Andy831

I have been having a similar problem with my petrol 68 plate forester. There is clearly a current drain when the car is stood and the monitors within the car electronics are still active, added to that the inactivity due to lockdown I was finding that whatever running time I had was insufficient to put back what the starting and the minor current drain was taking out. This became apparent when I noticed stop start had stopped working presumably this was the cars ecu protecting the battery from over draining it. To cut a long story short my solution during these strange times is to hook up a battery conditioner (Oxford Oximiser) for 3-4 hours once a week which seems to have cured the problem and stop start is back working again.

Probably not much help for your specific issue John but your not alone, I have a petrol 2018 model (68 plate) that I also often leave for 4 or 5 days without running, particularly at the moment given the situation with the virus, and I find that my battery is losing charge over a period of 5 or 6 days so that the starter motor will not turn. I am contemplating buying a portable battery booster that I can carry around with me as a " just in case" solution. It seems to me that there is so much electrical activity still going on while the car is switched off and I guess that just takes the edge off the battery, compound that with 5 or 6 days of inactivity and soon that battery is under 12v and unable to turn the engine.

You are correct Jay the other side that I thought was a blanked off reversing light is indeed the rear fog light so that buggers up one idea, so my only choice seems to be either a single more powerful bulb in the nearside which I doubt is going to be bright enough, or consider additional rear led reversing lamps mounted into the rear bumper. Thanks for your help

Thanks Jay In all honesty I had forgotten about the rear foglight I will go out now and check

Did a search for info relating to this but nothing came up. New to the Forester and I am very disappointed with the performance of the single nearside reversing lamp given where I live in the Pennines where most of the roads I use are unlit and at best single track with tight stone walls both sides, so if you meet someone coming the other way at night time it can result in having to back up maybe 300 metres to a convenient passing point and the single reversing lamp is just not adequate for seeing either with the camera or by hanging out of the drivers window. So my question relates initially to the spare bulb holder on the drivers side, is it actually "live" so its just a case or removing the blank bulb and replacing it with an additional reversing bulb? Alternatively has anybody tried the aftermarket led bulb replacements, and if so does this relatively easy fix improve matters, and can anyone recommend a brand name to try as I have been bitten by cheap Chinese replacements in the past. Thirdly if neither of the last two solutions are going to do it, then has anyone tried separate aftermarket reversing lamps maybe wired into the existing reversing lamp circuit? Andy

Hi Brack Yes it has although I have not actually tried it out yet, I am still trying to get my head around the other toys included in the "eyesight" package LOL

I am new to both the Forester and to CVT, and as I too live in a very hilly area I have a very similar problem. I seem to be able to overcome it and have some control by selecting manual and 1st gear.

First time on this forum, although I have been a member since late last year. Picked up a 2018 Forester with eyesight at the weekend which is my first Subaru but not my first 4x4 as I have owned : Suzuki Samurai, Vitara and Jimny, Honda HRV, Toyota Rav4, Land Rover Discovery TD5 and my last squeeze a Skoda Yeti. Looking forward to using the forum. Andy