Steve777

iTrader: (8)

Just wondering really. I know there have been 1 or 2 threads on this subject.

Also did the car just die or was it displaying the problem I had which was the alarm bleeping at me as I turned the ignition key on ? Seemed to be on cold or damp mornings

Anyway it was changed without question even though it stil started no problem

rav4640

mine did the same as yours, leave it for 2/3 days and it went flat, got fed up of keep charging it up and not knowing if it would start when i go to use it, had it changed under warrenty when i had a 10,000 service, been ok since

Gary C

No problem with mine (so far)

Brad

Had new battery 3 months later new alternator,Drive round with side lights on now so that the alternator kicks in.

Steve777

iTrader: (8)

Seems a bit extreme driving round with your sides on

Phil

I do that but that comes from driving a Volvo many years ago

Dr Steve

I've had mine since April, and have (touching wood) not had any problems. That was even after leaving it over new year for a week without starting it.

Neilo

Had mine since march, no problems, but like many others i drive it all the time with the side lights on, cant see the harm in doing that anyway, at least then you never forget to turn your lights on

Tim66 STi8

On the day i picked up mine the nice subaru sales man was showing me what did what, a/c, water spray etc. Then he tried to start it & gues what flat battery! Did notice that the parking lights had been accidently turned on by the guy who was giving it the last going over with the duster, well thats who they blamed, so they put a new battery on & filled the tank full of optimax 4 the inconvenience
Had no other problems since then.

Boyakasha

iTrader: (2)

Had mine changed under warranty in November

David_Wallis

turning sidelights on doesnt make the alternator 'kick in'

David

MARK MORRIS

mines a 7 but had no probs, cars sometimes left for couple of weeks unused, still starts
mark

sandycam

iTrader: (1)

Was told by dealer after much investigation that the alternator needs a bigger load before it charges the battery eg side lights, and has so far worked for 2 months after 2 batterys in 2 months.

Gary C

The alternator is providing all the power for the car when it is running, you dont need a load to make the alternator 'kick in'. If you need to turn your side lights on to get it charging then the voltage reg in the alternator is knackered.

The internal voltage regulator should provide a constant alternator terminal voltage whatever the load on it by varying the rotor current. After a start and the battery terminal voltage is low, more current flows into the battery until its terminal voltage is restored and only float current is drawn.

The power does not flow from the alternator into the battery and then into the rest of the car. When running, the alternator provides power for both battery charging and the rest of the car.

If a lead acid battery is not charging then either the charging voltage is less than the terminal voltage and therfor no current is drawn, or the cells are damaged.

At work we have a large number of lead acid cells and we often get ones that fail due to a strange type of non-organic 'growth' inside them (looks really weird).

[Edited by Gary C - 1/12/2004 6:17:38 PM]

[Edited by Gary C - 1/12/2004 6:18:29 PM]

scoobyboy

it depends on what alternator you have if you have a 3 wire i think it is controlled by the ecu and only charges when the ecu lets it i think it's the american system but if you have the 2 wire type it works as a normal alt.
to tell what type it is you have to look at the plug going in to it.
with the 3 wire type as soon as the engine starts it charges at max charge for 2 secs to replace what the starter took out and then shuts off. the ecu then moniters the state of the battery and when the load is higher than normal i.e lights on or the voltage drops below a certain voltage it lets the alt charge like normal.

Prodrive Andy

Mine was changed by the dealer at 4000 miles.
completly flat after 3 days of not running....

julian N/W wrx my93

got a my93 with knackered battery, so went to the local brakers yard and paid a fiver for a 2nd hand battery about a year ago and still going strong now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gary C

Maybe the american system has a variable charging rate system, but the alternator still powers the car and the battery. Lead acid batteries are charged by applying a controlled voltage (as apposed to nicads where you control the current), whenever the voltage from the alternator is higher than the open cct terminal voltage of the battery, the batery will be charging.

sandycam

iTrader: (1)

Checked my sti type uk 03 and it has the 3 pin alternator as would all the 03's i suspect. Surely by putting on the lights a small voltage drop across the battery would be seen and this would make the alternator "kick in" on a voltage sensing rather than current sensing mode as you suggested above, all IMHO

Absolute Shower

I've had problems with MY02. Car sat for a week, with minimal alarm setting and batt almost flat. Bought two new batts (fit one, charge other as car is off road for 3 months), but still a pain. Alternator and reg fine...secs confirms charge. It's improved since I've disconnected the Secs monitor and switched off the interior light (I'm sure it was on one time I went to unlock the car even though all doors etc were locked).

I've also got RAC tracker fitted and new sterio...Sterio is on direct feed via inline fuse from batt but I know it's not taking any amps as I've tested it with multimeter.

Gary C

Hum...

If the battery has a low charge then it will draw more charging current by itself without needing the alternator to raise its voltage output.

Raising the voltage will boost the charging rate but unless the alternator is putting out a voltage less than the terminal voltage of the battery, the battery will be charging and as such does not need to 'kick in'.

Turning on the lights would tend to pull down the system voltage and the reg (either internal or external) would act to raise the voltage but it would be odd if it were to raise it above the voltage prior to turning on the lights.

From the previous post it looks as if the system has the inteligence to raise the voltage to quickly recover the battery charge after a start, but whenever you are running, the battery should be charging.

Andy McCord

Does anyone have this prob with a JDM sti8?

Absolute Shower

Has anyone had batt flat problems when car standing for days/week, and found a fix? Taking it that the alternator is charging the battery, but then elect items drain it - which is what happens to mine.

scoobyboy

i challange you to test a three wire car gary there will be no output from the alt until it needs it. we have had loads of recovered sti's from rac and aa who all say the alt is dead but it's the way the system works it's controlled by the ecu and only kicks in when needed that way it reduces the power sapped from the engine as it's not charging all the time.

Mr.M

I had my battery swapped out after it died twice. Most embarrasing as the alarm was set off around 3 am in the morning due to the battery voltage.

Was told by Subaru assist that the charging circuit was not working unless you put a load on the battery (air con for example).

Dealer swapped battery out and i haven't had a problem with it since.

I haven't left the car too long between trips since this episode.

Absolute Shower

Mr M...how long time period was it before batt died? Was it left for days or just died overnight? I don't think my problem relates to alternator charge as the batt (when it's still got enough charge to start the car) ends up with correct voltage after the car's been running for a while. It's only a prob when left standing for a week...well, slightly more than that now since alarm and secs monitor setup changed...pain though.

Guy down the road from me left his RB5 for 2 months and started 1st time...with alarm and tracker fitted.