GTS Battery drain solution?

[EXCF350]

As a new owner of a 2012 GTS, I've read all the comments about battery drain and I'm wondering if I should really be worried or whether it's one of these things blown out of proportion by the internet. I will occasionally be leaving the car in the airport carpark for 1 or 2 weeks so the question is - will I come back to a dead car?

A simple fix to this is to buy a spare battery - e.g. http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bu...silver-car-battery-hsb019-5-yr-guarantee#tab1 and some jump leads. These could live permanently under the boot floor where the tyre inflator is currently stored.

Should I really be worried about the battery draining? Is there a good reason why I shouldn't put a spare battery in there?

 

[hodroyd]

If the tracker is still active you could get battery drain, plus other systems do run in the background..!! You could turn off the power if it's a 2 week stint and that could help..!! A spare new battery would obviously help if it's charged of course, make sure the breather caps are in so it does not leak in the boot..!! A battery conditioner can be good for when parked at home, but no good for the airport..!!
Yuasa or the Bosch Silver are both good and offer a 5 year warranty..!!

 

[alfatwo]

As a new owner of a 2012 GTS, I've read all the comments about battery drain and I'm wondering if I should really be worried or whether it's one of these things blown out of proportion by the internet. I will occasionally be leaving the car in the airport carpark for 1 or 2 weeks so the question is - will I come back to a dead car?

A simple fix to this is to buy a spare battery - e.g. http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bu...silver-car-battery-hsb019-5-yr-guarantee#tab1 and some jump leads. These could live permanently under the boot floor where the tyre inflator is currently stored.

Should I really be worried about the battery draining? Is there a good reason why I shouldn't put a spare battery in there?

This what you need!

Anti Gravity Batteries Micro Start..

It's a fantastic piece of kit, and they do massive discounts for orders over 10

Dave

 

[mjheathcote]

They do work these mini jump starters. I tried a similar one from Australia 'super power booster' and at the time it was the £ that put me off but it turned over my Stag V8 easily. This one looks better!
I would be up for a group buy.

 

[alfatwo]

They do work these mini jump starters. I tried a similar one from Australia 'super power booster' and at the time it was the £ that put me off but it turned over my Stag V8 easily. This one looks better!
I would be up for a group buy.

I bought it at the Silverstone weekend Mike,Ive used it a few times now, it's brilliant...

They retail at £150.... I got mine for £120....I was talking to the guy regarding a forum buy...£100 each if we were to order 10 or more

I still have he's phone number..

Dave

 

[mjheathcote]

The cheaper XP-3 with less accessories would do me.

 

[hodroyd]

Is it not the lithiom Ion batteries that are at risk of setting on fire..??

 

[Blu Elettrico]

As a new owner of a 2012 GTS, I've read all the comments about battery drain and I'm wondering if I should really be worried or whether it's one of these things blown out of proportion by the internet. I will occasionally be leaving the car in the airport carpark for 1 or 2 weeks so the question is - will I come back to a dead car?

A simple fix to this is to buy a spare battery - e.g. http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bu...silver-car-battery-hsb019-5-yr-guarantee#tab1 and some jump leads. These could live permanently under the boot floor where the tyre inflator is currently stored.

Should I really be worried about the battery draining? Is there a good reason why I shouldn't put a spare battery in there?

Hi EXCF350,
Welcome to the forum. My 2012 GTS lives outside, not been trickle charged and has never gone flat (kiss of death now!!). Longest I left it is 3 weeks between runs and I usually make sure it has a good run (25 miles +) at least every 10 days or so. Make sure you lock the car so it powers down and worth a phone call to Tracker to check state of internal battery. Dealer told me they can't touch these but also internal tracker battery no longer charges from main battery when exhausted.

Great choice of car and hope you enjoy the noise!

Cheers Blu

 

[Yeti]

I once left mine in the garage for 4 weeks when I was in the States on biz and the old girl fired up as soon as I turned the key. Sounds like a bit of an urban myth to me.

 

[rd993]

I've had a very similar experience to Blu. My 2009 GTS lives outside on the street. Gets driven on the weekend only - typically 20 minute rides. Has been left at the airport for 2 weeks. Has so far started every time. I've had the car for just over 2 years but it came with comprehensive reciepts and I can't see one for the battery so it might be on its original.

However...when I first got the car there were teething issues which the dealer agreed to sort out. They kindly gave me a demonstrator as I needed to travel to a wedding. The demonstator was white, black wheels, red interior and the full carbon pack inside and out - it looked absolutely awesome but hardly the most inconspicuous car. So imagine how cool I looked as I wandered to the car as everyone was leaving, tried to unlock the car and found that the car was dead as a dodo. It was only a month old!

Basically it seems to be a bit of a lottery - though I suspect the demonstrator's battery had been allowed to go flat in the past and I understand this limits the life of the battery.

 

[Felonious Crud]

Hi EXCF350. As I understand, it's more of an issue with older batteries and old Trackers. I just replaced my 5-year old one with a big fat Bosch and the car has a new lease of life in many ways. Good advice from Blu To give Tracker a shout.

 

[rd993]

Hi EXCF350,
Welcome to the forum. My 2012 GTS lives outside, not been trickle charged and has never gone flat (kiss of death now!!). Longest I left it is 3 weeks between runs and I usually make sure it has a good run (25 miles +) at least every 10 days or so. Make sure you lock the car so it powers down and worth a phone call to Tracker to check state of internal battery. Dealer told me they can't touch these but also internal tracker battery no longer charges from main battery when exhausted.

Great choice of car and hope you enjoy the noise!

Cheers Blu

Yes - I phoned Navtrak up about the internal battery and they told me the modern units (fitted to the GT) only charges from the car battery when the ignition is on.

 

[bigbob]

Agree about the tracker point; ie not an issue on GranTurismo.

Regarding the battery situation it all depends on how far you drive to a greater extent than frequency of use. I was told that starting and running for less than 30 minutes is a net drain on the battery as opposed to many other cars which require a far shorter period to recharge. I managed to flatten the battery on mine when the car was only three months old by doing this. I now have a tender - should not really need to use it but lots of people with Astons, 911s etc do also and it's a price you have to pay.

PS I do wonder if the QPVI and Ghibli are any better?

 

[EXCF350]

Many thanks to all who have replied.

I do wonder if it is a mixture of what Yeti and bigbob say - an urban myth and people not using the cars for proper regular runs.

I've got the tracker active but it is a 2012 car so I guess that comes under the 'newer' units.
I also use the car regularly for runs of at least 20 minutes - all at 60mph or more as I live in a rural location with national speed limit A & B roads on my doorstep. That should keep the battery in good shape.

From what I've read so far here, I've got nothing to worry about.

 

[EXCF350]

This what you need!

Anti Gravity Batteries Micro Start..

It's a fantastic piece of kit, and they do massive discounts for orders over 10

DaveView attachment 23266View attachment 23267

Would this actually work on a GTS? The specs say a max of 400Amps but the GTS manual says the battery is rated at 850CCA.

 

[hodroyd]

Just make sure your battery is in good condition, any signs of labouring, or any doubts at all, change the battery for £100, or less..!!

 

[BigR]

I changed mine about 15mths ago for a Bosch and all has been fine since. I rarely put it on the conditioner / charger, perhaps every 4-6mths and it never gives me any problems. Indeed, to illustrate the point, I went on a channel ferry night crossing for 12hrs just recently and quite early on heard car alarms going off (my wife said 'is it ours?' - the ship held 580 cars...). Anyhoo, sure enough upon returning to the car in the morning it told me that a 'break in' had been attempted i.e. I'd forgotten to switch off the alarm (read: didn't know how, and they remembered), but not a second thought from the car starting straightaway. The crossing was moderately rough so I imagine it'd been going on and off a fair amount through the night.

That, plus the Tracker was working - who said they'd call once the ship started sailing, but they didn't, so a question mark there as to i) is it working; ii) are they actually able to detect it as they claim.

Anyhoo, that aside, about 800 miles in and the car hasn't missed a beat - despite scraping the bottom on an extremely high French speed bump

 

[Felonious Crud]

Mine has been happier with its new Bosch. The AA ran some tests on the old one and declared it as fit as a fiddle but it was clearly wasn't up to the job.

 

[hodroyd]

It might not have been quite big enough Adam, if it was the same size it obviously had some issues that they could not spot, it takes a lot to cold crank our babies..!!

 

[alfatwo]

It might not have been quite big enough Adam, if it was the same size it obviously had some issues that they could not spot, it takes a lot to cold crank our babies..!!

Well, It started 3 cars this afternoon at Mitcar with flat batteries...and one was a V8!

Dave