Subaru Outback 2016 Battery
Asked by HowardV Dec 05, 2018 at 07:35 PM about the 2016 Subaru Outback 3.6R Touring
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
5 times in 40,000 miles my Subaru Outback 3.6R
battery is dead. Same dealer circle - jump, bring it
in, it works, and then stuck again!!! I swear the
battery is too small for this car. What is Lemon Law
in Florida?? Grrrr.
8 Answers
same problem with my 2013 Outback. Happened 6 times - 5 of them in airport parking lots at night...not exactly a safe situation. If anyone hears of an answer or a class action suit about this common parasitic draw problem that Subaru America won't acknowledge or fix... I'm in.
Buy an Optima or Odyssey battery. They are not cheap but they have a lot of capacity and they last a long time!
Thank you - in the absence of a "fix", this may be a good band-aide!
The OEM battery is small and there seems to be some ghost draw on the battery that causes it to drain when off. Had this problem on my 2013 and 2016 Outbacks. You need a battery with higher CCA (cold crank amps). This seems to be a common problem with this range of Subaru’s. The dealer was no help and could not diagnose the problem. Shell out the $$ for the better battery (some parts stores will install/dispose for free).
Well the BIU that the dealership said was the root cause for my parasitic drain was definitely not correct. They replaced the biu two weeks ago and the battery has already gone dead again after a 3- day stay at an airport parking lot. I have reopened for a third time my case with Subaru of America. Once again, for the fourth time, they have told me to take it to the dealership. I am so tired of this vicious cycle.
Yep getting my third battery on my 2016 outback 3.6 They have decided to replace the alternator which will take 3 weeks to come in. Gave us a loaner and Subaru is paying the bill! Very happy with the dealership but still a pain!
After 42 days at the dealership, again, they have replaced the entire dash cluster now. So I have a new biu and a new dash cluster and literally months without my car. I supposedly pick it up tomorrow so I'm sure the saga will continue. Yes, Subaru of America has been paying for my rental cars because the dealership had no loners. Interesting how much money they will throw at it, at my time and inconvenience, but won't buy the car back! Fair warning to you out there that have a case opened... Always use the same case number when you have the same problem the next time. My case has been open since February!
Subaru Service Bulletin for 2015-2016 Legacies and Outbacks. There is reprogramming which optimizes the ECM for battery charging. My local NAPA car repair guys told me about it. I took my 2015 Outback to the Subaru dealer to get this reprogramming done, and what do you know, it seems to have worked.
