SebP10

Due to the current situation, many cars are now sitting idle when they would normally be out and about. There have been a couple of posts about new-ish cars having a flat battery after what seems a short period of time, so I thought I'd experiment on one of our cars (hers 😉, as it's barely been used since the lockdown started) to see the current drain when parked. This was purely for my own interest but I though I'd share the results here as they may be useful for somebody. I connected an ammeter between the negative lead from the car and the negative terminal from the battery on our (her) 2017 XV (2.0 petrol with keyless entry) and then monitored the current with the car in various states. The meter used was a Fluke 177, the current reading of which was cross-checked with a Fluke 8088A earlier in the day and found to be within 1 mA at 1 A (0.1%, or good enough for me!) The battery is the OE 62Ah unit and was fully charged (according to the Optimate III charger that was connected prior to the tests.) Key was kept out of range unless required. The current readings were fluctuating so the approximate mean values are used (possibly due to the flashing alarm and immobilser LEDs.) Current drain results were: Locked, alarmed - 80 mA Locked, alarmed, welcome lighting on (wafted key by the door) - 2.25 A. This drops to 320 mA once the interior lamp goes off and then drops back to 80 mA after approximately 35 seconds. This current was monitored for 1/2 an hour. Locked (with key, so no alarm) - 80 mA Unlocked (doors opened and closed to prevent automatic re-locking) - 300 mA (once interior lamp goes out.) This drops to 70 mA after approximately 35 seconds. From this attempt at a scientific (but mainly messing about in the garage) experiment, it looks as though the alarm has no effect on the current draw over the immobiliser, and that only draws 10 mA more than when the car is open and idle. But with only 62 Ah available even 80 mA could drain the battery in 32 days (by my !Removed!-packet (but probably more to it than that) calc.) For the XV, from now on I will be plugging it in each weekend, as well as taking it to work occasionally, to keep it topped up until all this is over. (Oh, and don't leave the interior lamp on as this reduces the life to just over a day 😖) I hope this has been useful (or at least given you something to do for a couple of minutes!)

We're having this issue with my wife's XV, as she's been working from home since the schools closed and it doesn't get used (although knocking the interior light on didn't help 🙄) I've been using it for work once a week (I prefer the driving the Levorg!) but it's still not happy. It's now nose-in to the garage on an "Optimate III" trickle charger that I bought in 2001 for the bike (good in its day, but most likely surpassed now), but still showing as charging after 30 hours. I'm guessing the alarm uses a reasonable amount of power (John N had an issue with his Outback a few posts below), so I would suggest buying a "Smart" trickle charger to keep the battery topped up. The Optimate came with croc-clips and a fused set of ring-eye leads for easy connection. If the ring-eye leads weren't on the bike I'd put them on the XV (for easy connection as Jay has suggested), but it's my bike 😋 I've also turned off the interior light setting on the top display, so when I walk past it with the keys the lamp doesn't come on for 20s or so. Every Little Helps, as someone said once. Another option, that I've read on here, is to lock the car with the key. Apparently this doesn't set the alarm (from a post about leaving dogs or kids in the car; probably dogs!) but it should still be immobilised. (Can't think why it wouldn't be if it needs the key inside to start?) Probably worth checking your insurance on this before trying! (Note: not tried this to date.) Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

Cheers Ernie! Knowing the rating has been a great help! 👍 The XV has been on charge now for nearly 30 hours and the Optimate is still indicating "Charge". I'm assuming the alarm is draining quite a bit so having a decent booster pack available will be a comfort. Amazon Prime "recommend" one that is good for a 7 ltr engine (!) for £90 so I may go for it as it should have no problem with our 1.6 and 2.0 cars!

Put the car on charge again, although this time I'll leave it until I get home from work tomorrow afternoon to let the Optimate get it nice anf full. Those little booster packs defy all logic! I think it is time to get one to keep under the boot floor (current booster is a bit bulky.) Which ones have you got?

We haven't got one either; if we're going away we tend to take the Levorg as it has a bigger boot! The Subaru roof boxes look quite smart in the brochure, but I would assume they're a ridiculous price. It may be worth checking, if only to give you a price guide? (And if you think the XV forum is quiet you should see the Levorg forum 😄!)

Good to hear you've sorted it, and thank you for the useful information about battery drainage 👍. (I've had a quick look through the handbook but couldn't find it either, although there was a bit about re-syncing the keys to the car, so maybe you have to work it out from that?!) The Mrs is now working from home now I'm making a conscious efforrt to take the XV to work at least once a week to keep the battery topped up and the brakes free, etc.

Just seen this on the Subaru website... https://www.subaru.co.uk/activity-packs/ Not quite the Subarus most kids would recognise, though, but may keep them busy for half an hour.

Have you left an interior lamp on? On Friday the battery on our XV had just enough power for a couple of cranks before dying. Turns out I'd knocked the interior lamp after taking it to work on Wednesday (possibly by chucking my coat in the back) and then a couple of starts whilst investigating the lack of air-con and that was enough to drain it. The lamp has a rocker switch that is very easy to knock and I would imagine the Outback has the same. It sounds odd that it wouldn't accept a jump, but if it only has 5 V it may have lost some cells. Good luck!

Just tested the XV after charging it up and it rev-limits at approx 3800 rpm in Park. Every day is a school day!

The plan today was to swap the front wheels across, however the battery was flat. All I got was a couple of laboured cranks before it died. Turned out the interior lamp was on (I must have knocked the switch on Wednesday when I chucked my coat in the back), plus a couple of starts yesterday whilst investigating the air con issue wouldn't have helped. My jump leads self-destructed a few years ago and the booster pack was flat, so had to put it on trickle charge for a few hours. Finally swapped the wheels across just before 3 after starting the job at 9. Time for 🍺 now

I hope so. The oil runs down from the very top, which is quite well protected by the grille and headlamp. The oil peters out at the bottom where the condenser seems quite vunerable.

Just realised I've had a senior moment; it should read "near-side" of the condenser (RHS when looking from the front.) 🙄

Looks like our XV has the same issue as Dogconker's ☹️ The Mrs is working from home at the moment so I took the XV to work yesterday to give it a run out. Coming home (24o according to the car!) it wasn't blowing cold and there was a hissing sound from the face-level vents above the radio. Poking around under the bonnet I noticed the condenser was wet with oil down the off-side from where the top pipe connects. I checked the condenser on the Levorg and it was dry (handy having two Subarus!) This old thread has helped immeasurably 👍 I've emailed the dealer (obviously they're shut at the moment) to log the issue as the warranty runs out at the end of July. Hopefully we'll get this sorted without too much fuss.

The US got an eXV (or Crosstrek) in 2013, so I would guess it will be a few years before the PHEV version makes it over here. Europe, as a whole, is not a big market for Subaru so we're well down their priority list for new models, although emission legislation may force their hand. (Similarly, I'm not looking to change, despite also receiving a £2000 voucher the other day.) I've been looking through the stats and the eXV has a fuel tank that is 15 litres smaller, with a boot that is 45 litres down, so it looks like they've had to find space for all the electrical gubbins. Seems a bit of an oversight on the new Global Platform that it wasn't hybrid-ready, especially as Subaru have had a tie-up with Toyota for many years now. Regarding fuel economy, also found that both our cars display an MPG that is around 10% greater than what the pumps suggest. It was 23.8 MPG for the XV (no, really!!!) on the last tank (I'm putting it down to a 7-mile commute, so barely warmed up, plus defrosting time at the moment), whereas the car reckoned on 26-ish.

Not sure, but as we've had our cars for nearly three years I thought I'd try the keys tonight (so thank you for the idea!) No problem turning the key anti-clockwise (unlock) on my Levorg, although opening the driver's door set off the alarm (cue sprint back to the house for fob to silence.) I then tried the Mrs' XV, opening the OSR passenger door, and that was fine too (fob on front door mat so not as far to run to cancel alarm!) I didn't try turning either door key clockwise (getting late, kids in bed, didn't want to cause the local keyboard warriors to light-up Facebook about alarms going off, etc), but I would guess that would just lock the doors again, much like hitting the lock button on the fob when you can't remember if you touched the lock sensors on the handle (happens daily here!) Perhaps try some gentle jiggling of the key in case it is a bit tight, but a call / visit to the dealer may be in order whilst still under full warranty.

Has your XV got electric power steering? (Our 17-reg has, but I don't know about the earlier models as the manual has details for both electric and hydraulic.) If your battery is getting on a bit then it may be struggling to turn the wheels to full-lock just after turning it over. The manual has some bold print about the electric steering shutting down if overloaded, so it may be worth getting your battery (and / or charging system) checked out before looking down the steering column / rack routes. Hope it is as simple as this!

Hi and welcome! Unfortunately it looks as though it is no longer on the road, as the MOT expired on 05 Oct 2009 and the tax on 31 Mar 2010. This is according to these websites... https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax ...which you'd like to think are correct! (Of course it may have a private plate now, which means it may be around.) The MOT site lists all the advisories, fails and mileage since 2006, which can make for "interesting" reading when looking at what has happened previous cars once sold on.

Checked the wheel nut torque today after having all four tyres changed on Saturday. Found that the four standard nuts were OK on each wheel but the locking nuts were barely over finger tight! Glad they hadn't gunned the nuts to >200 lb ft and then checked them for a click at 89 lb ft (which was my concern), but worrying that they'd forgotten to do the locking nuts. Still, this shows why you should check the wheel nut torque after 40 - 50 miles!

Had new boots fitted all round. Vredstein Quatrac Pro, which are a good All Season tyre (came 2nd in an Auto Bild test.) I condsidered Michelin Cross Climates (1st in said test), but the Vredsteins's are asymmetric, which will make tyre rotation far more simple than the directional Cross Climates (and most other All Season tyres.)

Congratulations on your Levorg! I've had mine for 2 1/2 year s and I'm very happy with it (although it is thirsty, so what it must be like to run a WRX or similar beggars belief!) Anyway, I had a loud clunk when reversing mine onto the drive once. I put it down to there being patchy snow and ice at the side of the road and the front tyres slipping and then gripping whilst on full lock. I get very faint noises occasionally now (when it is cold and wet) when reverse on, but I think this is the block paving on the road (feature part of the estate!) and the tyres slipping slightly over the general crud in the joints (this is when it's hot, returning from work.) It doesn't clonk / knock on the uneven and in need of repair roads around here during normal driving. Is there a kerb outside your drive? It may be slipping off the concrete and onto the tarmac and shocking (for want of a better word) the suspension. I'm still on the OE Dunlops and they are not great when it's cold and wet. Hope this helps.

It's not the brakes. The lip on the discs is noticeable but no worse than on our cars (both around 25k miles) and there is no noise from them unless it has rained and the first brake application has to remove the surface rust. The hissing sound in the video is similar to what my car emits when idling from cold as I'm scraping the windows in the morning. I don't know what the motor is doing but there must be various valves opening as it warms up, and they all make a hissing sound. As it seems to be speed related (and therefore, possibly, rpm related?), I would go with your idea of the torque converter / clutch beginning to lock-up. It must be pressure controlled so the noise could be coming from a valve activating the lock-up mechanism? Is there an automatic gearbox specialist in your area that you could take it? You'll probably get no joy from the dealer until you replace the discs so it may be worth a trip?

There is this place just north of Luton on the A6... http://www.devilspit.co.uk/offroad/ I've been thinking about going for a while now but not got round to it (plus the XV is hers and she's not as keen!) Maybe the time is coming?

Assuming you have the built in sat-nav, I was sent this link from Subaru UK... https://subaru-eu-mapupdate.naviextras.com/shop/portal You can download a SubaruGen2 toolbox and update the SD card. I have downloaded it and read the card but found the cost was the wrong side of £200 for 2017 maps (this was in May!) I decided to stick with the 2013 maps (in a 2016 car 🙄) and wait until the 2019 release (as they seem to be done every two years) before trying again. I haven't yet but I may try again this weekend and see if the latest maps are available. It was straightforward as far as I went, you just need a micro SD card reader, which are readily available from your local tropical rainforest.

This was posted on my local "Moaning Villagers" page on FaceStalk... https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/snow-rain-met-office-weather-17239145?fbclid=IwAR03J0mEbWWXTcuzgTmRIR6Wr1Lr8cr4Uvm5gHC3t-do1QipjaNmdKRcJiw Highly unlikely to reflect the image, but good choice Cambs News!

This 7 mph thing is really odd! Have you tried rolling away in neutral yet? You could try it with the engine running and also with just the ignition on, just to see if it still grinds at 7 mph? Also, have you tried crawling along at 5 mph for a while before accelerating up beyond 7 to see if it still does it? (Sorry, this is beginning to bug me now, although not nearly as much as it does you, obviously!)