03 blob STI battery draining?
 

Hi all, my battery was playing up a few weeks ago in the cold weather so I assumed must have been on its last legs as it was fully discharging after about 3 days.

I put a new battery on about 3 weeks ago and this morning it was completely flat after being stood for 5 days on the drive, when I pressed the "unlock" button on the key fob the alarm went off followed by constant rapid clicking noise so I had to open the door with the key. The clicking noise which sounded like the door mechanism continued until I jump started the car.

There are no aftermarket stereo etc and no gauges (yet) in the car as far as I know everything is standard.

One thing I did notice was this green wire which looks out of place on my + battery terminal has a small inline fuse aswell....is this meant to be there on a stock car?
Attachment 57909

Any ideas as to why the battery would discharge so fast?

Kind regards

Mick

Check the connection under the red cover on top of the alternator.

Cheers bud, I'll go and have a look now although I did check the battery this morning with my dads old multi tester thing and that says the battery was charging ok within the tolerances.

Mick

Connection is still tight and corrosion free under the red cover on the alt.

Cheers

Mick

Its a common thing with these cars. My blob sti was always going flat. Do a search on here for solar panels and battery conditioners, and you can read all about it. I fitted a C-tek battery conditioner 2 years ago, and its been trouble free since then.
Hope you get it sorted....

Forgive me as I can't remember if there is one, but is it possible the interior light is staying on when you shut the boot?

Cheers mate, I have read a few threads about cars losing charge on here, I just wondered if losing all charge in only 5 days on a brand new battery was excessive as tbh that seems ridiculous to me and a problem I've never encountered with any of my 10 or so previous cars lol.

My cars on the drive so I have no way of using a trickle charger etc, I can look into solar panel chargers i take it you can plug them in and leave them on the dash or rear shelf etc?

Thanks for the input mate

Mck

I don't think it mate, I was only in there a couple of weeks ago with someone holding a hosepipe on the car to find my leak lol :lol1:

Mick

Superb! That made me chuckle.

For what it's worth, mine does it too, but I've put that down to the flashing LED from the alarm on the dash and I can use the C-Tek in the garage to keep it topped up, so I've not investigated further.

So is mine. The C-tek plug is wired up and sticks out in the top corner of the radiator grill. The conditioner is indoors with the plug going through a hole in the wall to outside. I can then keep an eye on the battery condition from inside the house.. (cause I`m lazy:rolleyes:)

I'll look into the c trek mate as this sounds like a setup I could get away with as my car is parked tight to my house wall

Thanks again

Mick

I've got this one:


It's absolutely brilliant.

Has it got a tracker fitted ?

Hey Mick,

I got exactly the same issue on my blob 03. Changed the battery for new and still if i dont use/start the car within 3-4 days the damn battery just dont have no life! "she dead!!"

All connections look sound... Just have to make sure she gets used frequently the dirty b!

Gonna keep an eye on this thread, see if you manage to resolve as it maybe a fix which I can use.

Good luck

Joe

+1

The tracker drain's the battery.

av been told when the tracker isnt registered but still fitted it constantly looks for a signal draining the battery dont no how true it is like but never died on me mick and i left it for 2 weeks at a time when i was offshore

Forgot about the tracker lol, could that be what the green wire is on the battery?

Foaming now as there was probably nowt wrong with the 80 quid halfords battery I've just replace with a shi*ey 40quid one from pages!

Least I know the alternator is ok I've been using the car for the last couple of days after jumping the battery from flat and it fires first turn of the key even though I didn't charge the battery up.

Mick

my old classic I got through 3 batteries! Discovered boot light was stuck on permanently. Pulled the bulb was perfect after.

Well known issue this, mentioned many a time for the last 9 years.
The Blob STi came with the RAC Trackstar fitted as standard for Insurance purposes for the UK models. My 53 plate Blob STi has this issue and has always been a problem for the past 8 years of ownership.
Back in the day when the car was in warranty, it went back to the dealership where they replaced the pathetic battery it comes with as standard under warranty, as a lot of owners complained of this problem.
The fix is to get a better AH type battery i.e something past the standard 60Ah battery the car comes fitted with. Also if not using the car for say over a week to have it hooked up to a battery conditioner to keep the battery topped up as the RAC Trackstar system will heavily drain the battery.
Also as you maybe aware the charging system on this model uses something called intelligent charging where the alternator only comes in when it detects a drain on the battery. To get it to charge all the time you need to use your interior fans or even the side lights to fool the system.
A problem I had was the live connection on the top of the alternator came loose and was shorting out, only noticed this because my Scangauge II device plugged into the ODB-II port with volt gauge display was showing the battery voltage was hitting around 12.2 volts whilst the car engine was running (Should show around 14-13.6 volts).
I believe there was a fix for this by having the RAC Trackstar serviced/replaced.
All I can say is welcome to the club.

Cheers for the informative post mate.

Is there no way of just disconnecting the tracker? Anyone know where it would be in my car? I've found one in a classic before, was under the centre console tucked down near the handbrake iirc.

I'm going to get a c tek battery conditioner anyway as my car isn't used much through the week it's just a I weekend toy really.

Thanks again

Mick

No worries.

Not sure where the Tracker is kept in this vehicle. But then again if you are using it as part of a deterrent, then you don't really want to advertise where it is to potential car thieves. :(

The problem with the RAC Trackstar fitted to the UK model, is that apparently it may not go into a sleep mode after the car has been switched off and the doors locked, therefore why the constant drain.

I too have a C-TEC charger connected up to my car, as after last time I nearly couldn't get into the car to try and get the bonnet open to sort out the flat battery :brickwall

Hey all new here.

I've also got same problem, damn flat batteries! I have a 2004 WRX STi Type UK.

It all started three months after bought the car. It was a cold November night, I went to use it and click click click damn flat battery.

I locked it up and checked all out next day. I am in the motor trade myself (mechanic) who cant fix his own bloody car!

I got a new AC Delco battery from a local dealer, started the car up with a volt meter across terminals - bang on the button 14.4 volts. Lovely, job done. I let it idle for a minute then slowly but surely the alternator stopped charging back down to 12 volts. WTF?

I assumed the alternator was up the pictures so ordered a new one and bolted it on that night. I turned the key, measured the voltage and then 'oh great its stopped charging', then turned the lights on and 'oh wow', now its charging. Then I finally learn about smart charge after talking to Subaru UK.

Oh great all I have got to do is drive with the fan on or side lights JOB DONE. I think not!

Three months later flat battery, cell indicator clear. Order replacement, 3 months later another flat battery, so now I'm looking into another battery, get it changed once again and guess what, it's gone flat yet again.

Now on my last tether, I start looking at battery drain when I find there is 150MA draw from battery from some thing. I start pulling fuses SBF No 5 alarm and Immobilizer. Oh great, must have a battery drain but unable to work out why it is.

I start browsing Google and find an Evo forum saying 180MA drain from tracker ? So investigate further, phone RAC Trackstar and get told it won't be the tracker. Phone Subaru UK and ask is the tracker linked in to the Immobilizer system, and get told yes it is.

Back to RAC Trackstar and get to speak to a technical guy there who informs me that it takes six hours to shut down. Also the tracker has a mobile sim card in so you can call it to see if it's in sleep mode. Call wont be able to connect when asleep and when awake it makes all kinds if noises like a dial up modem, so try it leave six hours.

Call it, it's all shut down. Unlock, connect ammeter and drain is only now 30-40 MA. Okay, so it's going to sleep. Okay, let's get a bigger better battery. Banner 60 AH designed for Asian car market that's the kiddo. Still not sure, I call out my auto electrician to confirm everything, leave the car sitting for three days with ammeter in the window and does not move from 20 MA.

He cant find anything, so now being paranoid bought a C-Tek, use the car at least 3 times a week and charge every 2-3 months overnight until around 7 months later, left one weekend for 3 nights and click click click. Battery tester out, cell short circuit WTF is going on?

Yet another battery under warranty. This time before bolt to car fully charge it with C-Tek and been 2 months OK with use at least 3-4 times a week.

Some one out there must have the answer. RAC Trackstar did do a one hour shut down. Board now unavailable, they want £299 to supply and fit a new unit which I do not mind paying if it works and stops this flat battery saga.

I love the car apart from being paranoid about flat battery issues. This thread has come up and some one must know the answer. I am 80% sure it's the tracker causing these issues. I have also purchased an in-car voltmeter to measure voltage when driving, LED type, and never stops charging unless sitting at idle with lights on, heater on full, rear screen de-mist on, or air con, but with a little rev, perfect 14 volts.

The alternator can supply the car its needs, I was also informed, from the moment you put the key in the ignition the tracker is awake. When you remove the key from ignition it starts its 6 hour draw on a nice charged battery and draws how many volts or amps in total I am not sure, but I feel that's whats killing our Scoobys' batteries and sucking them dry but would love for some one to come forward and say the tracker is the culprit !

By the way, I'm hopefully going to speak to a Subaru technician tomorrow and get his input. PS, our cars do not like AC Delco batteries

My own 2005 Blob drains its battery very fast when it's not driven. I always assume it's the tracker and disconnect the earth lead to keep some charge in there when I'm storing it for a bit.

yea that's cool Osimabu i have also started a thread as really want to get to the bottom of it love driving the car regularly just doing 20 miles instead of 5 miles lol as soon as i speak to subaru tech ill post back and if i find a cure no one has seemed to when starting these tracker (battery drain) threads !

Mine has been better since driving with the sidelights on whenever I use it, surely there must be a way to just remove the tracker? Hopefully without affecting alarm or immobiliser obviously?

Mick

There is, I did it, and it still does not fix the problem. I don`t bother driving with sidelights on, (but occasionally I might have a bit of Muse on the radio) and that whacks it up to 14 volts, but the battery will still go flat pretty quick. C-Tek has worked well for the last few years though. I`d still love to know what causes this:wonder:

Yep you either need your car parked someone close to an electrical outlet such as garage with this model I'm afraid :(

It's interesting but the WRX standard Blobeye model never had this issue, but then again it didn't get the RAC Trackstar as standard issue connected up in the UK. :wonder:

Always worth investing in something like a Scanguage-II that plugs into your ODB-II Socket. Without something like this you cannot see what's going on in the real world with your car. Especially the electrics.

Think me going down getting the tracker replaced some say it works some say it don't the fact is 150ma drain for 6 hours is over half an amp each time it activates as soon as you switch of the ignition. Spoke to Subaru who did say likely to be the tracker causing my issue combined with lots of night time driving lights heater etc. Still waiting for some one to say cured my battery issues tho lol

Had my prodrive style bug sti ten years allways done it pain in the ass.
Use a conditioner it helps but has never solved it completely.

drek sti do you think its the tracker in these cars causing this my last battery lasted 7 months before went short cell that was with using c tek every 2 months to re charge fully over night.