Poor Battery

Submitted by Leo F Speed on

Forum: 

Have a YRV F Speed that seems to eat batteries!! Generally they last for about 21 months then go flat. System been checked, charging ok and not leaking. Told problem is car not used enough ( outside parking & maybe not used for a week to 10 days at a time).
What if I went on hols for 2 weeks and left car in airport car park?
Current battery is a Varta, and am told they do not do a heavy duty one. This seems to be a problem as nobody seems to.
Any suggestions as to a good make?

First accept that there is

Submitted by assassin on

First accept that there is always drain on any battery, this could be the alarm or even the internal clock which drains the battery. Disconnect the positive terminal and measure the current being drawn with the engine stopped, and alarm off, then with engine stopped and alarm on.

This will give an indication of the current draw while stationary, anymore then about 100-200 milliamps then you have a problem.

During the winter or wet weather, conditions cause condensation which allows tiny anounts oc current to track down to earth. Normally it is tiny and no real problem, but if you use the vehicle very little it could be.

Have the alternator professionally checked, these can effectively leak if part of the diode (rectifier pack) is defective or leaking current slightly. Problematic alternators are a usual, and often undiagnosed problem of excessive battery wear.

Any of these conditions can deplete the battery to a level from which it cannot recover.

If you use the vehicle so little there are a couple of things you could do. One is to park the vehicle off road, preferably in a garage during cold or wet conditions, or connect a small conditioning battery charger.

Conditioning chargers maintain a battery and charge in such a way thet they overcome many of the problems from excessive drainage.

The Varta Blue Dynamic

Submitted by DaihatsuDave on

The Varta Blue Dynamic replaced the Asia series battery and should be up to the job.
My car does alot of short trips and needs a top up on a charger from time to time.

Most batteries have a viewing indicator on top that tells you its condition...lights green for Ok, Black for Low/needs charging and White means its probably beyond charge recovery.

Get one of these cheap gadgets to test the alternator running and the battery outputs at idle -
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-LCD-BATTERY-ALTERNATOR-TESTER-/220629299388?pt=UK_Diagnostic_Tools_Equipment&hash=item335e87f0bc

New batteries usualy come charged but few will be 100% to start with so i would recommend you charge it up fully before fitting. Use a charger thats Automatic and suitable for Maintenance free type batteries....some are not and can cook them!

Some Daihatsu's can suffer from bad idle after the battery is removed. The ECU can relearn by allowing the engine at idle to fully warm up with the cooling fan coming on at least twice before the accelerator is pressed.

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Past- 91 Charade GTti, 89 Charade GTti, 98 1.3 Hi-Jet.
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one of the simplest things to

Submitted by richard p on

one of the simplest things to do is to get a solar panel charger , stick it ontop of the dash whenever the vehicle i parked up, you may have to rewire th cigar lighter socket direct to the battery.... my fortrak one was through the ignition switch origionally.