rjlinney

I've just got back from a two week holiday with my Scoob (1yr old UK MY05 WRX) left on the drive at home.

The key fobs won't unlock the doors and neither of the LEDS (immobiliser or alarm led next to the clock) are flashing - so the battery is definitely dead!

My first question is, if I open the door with the key, will the alarm go off (is the OEM Sigma alarm fitted with its own battery?) and if so - how do I stop it?

I'm thinking of getting Subaru assist out to do the rest - but I don't want the alarm going off for half an hour while they try to fix it!
Also - is it likely that the battery will be damaged? Obviously, I don't know how long it's been dead for!

I'm assuming from looking at other posts that it's likely that it's the tracking system thats killed the battery?

Any thoughts - particularly on what to do about the alarm - would be appreciated!!

Cheers,

Rich

rob84

iTrader: (5)

my subaru did this after 2 days lucky enough i had a power pack, because as soon as you open the door the alarm will go off so you need to couple a power pack or jumpleads off another car to it lock it with your key fob then reopen it and start the car and put the side lights on to charge the battery up as for the tracker draining the battery i have heard of this but that wasnt the fault with mine

scooby-k

if battery flat the alarm shouldn't go off as there won't be enough power there. use jump leads and you should be able to cancel the alarm using the key fob. cured mine with a new battery. I would take it to Quick fit or somewhere similar for them to check the battery then see the dealer if its faulty.
ken

rjlinney

Rob,

Thanks for your help with this...
As I expected though - as soon as I open it the alarm's going to go off - GREAT!! (I suppose I should be impressed at the sophistication of the battery backed up alarm system!...)

I'll give Subaru Assist a call in the morning - but it's helpful to know what to do, as half the time the people they send out have never even seen a Subaru before! It's just a bit embarassing having your alarm whaling away on the drive with some technician fiddling about under the bonnet - doesn't look good on a new car!


Cheers,

rjlinney

Cheers Scooby-K too!

I'm fairly confident that the new cat1 systems have a battery back up so it'll go off as soon as I open the door with the key - with no way to stop it until the jumpleads etc are in place.

(Although I suppose I might be able to use the keypad to enter the code?)

Phil

Same happened to me on Tuesday

2 Weeks Holiday and flat as a pancake

Subaru Assist there in 3/4 Hour and all sorted

4 years running this has happened

Going to buy a solar trickle charger for next year

rjlinney

Jeesh - this is a nightmare! Sounds like a very common problem!
All I can say is I'm glad I didn't leave it at the airport and had this problem after I'd got off the plane!

This seems rediculous in a 1yr old £20k car!

Is there a way of resolving this?
Replacement tracking system, better battery?
Will the solar trickle charger do the trick? Will it provide enough of a charge?
Can you point me in the right direction of something!

Thanks for all your replies!

Phil

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...=47902&T=39442

rjlinney

Ok - so what would you do with this - connect it directly to the battery with the croc clips? Surely it wouldn't work through the cigarette lighter as this is switched off when the ignition is off - and anyway, it sounds like a bit of a crude way of trickle charging the battery?!

What about a mains trickle charger? Are these any good? Can they just be connected to the battery and left on whilst away? How does this affect the cars systems/ecu/tracking system etc?

The other thing is working out how much current drain there is and whether the solar charger will supply enough energy to counteract this!

I'm currently waiting for Subaru Assist to come out to get mine going again!

Rich

Phil

Just plug it into cigarette lighter socket then leave the panel on the dash

I am assured by Maplin staff it will solve all my problems

mickp

iTrader: (1)

I am in the same boat. MY05 WRX has just started to give me battery problems. Went to start two weeks ago and it was flat. Charged up for a day and no problems until this week when it seems a bit laboured when starting.

Had battery drop tested and it's fine ???????.

Why the problems after 16 months of perfect starting ????.

rjlinney

The guy from Subaru Assist came out this afternoon to get my car mobile again. He was extremely knowledgable and helpful.

He said he sees the same problem time after time!
Basically, it's the security/tracking systems that drain the battery when left for a period of around two weeks. He started my car using a second battery.
He then went on to say that I could drive it from here (Stafford) to the South Coast and it would still have a completely dead battery if I didn't switch my side lights or something similar on due the the 'smart alternator' system used in new Impreza's.

He explained that the smart alternator is designed to increase BHP and efficiency by disabling the alternator when it isn't required - so basically if there's nothing major switched on, the alternator's off and the battery isn't being charged!

Apparently switching the side lights on uses only a small amount of power but will cause the alternator to kick out it's full power - therefore giving the battery a good charge.

He stopped the engine after 5 minutes or so and tried to start it again from the cars battery - still wouldn't go (just got a bleeping sound) even though the ignition lights etc were now working.

He said that if when you turn the key to switch on the starter the battery voltage drops to 10 volts the engine management won't switch on the starter motor. He reconnected his second battery and it started again perfectly.

He told me to give it a good run with the side lights on for 45 minutes ish. This would give it a good 'base level' charge - but he recommended that I connect the battery to a charger for 8 to 10 hours or run it with the side lights on all week. (I haven't got a charger, so latter will hopefully do!)

Ran it for 40 miles ish - then stopped for petrol. It started fine! Ran it for another 40 miles - hopefully it'll be ok in the morning! (My drive to work is only 18 miles - so hope it starts on the way home too!)

He suggested that I buy a battery conditioner to retain the battery level when I'm on holiday in the future.

So top and bottom of it is:
- Security systems DO drain your battery is about two weeks.
-The 'smart' alternator system prevents you battery from charging if you haven't got some 'low usage' electrical system switched on - eg side lights!
- A battery conditioned is definitely a good investment!

Hope this helps others!
Must say again - the guy from Subaru Assist couldn't have been more helpful.

Anyone suggest a good battery conditioner?

Cheers,
Rich

mickp

iTrader: (1)

Rich

Great help that as before i had battery problems i always used to run with side lights on. This was nothing to do with being wise to the "smart alternator" but what you have said explains why i am still having problems.

The past two weeks i have had turned my side lights off in an attempt to save power .

Lights back on in the morning and fingers crossed from there .

rjlinney

I've just ordered a new CTEK XS3600 intelligent charger/conditioner from a guy on eBay (item 330017634512) - he has one more remaining for £44.50. RRP £55.

I looked at the accumate's that everyone has been talking about, but a couple of things swung it in favour of the CTEK - 1 - it's waterproof - which is great as my car is on the drive, 2 - it's really compact and simple - 3 - it's fully automatic and 4 - it got a better review in AutoCar! (and 5 - it's Swedish which is generally an indicator of good quality IMHO!)

Check out the CTEK website at http://www.ctek.com

Regards,
Rich

mickp

iTrader: (1)

Rich

Just bought the other one .

Hopefully no more battery problems from here.

Thanks for sharing the info

Mike

rjlinney

Nice one!
Hope they're as good as they look!

We can share experiences when they've arrived!
Should put a stop to the problems though - just hope mine'll keep going this week until it arrives. The Subaru Assist bloke said that it takes a lot longer than people think to fully charge a battery from the alternator (hence keep the side lights on all week) and that an 8-10hr charge from a charger would be the best thing to do. The CTEK's seem to do everything, from a full charge to conditioning and everything in between.

Catch you later...
Rich

scuba_doo

I had the same thing after a two week holiday , i'm also a car technician, so i made an enquiry to rac tracstar about the tracker running the battery down and there is a ' one hour board' available that can be fitted in place of the 6 hour board , so the tracker will power down quicker . You have to book it in with a subaru dealership who would have to change the board on warranty .

mike2.5subaru

I've just had done what scuba doo says, and it seems to have done the trick. I had a flat battery after not using the car for approx two weeks on standby for work, on two occasions, reported it to dealer at 1000mile sevice and they upgraded the battery no problems all summer when using it often. autumn comes don,t use the car (on stadby again) flat battery again. phoned tracstar, no problem, tech will call to home to fit 1 hour box instead of the 6 hour sleep one, says all new trackers will be coming in 1 hour sleep mode.he also confirmed that the slight rattle i could hear coming from the area its fitted is from the vibration ball inside the unit. started the car today after 14 days, no problem

scoobcabbie

Did trackstar charge you ?????????????

steve nic

the best sort of charger is an omni-mate,you can get them from any motorcycle shop its a smart charger that conditions the battery aswell,it has 2 fitments one is a perm fix that bolts onto the battery terminals and the other is crock clips!if you use the perm fix(as i do)all you do is plug the charger into the plug that comes off the fixings.the cable is nice and thin so you can still close the bonnet!you can leave it on forever but it will only charge the battery as long as its ok(eg no dead sells)the best thing about them is they tell you the condition of your battery so you know when to buy a new one!!should be problem solved

Shark Man

As above, Optimate is cheaper and just as good.

I have 3 on my bikes (well they are accumates..same charger but they do 6volts as well).

Expecting any car with a tracker to last more than 2weeks is pushing the limits. 3weeks is absolute maximum at best without upgrading the battery to one with larger capacity.

Solar chargers DO NOT work from the cigar lighter (as it's disconnected when you turn off the ignition), so it'll need to be wired in elsewhere, or the socket has to br modified so its permanently live (easy job, just take a live off the back of the radio).

mike2.5subaru

scoobcabby, No , they did it free of charge

scuba_doo

Glad it helped

andy97

iTrader: (1)

I believe its the new type of tracking devices. My tracker has been on nearly 10 years and I have left my car parked up for weeks sometimes, without any problems to the battery. Btw I changed the battery for the first time this year, so nearly nine years for the original battery is good going.

Shark Man

I wouldn't say it's just the new ones. My old mans Porsche had one and that would just about last 2 weeks, and that was in the mid-90's. Mines the same, been fitted for nearly 6 six years now. Honda's the same, which I'm not sure how old it is, but it's a 1996 car, which seeing the insurance demand it would say has been fitted nearly as long. Hell even the 7.5ton tipper wouldn't last over two weeks until it had dual batteries fitted

But they are all "Tracker" trackers (of various types), and obviously there are other drains that need to be accounted for, such as: alarm, immobiliser, ECU KAM memory, Radio Memory, Tachograph etc...

pmarch bugeye

A couple of summers ago, I had flat battery on my MY01 bugeye when returning from two weeks away - but I think battery might have been on way out anyway - coupled with fact that it was not correct capacity/rating Varda battery. The battery was lower rating one that should have been fitted on non-turbo model - so this may be be another angle to check out. I don't think the shock charge from the van that assisted me did the batteryany favours - much better to trickle charge or condition battery if you have the foresight to do this.

scuba_doo

The later sti's came with an rac trackstar fitted as standard and has a 6 hour board fitted , if the car only gets short journeys etc and left week on week with not much use , each time ignition turned off the trackstar remains active for 6 hours each time . This will slowly discharge the battery .
If you have had a different make tracker fitted it may have different sleep times like the one in my previous wrx ( trak M8 ) which you could configure yourself i.e was set to sleep after one hour then wake to get gps fix then if not moved went to sleep again . Never had a flat battery , not even when was on hols for 3 weeks .
Keeping on charging a battery is only a quick fix for whatever is draining it , the cause needs to be addressed , which is sometimes a current draw from a device remaining powered up ( tracker ) so rac has realised this and are fitting one hour sleep boards to overcome this problem . Will be ringing them next week to get mine fitted .

swisstonihasher

I know this is a really old topic but does anyone know if RAC trackstar still supply these one hour boards? Mine was fitted about 5 years ago and at the time I just bought two car batteries and a charger not thinking it related to the tracker device. I've also read its possible to change the tracker battery pack 24 AA batts - anyone done this?