With the winter weather firmly setting in now we’re in December, the well documented battery drain issue on Newage Impreza’s (seriously, look it up) is unfortunately becoming apparent on my car.
The first tell-tale sign is that my alarm siren wails for a brief moment upon turning the key first thing in the morning – much to the annoyance of my neighbours. After a cold day, it sometimes even chirps at me no more than 7 hours later when I begin my journey home. I believe this is the alarm warning me of a sharp voltage drop from the starter motor on the battery.
My car has now basically become an audible temperature gauge for the neighbourhood.
The second sign is a very, very slight struggle from the starter motor. Although I’m lucky enough that my car starts without fault a split second after the starter motor cranks, I can tell there’s a slight hesitation. This becomes more apparent after, say, a cold weekend without any use – the hesitation on the following Monday morning is clear.
What causes the battery drain that leads to these issues?
It’s been speculated online that the chief culprit is in fact the factory-fit RAC Trackstar tracking system fitted to all Newage Impreza STI variants (here in the UK at least). This uses some sort of clever GPS scanning technology to monitor the whereabouts of your vehicle in real time, 24/7 – so you can see how it could cause an issue with the battery.
The Impreza also has what’s called a ‘smart alternator’. This means that unless you’re driving with no electrical input from wipers, lights, heaters, radio etc. then the alternator won’t charge the battery at all. To get around this on ageing batteries, people suggest simply driving around with your sidelights permanently on, or the fans on a low setting, just to maintain a bit of charge for the battery.
As to how this feature is entitled to call itself ‘smart’, I’m baffled.
And of course, cold weather is brutal to the health of your battery. With even colder temperatures fast approaching it’s probably time I consider purchasing a new battery for peace of mind.
For reference, there’s some very useful information on this Scoobynet thread.
I have a Subaru Impreza 2014. Since getting it in November of 2014 it has needed a jump 5-6 times (in 2 yrs and a month. As i have it on a three year lease , I’m always reflecting on whether to hold onto it at the end of the lease or not. I love the gas mileages, but it is so low to the ground and I miss the height of my 2001 Forester.
Last night when it needed a jump after only sitting in the car with a friend and the radio on for 8-10 minutes (my bad) the tow truck driver told me he jumpstarts newer Subarus ALL THE TIME. The high end ones and the lower end models like mine! I guess I need to get a newer battery for this winter before I get weirder problems than those i’ve already had. So far it always starts up in the morning and has only needed to be jumped when I sit in the car with lights o, or radio on or even just key on A/C and nothing on. The time I can get away with this has gone down from 40 minutes to 10 so the handwriting is on the wall. Thanks for your info and I will follow the guidance of the tow truck fellow and get a new battery asap.
I never would’ve thought even the newer models still have battery issues! Since fitting a brand new higher performance battery in mine the issues have been non-existent, so I’d recommend buying the best battery available in your budget for sure. Thanks for your comment!
I’ve got a 6 yr old Impreza and I have battery issues too. I’m on battery 2 and after the car sat for 5 days in the garage in not cold temps, I found a dead battery today. So annoying. Thanks for the info.
Also puzzled by this issue – 2013 Impreza. Waiting in the car with the radio on for + – 15 minutes drains the battery a lot. Never had this problem in other cars.
I have a 2002 wrx and when it rains my battery is practically dead after a few hours. New battery and starter. And the starter clicks sometimes for a while until it actually cranks.
I live in Canada and drive a 2011 WRx, constantly battery problems. I’ve replaced new battery, had it tested it’s working great,. Battery drains in the summer if I haven’t used for few days, this morning started car 5 hrs ago & now battery is dead (it’s -40 now). Dealership asked me to sell my car back to them & upgrade to newer model (low kms 60000km) .
Does Subaru battery drain sounds familiar to Apple battery problems?!!!
Another possibility!
WRX AU, recently had a flat battery several times, after a couple of days not driving.
Initial investigation I could find no faults in the many lights and switches.
Noted literally thousands of reports on various forums, many users and dealers changed batteries, some as many as three times in a month, no faults found with cars or batteries, lots of bad mouthing of Subaru.
Some solved the problem with BIG batteries, they take longer to drain:)
I found it hard to believe no one had a solution, a real answer. The gurus, the dealers, Subaru.
More investigation, the car was was losing about 1200ma continuously, general feeling is 70ma is normal for a sleeping Subaru. Used the main fuse box to try and isolate, found the fuse labeled BACK UP killed the drain.
A laugh, in the user manual it is labeled BACK UP LIGHT, that is WRONG. It does many things and is part of the power for the BIU Body Integrated Unit, you gurus will know it controls many things, everything body/key related.
Pull the fuse and the car will run but all body related function are screwed. AC can work, a bit hot here.
If you are trying to trace this sort of thing leave the keys in the house OK.
Over a couple of days trying many haphazard checks, removed that fuse a few times.
Drain stayed the same about 1200ma.
The words BACK UP are relevant, the BIU is a computer, I think it does save all the info about settings, audio, nav, maybe some switches, someone will know exactly.
I set up to start checking the inside fuses, extended ammeter leads so I could see the gauge in the car.
On one occasion when the ignition was off and I connected the battery the CD player re-initialized itself. wtf.
(the Audio unit was OFF)
Drain gone!!!! I think the CD player was in some weird mode, not properly off maybe.
This car takes about 3 minutes to go to sleep when you lock it, I believe in that 3 minutes the BIU is doing its stuf.
When sleeping it pulls 50ma.
My battery is 5 years old!!
What about those 1000s of other battery drain, battery failure reports?
I bounced this cause off a good tuner/mechanic, he said he had seen it on a GM sedan once.
This topic is a bit long, sorry but 1000s of people need to read it, imo.
Thanks for posting Keith. There’s some good information there, thank you.