Battery drains while driving but will recharge if left off

Tiny
GKRACKA187
  • MEMBER
  • SUBARU
1995 Subaru Legacy 195,000 1.8L engine.

The other night I was driving my car and the battery began to fail. I had just replaced the alternator six months ago, and so I suspected a bad battery. After I turned the car off, it would not start. However, I attempted again after an hour, and it did turn over. The problem, though, quickly repeated and so I ended up at Walmart. I replaced the battery and everything seemed fine, until today, when the same thing happened. I again turned the car off and it wouldn't start, but after letting it sit for an hour, was able to get it to turn over, and again, the problem repeated. Please help.
Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 AT 2:05 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
  • 52,797 POSTS
Good evening,

This sounds like you have a failed alternator and it is not maintaining the battery as it should.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-replace-an-alternator

If you have a voltmeter, test the voltage at the battery with the engine running.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-a-car-alternator

Roy
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Wednesday, March 25th, 2020 AT 4:39 PM

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