Hi All,

I have had an 03 wrx for about a year. The battery kept going flat if I didn't use the car for a few days. Went to the dealer (Subaru) and they put in a new battery and told me that I had to drive around with the side lights on all the time to make the alternator charge the battery.

This had worked as I have used the car most days. This week it's not been used, go to use it today and dead battery again!!!

The only mod I have had done so far is a dump valve and back box.

Is this a load of bull or what? Any advice.

Cheers

 

Has it got an RAC Trackstar (tracker) on it .If so this is a common problem , if you contact Trackstar they will send an engineer out to fit an upgraded unit that goes into sleep mode earlier and therefore not drain your fragile Subaru battery .Have a search and you'll see it's a common thing


Dave

 

No mention of Tracker when I bought it. Any way I can find out it has one?

 

Give them a call http://www.ractrackstar.co.uk/ they might be able to tell you if it's got one on , or how about the previous owner , would they know ? I had exactly the same problem . local dealer changed the battery (because they are clueless and it's the easiest option for them ). Got the trackstar changed and not a problem since

Good luck

Dave

 

Get the dealer to sort it, if not give them **** (if its still under warrenty). They know the batteries are rubbish. Loads of threads on here reference batteries. I swapped mine for a hi-power one from halfords and it hasn't given me a problem since (and mines got a tracker).

Best of luck, Wolfie.

 

Thanks all,

Have been to the dealer a couple of times and had the battery changed and thats all they are willing to do. Just fob you off with "it's a known fault". Will find out if it has a tracker. Also will make a trip to halfords in the morning.

What battery do you recomend?

Cheers
Now saving for some real mods.

 

The most powerful one they have. Sorry can't remember which one, but it did have a offer on it at the time (same price as the standard battery) and it was guaranted for 3 years.

Wolfie.

 

as long as they charge it right it will be ok, if they just fill it with acid and put it on it won't last long at all

 

Common problem. I've not got a RAC Trackstar but had the duff battery problem. As my car is Euro import it was more hassle going to dealer which was over 100 miles in round trips than buy a new one myself, it was cheaper than the petrol etc-got a Bosch Asia Silver from Costco for about £36 and that comes with a 3 or 4 year warranty. Model number is a 6DA, since changing it I've not had a single problem. Piece of cake to fit and it is uprated compared to crappy OEM fit one.

Andy.

 

Yep, I too have trackstar in 02WRX, kept having problems - car wouldn't start if you left it more than 2 days. Changed the battery for one of the Halford's heavy duty calcium ones (which were 20% off over Christmas, 4 year warranty, very high capacity and cold cranking amps compared to almost any other battery I could find - massively better than OEM). Now starts beautifully even if you don't use it for 2 weeks.

I did a few current draw tests and decided the trackstar was not a problem, at least in my case. I also don't need to use sidelights to make the smart alternator charge (assuming I have one on a 02WRX?). Doesn't mean to say that won't be a problem for others, however.

 

it could be the alarm m8, it could be faulty a drawing a bit too much current

a check worth doing would be to use a amp meter and see what the cerrent is that gets drawn with the alarm on. souldnt be more than 250mA max.

 

Thanks all,

Great help, sort it out today.

Cheers
Glenn