hiya got 53 plate wrx.original battery but left map reading lights on couple days..flat battery today.very nice rac man came out checked it all..alternator ,battery etc.well battery been well killed off now.anyhow.he fitted new one .now when it recharging it only seems too do so when there is a load on...ie lights,sidelights or back window demist.turn the load off and it deosnt seem put any charge back into battery.he rang his tech dept and they reckon some models subaru have this problem and only charge up when load is on .my mate said the same few year ago that the blobeyes weak leak was the battery charging.the rac guy reckons the tech dept said they might be fitted with a smart charge system so when battery getting low it recharges via alternator.to be fair to the guy he did everything as i expected and i have dabbled with alternators batteries etc years ago as a lad and on most normal everyday cars soon as you turn key the alternator is firning amps into the battery but for some reason this doesnt until load on
any ideas??? he said alternator is working fine too cover the load

 

the alternator has a smart charging system, just have your side lights on and this will put enough load on the alternator to charge.

 

It is not a problem but a 'design feature'. Do a search for loads of information. I always have the interior fan on, which works for me.

 

yer that what he reckoned.i have been running on sides too be honest.i think i killed battery tho by leave the map lights on for 2 days.bplus it been coping with minus temps for couple months

 

cool guys...i thought might be some fancy system being japanese..is there any reason for this smart charge?