network and everyone and their mother calls it CANBUS/CAN bus, don't buy anything newer than.... I dunno, Dodge started doing it in 2000 or 2001? Subaru started in 2008 or 9?  My 2001 Legacy uses that "electronic crap" to change the blend door on the hvac

Seems "gizmoprof" only has one post.  Just saying, our 18' sat outside here in northeast CT since we bought it Oct 2017. The has sat for a number of days in the cold Winter days, has never failed to start on the OEM, until she left a map light on. The car didn't sit inside until Jan 22 when the new garage was ready for cars.

Again, when the battery was replaced June 2022 the car had 26,000 miles. 

I wonder why some have issues with getting only a couple of years out of a battery...?