colapepsi

Haven`t driven my06 Hawkeye since Thursday, goes to the garage this morning to start it up.........Knew straight away it woulden`t start, lights on the dash were dim tryed but nothing, so got it going with some jump leads.

I have only had the car 6 weeks and when I picked the car up the salesman told me they had to change the battery as the old one was dead.....after this morning I smell a rat.

The alarm is a cobra, but when fully alarmed takes about a minute to stop bleeping, which I know can not be right, so can this somehow be draining the battery, I will if possible disconnect.

With the new battery been drained will this affect it in anyway, I have been for a long drive to charge it up and it now starts without a problem.

I know it now has a problem but has anyone heard of the alarm draining the battery or is it something else.

colapepsi

Just to add.....I did leave the car unlocked, but the imoblizer still kicks in.

riiidaa

iTrader: (2)

Dont jump start a modern car off another car, you'll risk the dash electronics, ecu etc

Buy a power pack for emergencies

If i leave my clifford alarm in vallet mode, it chews up battery faster than when locked and armed...

colapepsi

Whats vallet mode.

Mark'sWRX

I have the same problem. I even fitted an uprated battery (60Ah instead of the original 48AH IIRC), but it still goes flat after a week if unused due to my extra alarm and immobiliser. You can either fit a solar powered trickle charger (not much use when in the garage) or do what I do and put the battery on charge as soon as I get back from holiday.

I think there may be some sort of battery conditioner that you can plug in and leave if you're not using the car which could be a better idea, but have not been able to find out.

I jump started mine 1st time it happened with no ill effect. I know it's not a good idea, but I had to get to work!

AndyLyman

iTrader: (1)

I have a battery optimiser for my 02 STI....

Its an Optimate one found on the link below...

OptiMate 3 SP Charger/Optimiser OPTD

It will trickle charge/maintain your battery to a good degree of health...

Andy

corradoboy

There's always a raft of flat batteries on Scoobs at this time of year. Subaru use a (so-called) smart alternator which only charges the battery when there is enough current being drawn to justify it. Throughout the summer when you aren't using lights, demisters, blowers etc, the battery may hardly get any charge. Come the autumn and darker, wetter weather we start switching everything on and the battery is already on its last legs. Replace it, but from now on keep at least your sidelights on to fool the silly alternator. The Scoob is good for this as the sidelights go off with the ignition as the parking lights are on a separate switch.

HTH

davedipster

Also get a Calcium battery like the halfords ones, they are std fit on fords which also have 'smart' alternators. These calcium batteries cope better with smart charging systems.

ProdriveSTI

Yes me too....I had to get one of these babies.... very good indeed.


I had the same trouble from mine, as I worked away alot the car was not driven sometimes for weeks on end -
I see its still the same with the new 2006 model then .

Phildodd06

It stops the cars alarm arming its self, for when you are cleaning your car and stuff.

I had to put my battery on charge this morning!
The alarm went off twice last night!

Its a combination of my tracker, alarm/imobliser, my service i done (Cranking the engine to prime the system) and not driving the car, so the battery has been drained constantly for the past 2 weeks, with no driving to charge it back up.
I also have a 6 month old battery!

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

I use one of these on the car if I'm going to leave it for any length of time..or if it's very cold

CTEK XS 3600 12 Volt Battery Charger from Three60

Charge and condition with the battery in place

Shaun

corradoboy

The automatic arming of the alarm can be switched off. Read the manual for the Sigma M30 and there's lots of cool features.

Phildodd06

His alarm is a Cobra tho!

Hol

iTrader: (1)

I use a Halfrauds battery keeper thing when I know Im not using my car.

Cost about 15quid and charges the battery and maintains it (like all the others do) and is the size of a 9v transformer (Black box with three plug prongs on it).
But it also has waterproof plugs for motorbikes that you can connect to the battery to make life even easier as you can arm and close the bonnet without risk of clips springing off.

As its a halfauds part, you could get one tonight before 8.00pm and start charging your car

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Don't these also come with a 4 year warranty? So even if it does die, you can just take it back and get another one.

I fitted one to my old Westfield for just that reason.

DLP

Also got one of these,a little bit more expensive than the others around ,but well worth the money, and no more flat battery again.

Gutmann pug

If I remember rightly Mike Wood explained it as a tracker issue. You stop the car outside your garage while you get out to unlock the door. When you re-start the engine and drive in the tracker starts looking for a satelite. It continues to search after you leave the car and you get a flat battery. It seemed a little far fetched but I guess he should know and it does seem to happen alot

corradoboy

But it also happens on WRX's which (mostly) don't have Trackstar but do have the same alternator

top_fuel

iTrader: (1)

do these bring your battery back to life when dead?... or just keep/prolong the battery life?

my battery been dead for a good while now , but its pretty new... will the CTEK recharge it so it works again?....

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Top fuel

I might be completely wrong on this but as far as I am aware Lead / Acid car batteries work best when topped up often

If car batteries are deeply discharged and recharged again on a regular basis then the plates collapse and it's goodbye

This is different to Nickel cadmium batteries which develop a "memory" of the last charge and like to be completely discharged before recharging again !!

Lithium Ion and metal hydride are a bit in between AFAIK !!

If you have a new battery which has died then it should be OK to recharge....with the cheapest charger on the market

Shaun

top_fuel

iTrader: (1)

thanxs for the reply buddy,

I guess even if it doesnt recharge, it'll still be of good use when i do buy a new battery

Gutmann pug

At the end of the day it's a Subaru failing that they either haven't been informed of, which I very much doubt, or they have chosen not to do anything about.

Imagine leaving your car at Heathrow only to return to it (if it hadnt been stolen) 2 weeks later at 4am to find a flat battery.......

Marky9074

Thats not correct. It has nothing to do with the car still tracking satellites, it is due to the fact that the tracker has been incorrectly fitted, with the wrong board inside. The tracker should go into 'sleep' mode, but due to incorrect installation does not, and the battery quickly dies.

This is very common, and there must be a million threads about it.

The trouble is Subaru only fitted Trackers as standard to a few models (P1 / WRX300 and others), and most dense reception people in the UK tell you to go away and get it sorted yourself as 'Subaru do not fit trackers as standard'.....gggrrrrrrrrrr!

Gutmann pug

Just recounting what the man said

Marky9074

It is true that if the unit did not go into sleep mode it would still be 'trying' to track satellites though....maybe that is what he meant.

Marky9074

My experience

https://www.scoobynet.com/lighting-o...fter-week.html

AndyMoody

iTrader: (2)

I came back from my hols to find my battery was completely dead. I bought one of these jobbies to stop it happening again. I'm already on my second battery and I tried my charger over the weekend after using a normal charger I had to get my car going. You can leave it connected and have no worries, not much use at an airport carpark though.

AccuMate PRO 12V (7A) - 24V (3.5A) AccuMate PRO 12V-24V is a versatile automatic compact battery charger for lead-acid starter and deep cycle batteries of minimum capacity 17Ah (12V) or 9Ah (24V). Workshop > Battery Chargers

I did lots of searching and found this place to be the cheapest and it was delivered next day. For accessories I used garden machinery, lawn tractors, lawn mowers, brushcutters, hedge trimmers from UK supplier as the price included delivery for an ext lead for the Accumate.

Andy.

corradoboy

Anyone with a voltmeter, stick it across the alternator with the engine running but nothing electrical switched on - 0V, then switch the headlights or fan on - 16.1V (usually). There's your answer.

Leave the sidelights on, or the fan on '1'. Just enough to trick the alt into charging all the time.

Marky9074

That is a solution, but doesnt answer the problem. Something is drawing (excessive) current when engine is off. And it is not strictly true that the alternator would measure zero, otherwise after a number of starts the battery would be flat anyway.......I could calculate it, but cant be bothered...

corradoboy

My own experience. MY03 WRX PPP (no Trackstar) bought in Jan 04 with 20k, by May the battery was dead. New battery and sidelights on from then, no problem whatsoever, even when left for 2 weeks. Sold car in Nov 06 at 60k, new owner calls for advice within 2 months with a flat battery. I asked if he'd left the sidelights on, NO ! Similar story with several WYIOC members.