ver

Hi

Firstly......purchased this uk spec 99 car with CAT 1 alarm with PPP (low mileage full subaru service history and new battery )a couple of months ago so am new to the scoob game and so need the impreza guru type people or anyone who can shed some light on the matter tbh.

Car not driven for about 2-3 weeks
Go to pick my boy up from nursery, disarm, get in start the car
go to crank and there's this horrible RAT TAT TAT TAT tapping noise like its trying to start.... then the alarm goes off (but is a really weak siren)
I arm and disarm to stop the alarm going off and i think it beeps at me (alarm telling me the alarm was triggered off? at a guess)

I try straight away and it does the same

I had a problem with the car after holiday about a month ago where it was dead wouldn't even unlock or chirp (hence new battery) After the new battery was installed it was running fine and (thouhgt I had a MAF sensor issue but thats fine now) symptoms lead to me thinking the alarm is faulty?

Any ideas or diagnosis? I'll probably get the AA out to try and start it - atleast they know waht they are supposedly doing compared to someon who doesn't have a clue (i.e. me! lol)

Any help much appreciated......please!

L66bad

Sounds as if you've got the same problem I had with my MY94. When I parked it up for a week. Sounded like a slow machine gun when I tried to start it, not enough power to turn it over, just enough to activate the solenoid.
My problem was a short draining the battery down (near side front sidelight was on all the time). The only other time I had it happen was because I'd accidentally pressed the parking light switch on top of the steering column shroud.............plonker.
Get a jump start and use it whilst trying to find where the short is......good luck.

derek

ver

L66BAD

Dude that does make some sense, thanks.

However did you get the alarm going off as well?

Right I've noticed a switch above the steering column and i may have left it switched on. If i had done this I would know I've left if switched on right? (what is the parking light and what does it do?)

Thanks again

Chelspeed

I often run my battery right down while sprinting my other car over a weekend. This happens as I leave a laptop charging and a beer cooler plugged in. It always shows up as a reluctance to start and then the alarm triggering. I think trying to start it with a flat battery drags the voltage even lower until the alarm thinks it's been disconnected from the car so goes off to show it's being tampered with.

The loud tap tap tap is the starter solenoid, it pulls in as planned, first RAT, then the starter is engaged but there's not enough juice to turn the engine over, this drags the volts down far enough for the solenoid to drop out, starter disengaged, volts recover, solenoid pulls in, second TAT, repeat above for the other TAT, TAT, TATs.

Something is obviously flattening your battery, sidelights left on via the parking switch, alarm taking more than it should, some other short, the batteries no good (unlikely if it's new) or similar.

To check the alternator's behaving and keeping the battery charged try a multimeter across a decent 12V while you're driving (or someone else obviously, no-one would dream of driving and doing something else at the same time would they...). Do you see 12.5V or so while the engines off and more like 14V while you're driving? Try the lights on, still got 13.5 to 14V?

Last resort try a battery conditioner while it's parked up for long periods.

ver

Chelspeed

Thanks for the quick response.

You obviously know what you are writing about and that combined with L66BAD's comment makes me think there's something draining the battery. As this does lead to the same issue I had while I went away on holiday for just over a week.

I'm not sure what you are referring to with this comment:

Did i mention I'm not electrical minded either? lol

cheers!

wrxtreme96

I think he means put connectors from multimeter across battery terminals.. try when car engine is NOT running and then again when car engine IS running...
the alternator should top up the battery causing a multimeter reading of around 14v...
when engine NOT running battery will stand at 12v...
If your reading is low or NO change when engine running then you have an alternator problem....???? me thinks...??? but then again bet theres someone out there ready to correct me.....hahahhaaaa !!!
Good luck hope ya get it sorted

ver

Cheers!

Well I bought a battery charger and charged it up over night.

I've been using the scoob since........

i've read about problems with car draining battery when left for a week (?) So I'll monitor usage and take it from there. (I've not bothered with the multimeter thing yet)

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Have you got a Sigma alarm on your car ? mine has one, and if the car isnt driven for a while and the battery drains too low, the alarm will go off quietly constantly as a warning, but this completley drains the battery.

I find making sure you take the car out for a half hour run at least twice a week keeps the battery topped up enough.

The machine gun sound is the solenoid trying to engage, but not having enough voltage ( its an electro magnetic switch ) and is a sure sign the battery needs a recharge.

nas sti

check the boot light is not on when shut this is the most common caused for a drain on vehicle batterrys ,
except for things being left on . also if your using the vehicle and its starting ok and your having problems only in the morning its will be charging fine.