Any car mechanics / technicians on here please?

[Eyefor]

At the weekend we returned from nearly 6 weeks away and the shooting / dog transportation truck (12 year old Subaru Forester) started immediately, as did SWMBO's 13 year old Honda S2000.

Neither had any issue. Key in, no cranking. Away.

Brand new (2017, less than 800 miles) Subaru Forester - battery as flat as the proverbial witches mammaries.

The AA guy arrived, ran tests which showed less than 4 volts available from the new battery, and said "for it to be that low, there has to be a drain"? He jump started the car and it was OK but this is not the first incidence of this with the new car.

3 or 4 days after delivery it had a flat battery which (according to the dealer) was due to "not having been used much and the car being in the showroom for some time" . However, I was not prepared to trust the battery, so they did replace it with a "High Power, Premium Grade" new battery.

The car is being checked by the dealer but I'm thinking they will say it's not unreasonable for the battery to drain with all the alarm running etc (I think this is BS because the S2000 has Thatcham Cat 1 with perimeter alarm and there was no issue) so would anyone have knowledge of how long I should expect the battery to last when the car is not in use please?

I have a solar trickle charger so will use that in the future, but I'd appreciate it if someone could advise me on how I should respond to the expected comments from the dealer.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sidewinder]

Total BS...exchange it for another new car.

 

[Haloed']

A duff battery?

 

[Malxwal]

If replacing the initial battery has not solved the problem, then there is an electrical problem which requires fixing under warranty. Any suggestion otherwise and I'd be going straight to Subaru to discuss.

 

[Eyefor]

Thanks for the replies.

Total BS...exchange it for another new car.

I will if it persists. I deliberately part paid with a credit card to ensure their responsibility if it turned out to be a POS (unlikely with a Subaru, but...)

A duff battery?

Twice?

If replacing the initial battery has not solved the problem, then there is an electrical problem which requires fixing under warranty. Any suggestion otherwise and I'd be going straight to Subaru to discuss.

I may do that if I'm less than happy with the dealers explanations / response.

 

[Cottis]

You have a drain somewhere for sure which is shocking on a new car. I have found this on older cars with things like aftermarket alarms or "new" stereos being installed directly from the battery and standby modes draining the power but on a new car, it is unforgiveable. No way is the second battery (or first for that matter) to blame. You have some kind of wiring fault that Subaru need to fix or possibly some hidden bulb somewhere that is on when it shouldnt be.

Good luck, they will try and wriggle out of that one.

 

[limulus]

Do you have a tracker fitted?
They should have their own power supply but the battery for that could be at fault constantly drawing from your cars battery system.

 

[Eyefor]

Do you have a tracker fitted?
They should have their own power supply but the battery for that could be at fault constantly drawing from your cars battery system.

Yes. But completely separate (independent) power supply.

 

[Haloed']

Boot light or glovebox staying on?

 

[JTO]

The auxiliary plug in my 16-year-old VW Polo does not switch off with the ignition. The Satnav will run the battery down if left plugged in.

 

[Eyefor]

Boot light or glovebox staying on?

That is what I'm thinking and I'll be happier if the dealer says "yes, there was an issue that we've now fixed" rather than "can't find anything wrong". We shall see....?

The auxiliary plug in my 16-year-old VW Polo does not switch off with the ignition. The Satnav will run the battery down if left plugged in.

Nothing left plugged in - not even the phone charger - but easily done in the rush to get away. Thanks.

 

[musketsmoke]

hello

i hope you will understand what needs to be done to check if you have a parasitic drain on the battery as follows

you will need a multimeter even a cheap one with a 10 amp testing function (they usually all have this function with 3 holes 1 A 2 Comm 3 V,ohm,continuity and others) they may be in different configurations

put the black lead into Comm
put the red lead into A

turn the dial to Amps or chose it if its digital

now go to the car battery remember to turn the alarm off then remove the NEG battery terminal only
place the black lead to the battery terminal and the red lead to the terminal that would join the battery
now you will either have nothing or it will give a Amp value hold it 2 mins write it down
(the alarm may sound coz they dont like being disconnected ignore it for now)
after the 2 mins press the alarm fob to turn it on
it will give a value write it down
after 2 mins it should go to sleep is the term used and that will be the drain on the battery in mili amps should be 0.040 or somewhere there IS ACCEPTABLE
if it 0.1 to 0.9 there is a fault could be anything try the alarm first disconnect it from the power and test again
at that Amperage it will kill the battery in 2 to 3 days
Amps are the killer of batteries not in use
hope this helps everyone easy to do and don't cost a lot

REMEMBER NOT TO START THE CAR WITH THE METER IN PARALLEL WITH THE BATTERY YOU WILL BLOW THE MULTIMETER FUSE

 

[Haloed']

....or switch everything off and remove the +ve battery terminal and if it sparks when touched to the battery?

 

[Miki]

I would expect a "Premium Grade High Power" battery to be in the region of 60 or 70AH with a cold crank capability of 450Amps.

This means that if something was drawing 1 Amp the battery should supply this "drain" for 60 (or 70) Hours before it was flat, the voltage would start to drop below 11.7V at this stage and within a few more hours you may get to the 4V stage you mentioned.

1 Amp is a lot of power. The radio probably doesn't take anywhere near that, possibly less than half. Interior light bulbs are typically 5W (V x A = W) so this is less that 1/2 an Amp - moderm LED bulbs are a 10th of this. Headlamps and other exrterior lights are quite big consumers of power as are heated seats and screens, typically these will all turn off when the key is removed but if not then the battery will flatten in a short time (8 to 10 hours i'd estimate).

Most Digital Multi-Meters (DMM) will display Volts and Amps.
Disconnect the + terminal on your battery, set the DMM to measure Amps and connect the red lead to the battery (+) and the black lead to the vehicles red cable (so the DMM is a bridge between the cable and the battery).
Turn everything off and remove the car keys. Are you still measuring a current ?? If 'yes' and it is less than 0.2A (200mA) then that's normal and the battery will last for at least 300 hours, if it's 1 Amp (or more) you have a problem somewhere.

Don't try to start the car with the DMM connected as the current required will melt the meter !

With the battery connected in the usual manner and the DMM set to read Volts. With the Red lead on the + and the Black lead connected to the engine/chassis/- post on the battery the Voltage should be between 11.7 and 12.7 Volts. With the engine running it should rise to between 13 and 15 Volts in the alternator is working properly. If the voltage never gets above 12.6V (with the engine running) then your Alternator/Charging system is faulty.

 

[limulus]

Yes. But completely separate (independent) power supply.

Just double check, I've seen a few that have been connected to both their own and the vehicle power supply (I say vehicle as I've only experience with motor bikes)
what they say and what they do are sometimes different.

 

[teyhan1]

hello

i hope you will understand what needs to be done to check if you have a parasitic drain on the battery as follows

you will need a multimeter even a cheap one with a 10 amp testing function (they usually all have this function with 3 holes 1 A 2 Comm 3 V,ohm,continuity and others) they may be in different configurations

put the black lead into Comm
put the red lead into A

turn the dial to Amps or chose it if its digital

now go to the car battery remember to turn the alarm off then remove the NEG battery terminal only
place the black lead to the battery terminal and the red lead to the terminal that would join the battery
now you will either have nothing or it will give a Amp value hold it 2 mins write it down
(the alarm may sound coz they dont like being disconnected ignore it for now)
after the 2 mins press the alarm fob to turn it on
it will give a value write it down
after 2 mins it should go to sleep is the term used and that will be the drain on the battery in mili amps should be 0.040 or somewhere there IS ACCEPTABLE
if it 0.1 to 0.9 there is a fault could be anything try the alarm first disconnect it from the power and test again
at that Amperage it will kill the battery in 2 to 3 days
Amps are the killer of batteries not in use
hope this helps everyone easy to do and don't cost a lot

REMEMBER NOT TO START THE CAR WITH THE METER IN PARALLEL WITH THE BATTERY YOU WILL BLOW THE MULTIMETER FUSE

+1 on this.
Only thing to add is to pull fuses one at a time and identify the circuit at fault when the amps drop.

 

[tozzybum]

Ford Kuga owned by a neighbour from new after 3 months of jump starting she demanded they take it back ,the blue tooth wont turn off so drains the battery .Ford,s answer its not a warrenty issue so not up to us to fix it,WTF it comes factory fitted as standard ,only the threat of lawyers and bad publicity ie Captin Cash in the Sun and all the local rags did the trick .
Have you googled it see if its a common problem theyre hiding to save on a recall?The Kuga,s issue is all over T,internet like a rash atb and get rid/good luck

 

[Eyefor]

Many thanks for all the replies.

I just had a call from the Dealers. Draw with everything off is 0.07amps which, with a 100AH battery (as now fitted) should be perfectly ok over the period it was left for.

Service manager is not happy with the fact that the battery did not last and also with a couple of other (minor, software update) issues so is awaiting news from Subaru Technical.

Car will be kept overnight if they can't get the answers from Subaru but I think they might try a third battery.

Thanks again for all the help and advice.