Wife's 75 yo Uncle has a 2022 Mazda 3 that has only 2,700 miles
Gets driven one or twice every 6 - 8 weeks
Battery is completely dead
Any know parasitic drawn issues when setting for extended periods of time.
Dealer is 45 miles away and will not pick up the car or send a service tech.
Thoughts
Thanks
Totally normal. I wouldn't waste 30 seconds trying to figure out why a car built in the last 20 years kills a battery in six weeks.
Yeah sadly not that unusual. Even for 90s cars, more than a month of sitting was pushing it. A lot of newer cars will drain their batteries to the point that they can't start in 2-3 weeks and easily drain it to death in 6-8.
If the car sits a lot, rig up a battery cutoff switch under the hood to allow for easy disconnects. There are even remote-controlled battery disconnect systems available now.
In reply to RacingComputers :
I'm not sure if its your case but I'll give you an example...
Gen2 Prius ('04-'09) had an option called Smart Key. This is early in the fob with no metal key trend. The smart key (proximity key) allows the fob to stay in your pocket and you just press the start button for the car to start. Additionally, as you approach the locked car, the proximity key reads the signal sent out by the fob and unlocks the door as you reach for it.
This means that the car is constantly "sniffing" for you to approach the car. On Prius that got this option (and most did) it also specs a larger 12v battery vs models w/o the option. Thankfully, Toyota gave a way to defeat this function through a poorly labled switched hidden under the steering column. For Prius driven sparingly, this constant sniffing will drain the car's 12v battery in 8 weeks.
Does this car in question have similar?
Best option is to leave the battery connected but keep a trickle charger connected, provided the vehicle is stored somewhere that a charger can be plugged in. If not, there may be a solar charger option.
I've had good experience with this plug in model:
I currently have 4 of them plugged in to various classics that don't get driven regularly, and my lawn tractor. Bolt the connection to the battery and use the little plug to connect/disconnect it. 4 amps is plenty of capacity to keep any battery topped off regardless of parasitic draw while the car is unused.
Thanks
Not certain 75yo Uncle has the ability to deal with a on again , off again trickle charger.
However, that makes sense.
Thanks
I'd say he needs something like a Ctek with a pigtail attched to the battery and either run out through the grille or up to the wiper cowl. Then he won't need to open the hood and connect clamps to the battery terminals every time.
Alternatively, how attached is he to driving? Would Uber or Lyft be an option for transportation?
is it stored outside ?
they have small solar panel chargers that sit on the dash and plug into the accessory plug.
GameboyRMH said:Yeah sadly not that unusual. Even for 90s cars, more than a month of sitting was pushing it. A lot of newer cars will drain their batteries to the point that they can't start in 2-3 weeks and easily drain it to death in 6-8.
If the car sits a lot, rig up a battery cutoff switch under the hood to allow for easy disconnects. There are even remote-controlled battery disconnect systems available now.
I wouldn't do it with a disconnect. Leaving the battery disconnected long term in newer vehicle can cause lots of unforeseen issues.
As an example, we recently had a Toyota Tundra in the shop with stability control issues. The battery had recently been replaced. The battery was disconnected and reconnected with the wheels cut sharply to the right. Upon repowering, the steering angle sensor assumed that the "sharply to the right" position of the wheels was straight. It required the steering angle sensor to be recalibrated.
Having the battery disconnected for long periods of time has the potential to cause issues that can be expensive to fix.
Use a battery tender. You can hardwire to the battery with a short lead so that its easy to connect and disconnect. Most tenders that I've seen come with this cable.
thewheelman said:I'd say he needs something like a Ctek with a pigtail attched to the battery and either run out through the grille or up to the wiper cowl. Then he won't need to open the hood and connect clamps to the battery terminals every time.
Alternatively, how attached is he to driving? Would Uber or Lyft be an option for transportation?
That's how I do it- the little plug comes out the grille, no need to pop the hood, it's hard wired to the battery. But, the car has to be garaged, or at least under a carport, so the battery tender (which is external) isn't exposed to the elements.
If the car is stored outside, the dash-mount solar charger could be an option.
In reply to Laserface :
Good points worth considering, I'm interested in learning more about disconnects causing issues that can be expensive to fix. Would parking the Tundra with the wheels straight and then giving it another battery disconnect have fixed it? Anything else you can think of that I should look out for? I haven't had any issues so far, but the newest vehicle I've disconnected the battery on for storage is also notably simple for its time...
D&R the battery with wheels straight should fix the issue. Toyota and Honda calls for a steering angle sensor calibration every time a battery is disconnected on any of their vehicles. I suspect there are millions of vehicles on the road with the sensor a few degrees off.
I think the issues really start around 2015 when ADAS systems become prevalent.
In this specific case, Mazda calls for the i-Stop (automatic engine start/stop) to go thru a learn procedure every time the battery is disconnected. It looks like the procedure is designed to teach the start/stop system normal operating battery voltage so that the system knows when battery voltage is too low and shut the sytem down. The windows and sunroof will also lose memory and not function auto up/down until relearned.
The i-Stop initialization procedure is as follows. I pulled this from ALLDATA
BATTERY CONDITION INITIALIZATION SETTING (i-stop SETTING) [(US)]
SM3034145
id0117008010u5
Caution
• If the engine is started with the hood open, i-stop will not operate until the hood is closed and the engine is restarted (Not system malfunction). If the engine was started with the hood open, switch the ignition OFF, close the hood, and then restart the engine.
×: Applicable—: Not applicable
Purpose
Operation
1. Have the PCM learn the battery condition.
1. Connect the negative battery terminal and wait for 10 s or more. (See NEGATIVE BATTERY TERMINAL DISCONNECTION/CONNECTION [(US)].)
2. Close the hood.
2. Perform idle air control learning.
1. Switch the ignition ON (engine on).
2. Turn off the following systems to which electrical load is applied.
• Lighting systems such as headlights.
• Climate control system
• Rear window defogger
3. Warm up the engine completely.
4. Switch the ignition OFF.
3. Verify the i-stop control settings.
Perform the following procedure from Step 1. to Step 5. within 25 s.
1. Switch the ignition ON (engine off) and within 5 s, press and hold the i-stop OFF switch for 3 s or more.
2. Verify that the i-stop warning light (amber) is on.
3. Switch the ignition ON (engine on).
4. Verify that the i-stop warning light (amber) illumination changes to the i-stop indicator light (green) flashing.
• If the i-stop warning light (amber) illuminates or flashes, perform a battery inspection. (See BATTERY INSPECTION [(US)].)
5. Press and hold the i-stop OFF switch for approx. 3 s.
6. Wait for 30 s while idling (with no electrical load).
7. Perform engine racing for a minimum 10 times and a maximum 20 times. Then, wait for 30 s while idling (with no electrical load).
• After the flashing i-stop indicator light (green) turns off, switch the ignition OFF.
• If the i-stop indicator light (green) does not turn off, it is possible that there is a problem with the Mazda M Hybrid system, therefore, perform an inspection of the Mazda M Hybrid system. (See DTC INSPECTION.)
Note
• Depending on the battery condition, the i-stop indicator light (green) may stop flashing and turn off early, and the i-stop control setting verification may be completed early.
8. After the flashing i-stop indicator light (green) turns off, switch the ignition OFF.
4. Perform an i-stop control operation verification.
1. Switch the ignition ON (engine on).
2. Accelerate to a vehicle speed of 15 km/h in approx. 5 s without operating the steering wheel.
3. Stop the vehicle.
4. Verify that the engine stops and restarts by the i-stop control.
5. Switch the ignition OFF.
If you do the math, assuming a normal 30-40 milliamp draw with everything off, a battery will only last about a month before it is too drained to start a car.
The best are Honda Civics with generally a 7 to 8 ma draw. Note that they also come with tiny Group 51R batteries. They don't need a lot of reserve capacity to sit.
Thanks for all the input.
car is garaged
Pigtail through the dash is a great option
Uber 7 Lyft are options, but where he lives is in the middle of no where and they have limited rides to choose from.
I will get it started this weekend and look at options
Thanks eveyone
Just to add to everyone else's correct advice, the problem with someone who only drives once or twice every month or two is that most likely their trips aren't long enough to charge the battery, even if the car starts...
Thanks for all the great advice
Putting together a harness / pigtail for the trickle charger
Appreciate all the positive support
are you going to make the pigtail so it pulls out without damage when he backs out of the garage with it still connected ?
I know that would be my problem !
Yes indeed
Will use crimp connectors and not soldered.
Had already taken that one into consideration
Plus a sign for the windshield
Remove before flight
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