Have just had a bad incident involving my new ( March 00 ) Impreza Turbo and having trouble understanding how this happened.

The car has been sitting doing nothing in the drive for 3 weeks now. 10 days ago I started the engine and ran it just to keep everything sweet ( cannot drive through injury )

3 days ago I went to start it again and - nothing. Starter motor didn't kick in although was sounds of relays being activated somewhere. Tested by turning on radio then interior fan - radio cuts out. Central locking also stops. Aha I thought - battery too low.

So, jump started on Saturday, ran for 20 minutes. Shut off, started again OK.

Sunday - tried to start and alarm made one beep and again could not start.

Today - 5.30 AM Alarm goes off on own. Turned off using remote. Few seconds pass and alarm goes off again, and again and again and again. Goes off continually so disconnect battery.

Phoned my garage ( Carstins ) who want me to take it in for them to look at ( May get Subaru Assistance out first ) but I don't understand why this has happened:

1) Why didn't the battery charge when the engine was run for 20 minutes?

2) The headlights still shine bright but cannot start - is there a cut off which prevents starting below a certain voltage?

3) Why did the battery discharge so quickly? It's a bit worrying when you wonder if your car will start after you have left it for only 7-10 days. Car has Trackstar but surely not that big a drain?

Thanks for any advice and info.

Dave.

 

I have a STI V5 and had a similar problem the ignition didn't turn the car over but you could hear the fuel pump working and the lights and radio still worked.I charged the battery up for 24 hours and the car still would not start.The AA came and we got it going so i could go to Power engineering to get a new battery.

The AA fella said that the battery was duff and that i needed a new one, he explained that the amount of power used to get the lights, radio and fuel pump working was a zillionth of what was needed to start such a complex engine of the vehicle.

New battery (some Varta thing)was fitted and no probs at all, the guys at PE said this was a common thing for Jap import cars and pointed out a pile of batteries all exactley the same as the one removed from my car.


...New battery i think for you...Ian

 

Also make sure the side parking lights switch is not left on! Just a thought!

 

Just had my battery go as well on MY98

Went to start it and all I could hear was the relay clicking. Jump started okay. New battery and now working fine.

To answer your questions:-

1) 20 minutes is not long enough to charge a flat battery and if the battery became completely discharged you may not be able to recharge it at all.

2)The power required to turn the starter motor is enormous compared to the power required to run the lights. Just look at the difference in cable thickness between the wires feeding your headlights and your starter motor.

3) If the battery was deteriorating then an alarm could flatten it sufficiently to prevent starting over that timescale.

 

Dead right Doc...

In a previous life I studied charging systems etc at tech .... basicly it takes 15 mins to put in what it takes out on starting, assuming no other drain like lights, wipers, heated windows etc, it's also worth noting that an alternator speed is regulated by pulley size and if I remember 3000rpm (engine rpm) is optimal charging revs ... so just ticking over ain't enough to put a decent charge back in ... Hence loads of battery problems in winter when you just do short trips down to the shops or the dreaded school taxi in traffic and low revs ....
Our second car has battery trouble in the winter so I've put a different pulley on the wifes alternator so it charges more at lower revs 'cause it does the school run and not much further .....

K

 

To me it sounds like the alarm is taking too much out of the battery, on my car the alarm sounds when the battery is low as kind of a battery warning.

Try getting a battery back-up fitted for about £40 so the alarm has its own battery aswell as the car.