My attempt at trying a FYI fix for 2015 Subaru Outback DCM module darning the battery and over a period of time reducing the life span and killing a car battery due to deep cycle of the parasitic draw. While Subaru corp did acknowledged and extended the warranty on this issue, my deanship refused to address the builtin. So I am trying a DIY fix with this setup and hope others may find this information useful.
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I get that this works as described, but doesn't leaving out the bottom fuse slot leave the original circuit unprotected? May not be an issue if using open fuse spot but important if piggybacking off of existing fuse location. Also, a reminder that orientation of the add-a-fuse devices need to be checked.
Our 2016 Outback recently started draining the battery overnight, and it turned out to the the dome light over the cargo area. We never use it, but somehow it got bumped to the always on position. Just something to eliminate before you do more analysis.
what happens when you remove the 18650 cell in the dcm? what about the colored connectors on the back (orange, blue, green)??
I had a battery problem with my Outback and it turned out to be the tailgate motor. The issue was that with a fully charged (and new) battery…sometimes I would come out in the morning and the battery was dead. It wasn't a light left on or anything like that. I would recharge the battery and it would be fine for a couple of days…and then boom….it's dead again one day. It really looked like a faulty part somewhere creating a parasitic drain…but it was sporadic. The issue was that the small motor that pulls the rear tailgate door shut would pull the tailgate door shut, but would continue to run. You couldn't hear it or anything.
This explained the behavior where the battery would be fine for a couple of days…because I had recharged it and just went to work but didn't open the tailgate in those couple of days.
Then, a day when I did open the tailgate for shopping or what have you, now the tailgate had been opened and when I closed it the small motor to pull it shut would go on…and stay on…and it would continue to run, like overnight, until the battery drained…and voila….I come out the next morning to a drained battery.
So, if you're having problems with your battery…and you can't find the parasitic component, it might be your tailgate motor.
I pulled DCM fuse still has power drain, tech at dealership is not helpful with that aspect, asked to update software so my car will Finally charge the charge is 160$ and two hours of waiting and he said no guarantee it will even help I hate these cars had it less then a year it’s been parked 80% of the entire time I’ve had it
I have a 2019 subaru crosstrek under 30,000 miles. Drove it a short ditance fine as always in the morning and it was stone dead in the afternoon. I do not use bluetooth, have a smart phone. Subaru customer service is not helpful only saying to go to a dealer the closest being a long distance difficult for me and I think we all know where that will go. I am reading that there is likely a fuse that relates to starlink which I never had and don't care about or having a radio if it will fix the problem. Does anyone know where like the engine compartment and the number of the fuse that I could try to pull on this subaru to see if that would fix the problem without the diffficutly and likely hundreds of dollars to a dealer?
Very helpful video. Thankful someone figured this out and explained it. Thank you thank you. Great job on the video, detailed and specific.
Hi, would this method work if one has identified the DCM fuse, removed it, and left it out, and yet is still ending up with a dead car after a few days of no driving? I have a 2017 outback. Trying to avoid the high cost the dealership wants to replace the DCM. I don't care so much about radio, etc. more so that it's continuously draining my brand new battery down to zero every few days.
This worked on my 2019 Outback!
Could you draw up a simple schematic that would clarify what the hardware is accomplishing ?
Is smog data retained/stored in your DCM or somewhere else without battery power? If not, you have to restore the ability to store data and take a drive to collect that data
In my 2020 STI the tap add a fuse will not fit due to the orientation of the surrounding fuses. Is there a pice that would raise the height of the fuse location so the tap would fit without having to clear other nearby fuses.
I have a 2017 forester xt touring and I have the same issue. Dealership told me to contact corporate and corporate said it was the dealership thet should be able to help. I have 78k miles on it so subaru advocacy said there is nothing they can do. Dealer says $823 for dcm fix and another $186 for my 4th battery on it. This solution seems like it may help, but this is a little above my skill level. Is there a way I could email you for some advice?