hedgehog

I saw someone on here say their battery went flat in about 2 weeks and a Subaru garage said that it doesn't charge unless there is a load. Well, mine has just gone totally flat in 7 days. The car is never used for short trips etc. and there would always be a load on it as I usually have the interior fan on all the time, plus other stuff when required.

I wonder if there is a problem with the ecu as even with the alarm and tracker thingme I would expect a car battery to last weeks, if not several months, when not getting used.

NACRO

My old classic sits for upto a month sometimes without being used, it has never flattened its battery. I know your car is considerably newer but that just doesn't sound right.

p1doc

i have just got my car back following a taxi driver running into it and i have a new battery as it had discharged in 9 days setting off the alarm.the boss at fiskens left his car for two days and his battery hasd also drained!!
martin

WRX_BLUES

I had my battery replaced on Saturday under warranty. Apparently the original battery is a Japanese Varta battery which is black and the one they've put in now is a UK Varta battery which is white. But mine ran out in 2 weeks while I was on my honeymoon before the replacement.

jmk

More likely that you have a short somehwere; have you had any afermarket electricals fitted - stereo, phone kit, tracker etc. I'd have these checked out by a dealer / auto electrican.

ramdor

iTrader: (2)

The battery in my Impreza III WRX STi Type UK doesnt last more than 2-3 weeks.. I now keep it on a maintainer trickle charge thingie. The dealer tested it, said it was fine, well yeah, dur, its being trickle charged 24/7. Didnt get it changed so I will let it run flat for next service

Richie.

ShyTot

Same experience as WRX_BLUES.

I posted last Friday when the battery on my 14 month old STI7 went flat in 4 days.

I called Subaru assist to get a start and then took it to the dealer.

They changed the Black Varta battery for a White Varta battery under warranty.
(They actually pour the acid in just before they put it on the car - which is why they are not sealed - I guess)

scoobyslut

Sems they have a problem with the batteries on the newly delivered cars. Thats why they are changing them so soon, perhaps the factory had a duff batch they fitted to the uk stock. Seems once the dealer has replaced the original battery for a varta, they are ok.
Dont like the idea of a dealer simply filling a battery and fitting it straight away, not good practice and it should of had an hour "standing time", plus a trickle charge to put the battery into service, otherwise that one might go faulty as well. Letting the car charge the battery from "new" will not be too good for it.

Mr.M

I had the same problem with my STi8. Left it for 5 days and it was flat as a pancake.

Dealer swapped battery out and i've not had a problem since.


[Edited by Mr.M - 10/30/2003 9:59:08 AM]

phil_r24

Hi all,

Well I had Subaru Support out just the other day for a flat battery (excellent service btw), plus the service bloke had a few bits of info regarding the MY03 and flat batteries.

According to him they have tracked down a problem with the MY03 alternator not correctly charging the battery!! This is due in some reason to the alternator not seeing that the battery requires charging and thus the battery goes flat over a period of time.

At the moment there is no know cure (other than to swap out the battery). However they have found a way to ensure that the battery gets charge, via always driving with the side lights on (this apparently ensures that the alternator enough passes charge to the battery).

He also said that Subaru UK are aware of the problem and working on tracking down the problem and finding a final solution.

He also mentioned that they've tracked down a potential ECU upgrade to switch off the alternator when not required, and thus provide a few additional BHP.

I've not had time to checked into any of this yet though, but thought I'd post the info anyway.

Hope the above helps.

stiler83

The side lights could be the answer. I allways drive with my side lights on and have not had any problems even though I some time don't drive the car for a week or two. On the 03 you can just leave the switch on and they come on when you have the key in the ignition.
An ECU upgrade sound's good even just for a few more BHP.

Mr.M

Do you know if this effects the STi too.

When assist came out for me he said it looked like the alternator was not charging the battery but when a load was put on the battery i.e. A/C then it would kick in and start charging the battery.

It doesn't explain why batteries seem to be discharging themselves, still think there is a batch of faulty batteries.

phil_r24

Yes it does affect MY03 Sti's, and yes the service guy did agree that a significant percentage of the original batteries fitted to MY03’s are dodgy.

He also mentioned that he’d only seen a couple of cases of MY03’s with new batteries still suffering from the problem. But said this was probably due to the battery being of better quality and thus surviving the lack of charge better than the original batteries. Therefore a new battery still has the potential to totally discharge, but would take significantly longer than the original battery.

Hopefully I'll get time to drop into my local dealer before the weekend to ask about the situation and potential ECU upgrade. I'll keep you informed.

sandycam

iTrader: (1)

On my second battery (white Varta) and has gone flat after 36 hours!!! Goes into dealers tomorrow so let you know what they say about any subaru news to dealers and hopefully a cure (fingers crossed!)

Boyakasha

iTrader: (2)

Just got back from holiday on Tuesday and the Battery on my 03 STi was also flat. Hadn't read any threads so thought this may have been due to the length of time the car was sitting, but our 03 WRX was fine. Anyway took it to the garage and got them to slam in a new battery after having to jump start the fecking car about 5 time [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Then got to work today and phoned a mate who told me that there had been a couple of posts on scoobynet about this. I wish I would have read this site first before having to jump start the car every time I went anywhere

SirFozzalot

hmmmm, my STi8 has been left in the garage for a week now....think I had better try to start it when I get home and take it for a run!!!

Any excuse!

bits'n'pieces

Any easy fix guys, requires a bit of wire and a switch.... What you do is look at the alternator back, there are three main wires, positive to the battery, negative to the engine/body work and a smaller one going to a little terminal, what you do is to run another wire via a rocker switch to this from the battery. On flicking the switch when the engine is running a 12v pulse is sent to the alternator. Flick the switch off again (if not using a rocker) and the alternator will start to put out 14.4v DC instead of the standard 2.2vdc when not under load and thus charge your battery. This works fine, you just need to remember to flick the switch off again (if not rocker). My friend uses a rocker switch which once pushed resets back to the off position, the only draw back is that you need to push the switch every time you start the engine (after it's running). No responsibility is taken for this workaround, however my mates one has no issues at all.

hedgehog

It looks like this problem is even more general than I thought and that the 03 STi suffers very badly. Does anyone know if Subaru have issued any information to the dealers on the matter? I might ring my dealer in the morning to see what he says.

phil_r24

Hi all,

Called in at my local dealer today, and as far as they know there is no final/complete cure for the flat battery situation. The current recommendation is to drive with the side lights on, thus putting a load on the alternator and resulting in the battery being charged.

Apparently even with a new battery there is still a possibility of it going flat, but it would usually require the car to be left unused for a significant period (Approx 4 weeks).

I also enquired about a potential alternator fix, and there is definitely a technical post made on the Subaru intranet (saw it today), but it didn’t mention any fix yet. However the head mechanic has promised that he’ll call Subaru technical and get back to me ASAP regarding a fix (The fix could potentially reduce the load on the engine, thus providing a slight increase in power and fuel economy).

I’ll post any info I get.


[Edited by phil_r24 - 10/30/2003 7:26:21 PM]

hedgehog

Thanks for that info Phil, gives me something to put to the dealer tomorrow if he denys all knowledge :-)

Boyakasha

iTrader: (2)

I checked my battery last night and it seems like they have put in a bigger one that is made by VARTA.

mutant_matt

Has anyone that has had a replacement battery had that go flat also? This has been a problem for a while and I know it affected both MY01 and MY02 WRXs and STis. The fact that it's still a problem on 03's seems to be of no surprise (unless this other issue is a new one on top of the fact that many Subaru's hit UK shores with dodgy OE batteries).

Since I had my MY02STi battery replaced, the car has been fine (and it regularly gets left for weeks on end).

Matt

sandycam

iTrader: (1)

My VARTA white battery went flat after leaving the car for 38 hours! Was in dealers today and they checked everything ok except the battery wasn't taking a full charge (probably due to it being flat on wednesday) so they trickle charged it for 5 hours at the advice of the subaru technical department and advised me to use the lights, indicators, wipers etc, more to increase the charge rate! This is not the half hearted attempt at a fix i expect for a £25000 car thats only 6 months old.

hedgehog

Rang my dealer today, they had no knowledge of batteries going flat, had seen nothing from Subaru on the subject and didn't seem to think that it was unreasonable for a battery to go flat in less than a week!!

In the end I jump started the car, took it for a good run with lights etc. on, as advised on this forum, and will see how things go. It is likely to be out and about over the weekend but might get to sit for a couple of days next week so it will be interesting to see.

phil_r24

Hi all,

Well I received a call from my local dealer today regarding the alternator problem / fix. My local dealers head mechanic apparently had a nice long chat with Subaru technical (who stated that they’ve had a number of dealers ask about the problem over the last couple of days) and apparently the problem with the alternator (as far as I understand it) is that the alternator is not charging the batteries to 100% capacity, but only ever to 75%. Plus the alternator does have an issue with charging unless it sees a significant load, which is why driving with the side lights on is recommended.

At the moment there is no known cure, other than either changing the original battery for a new higher quality one, or via charging your existing battery from the 75% charge to 100% with an external charger (apparently 4-5hrs @ 5volts). Either of these should hopefully result in you having no problems unless the car is left for a significant period.

A hint was also made that Subaru are / have now changed the units for next year’s models (but this is not certain). Subaru Technical also apparently said that currently there is no known fix / upgrade to solve the alternator issue.

So all I can recommend is that more people press their dealers to ask Subaru about the problem.

If I hear any more I’ll be sure to post.

jimmy wrx

Cheers for the info phil

I wonder if the next 03 I see will have it's side lights on ??

....Coz I will be

Funny coz I HAVE noticed the start up being alittle slow ,thought it was the driver.

P1 Gordon

Happens to P1's aswell, just had my battery replaced under warranty during the 36month, 30,000 service. Been replaced with a white Varta.

Brad

My 03 STI battery went flat after 3 months dealer replaced battery.Three months later battery goes flat again so the dealer replaced the alternater and charged battery,seems ok at the moment will see in 2 months time.

SirFozzalot

Pleased to report that mine fired-up first time after being stood for a week.....Phew! Lets hope it stays that way!