Car made Oct,07 purchased Aug,08 and whenever sitting in the car playing with controls for an hour (headlights off) that seems to kill the battery. I thought it might be due to the battery sitting too long between manufacturing and final sale, but with all the complaints, I think I will ask for a replacement as well. I do not want to get stuck somewhere and need to wait for a jump.

Here are some points from the owner's manual:

However, not sure what this means: p2-34 "Never leave the [head] light switch on [Auto?] when the engine is not running for extended periods of time even if the headlights turn off automatically." Auto is my normal light switch position, but the car has not run out of juice yet, unless I play with the Nav/Radio/phone system inside with the engine off.

Also, p2-38 "The battery could run down if the seat heater is operated while the engine is not running." Now lately, I have been leaving the seat heater switch to low with the engine off, but the "low heat" light seems to always go out with the car off. Wish the dash would show battery Volts and Amps on demand.

And this is weird, not making sense to me: p2-40 "Avoid using power outlet when the air conditioner, headlights or rear window defroster is on." I would think if the engine is running, the power outlet for say, a laptop, would be acceptable...hopefully for a few hours of laptop use even when the engine is off.

p3-11 "BATTERY SAVER SYSTEM
When all the following conditions are met for 60 minutes, the battery saver system will cut off the power supply to prevent battery discharge.
c The ignition switch is in the ACC position, and
c All doors are closed, and
c The selector lever is in the P (Park) position."
Funny this did not happen to me, it seems i was in there for that long at one time...maybe the battery died before this kicked in. Disturbing when the battery is low (i measured less than 9 Volts) and the little Infinti clock was flickering its backlight. Of course the car would not start--the system should warn before the battery is allowed to get this weak.

controller system: p4-5 "If you use the system with the engine not running (ignition ON or ACC) for a long time, it will use up all the battery power, and the engine will not start." What is a long time?

p4-59 "To avoid draining the vehicle battery, use a phone after starting the engine." this is pretty weak as well, that the bluetooth system could take down the battery that much...probably the computer and hard drive is still running, but .... need to add a second battery in the trunk area I think for better traction (alfa had their battery there, mercedes sedan had under back seat).

p8-16 "Use electrical accessories with the engine running to avoid discharging the vehicle battery." more general need for a second battery or better low battery warning system.

 

service manual pg.pdf-4 : "Sulphation
A battery will be completely discharged if it is left unattended
for a long time and the specific gravity will become less than
1.100. This may result in sulphation on the cell plates.
To determine if a battery has been “sulphated”, note its voltage
and current when charging it. As shown in the figure, less current
and higher voltage are observed in the initial stage of
charging sulphated batteries.
A sulphated battery may sometimes be brought back into service
by means of a long, slow charge, 12 hours or more, followed
by a battery capacity test."

So if car sat too long at dealer, ran down the battery, which, with all the possible electrical drains in the car, could be very possible?

 

Definately possible. We charge our batteries weekly to prevent this.

 

Yep 19k and my battery is still good, I remember my WRX battery died after leaving it sitting 3 months during the summer

 

Dealer battery test was good. Service Manager says playing the radio/ipod/nav system during lunchtime without the engine On is a load that could take the battery down. Second accessory battery in trunk (plus for more traction) would seem to be solution? Will be checking Volts, plus Amps with my Fluke y8100 ac/dc current probe under various conditions to see what is happening for myself. Waiting for HPAuto Greddy Informeter to see Volts on regular basis.

Maybe due to all the mods I've done to the car:
http://share.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=11152

unrelated: check this tree full of insects in my neighborhood out--
http://share.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=15269

 

Battery Type 80D23L rating: 20 hour rate capacity [12V - 62Ah] Cold cranking current 582Amps
-this would seem to mean that the battery could handle approx 3A for 20hrs.
However, with the radio/nav system on only (Acc), the draw is about 6A. That would cut the time down to 10hrs. When the Ignition systems are added on (without start), that shows about 12A, so about 5hrs of use would be available (assuming the battery handles the higher draw at the same rate). With headlights and fog lights on, the Amp draw is 30A. Seat heat adds 4A more.
The sitting draw seems to go down to less than 1A, which would be 62 hrs of sitting time. But since the meter zero was not steady, maybe the Amps went down below 0.5A, giving 120hrs -- that is 5 days of sitting time.
But my experience was about 3 hrs max with the radio/nav system on. I will try to test this again to see how long it takes to run the battery down to 11.V with the radio on.

 

is this a well documented problem with G's? can we do a poll or something on how many ppl actually need to get their batteries replaced. i don't want to be stranded somewhere like that. will have to buy a jump if it happens...

 

I finally got my battery replaced under warrenty last week. The first time i noticed it was low i took it in and they tested it and said it was fine. After the second time it happened and they did nothing about it i went to AutoZone and had them test it and they said it was bad. This was right after it did not start on me and i had to jump it. Took it to the dealer for the third time and told them what autozone said and they tested it again and said there tests come up good and there is nothing they can do and that i might be leaving stuff on causing it to die. BS cause i always check everything especially since the problem started. Finally after speaking with the service manager and saying it has been in 3 times already and autozones test came up bad he decided to replace it. So far it has ran ok since the new battery. Car is just over a year old and 9k miles when it started.

 

It will be the same with new battery.Let use it for about 3-4 month.The is something wrong with the G. I just can leave it without start for 3-4 day.
Even the RED TOP are drain out.

 

have had to jump mine a couple times after having the radio on for about 1 hr. I know the G has a lot more electronics (smart key, etc) but this seems pretty lame. Took it to Autozone, their tester said it was weak. Taking it back to dealer tomorrow. If they won't replace it will probably just buy a new Duralast Gold at Autozone. $90 and three year free replacement.

10500K, 11 months

 

I have replace it with REDTOP ULTIMA Battery cost $149. Won't help!!!!
It doesn't matter with the battery if you leave it w/o starting for couple days
or more.It will show WEAK start.

 

I have left mine for a week or more several times because I travel for work, and it has started every time. But leave the radio on for an hour and it's dead. The battery looks undersized for a car with this much electronics.

 

Isn't mine Redtop even more powerful! than stock Battery? Confused!!! Still Dead!!

 

after my replacement battery which been a few months now. it's fine

 

I think you possibly have some other problem where you are getting a slow current draw when the car is turned off. Have you had that checked out? Is something on all the time, a radar detector, something like that?