2 yr old Suzuki Brezza - PAP battery

Corelli said:
Most cars today has parasitic drains. Do you have keyless entry? Thats one. But generally they all have it lately. If you dont drive it often, the battery will slowly deteriorate. I have invested in a Bosch charger C1 to top it up, albeit its a big slow it works well. Thats the disadvantage of computerized cars.

So in most modern cars its perfectly normal. From Mercedes to Toyota to Suzuki and VW.

Also short trips. You need to drive at least 30 minutes without turning it off.

Just get a charger to top it up now and then, easy if its garaged.

As for dealerships, they love to leave doors open while the car is being worked on. They dont check the battery. They will simply jumpstart is sometimes and ask you to drive it around. But in all honesty, get a Bosch charger.
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Thanks, yes I got it going with the charger. The charger isn't intelligent but it never showed more than 2/4 LEDs in respect of battery capacity. Car started fine though and I went for a 30 min drive. I'm suspicious of the battery now that it dipped as far as 6v tho. Anyway, I might just take it to battery center for testing regardless but now own a charger at least. It does 4a.
 
TheChamp said:
The way to check a parasitic draw is to switch everything off, disconnect the negative terminal and measure the current in series to the negative terminal.

I don't recall the acceptable current but it's in the mA range.
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I measured 0.8 on the 2ma scale on my multimeter... So very low but that was after a "reset". I should measure when it's properly off.
 
lkpat said:
I measured 0.8 on the 2ma scale on my multimeter... So very low but that was after a "reset". I should measure when it's properly off.
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I have a feeling even a parasitic draw would not drain the battery to 6V, I think it's a catastrophic battery failure or it's something to do with the new towbar wiring. The only way to find out is to have a new battery or a fully charged one if it can recover.
 
TheChamp said:
I have a feeling even a parasitic draw would not drain the battery to 6V, I think it's a catastrophic battery failure or it's something to do with the new towbar wiring. The only way to find out is to have a new battery or a fully charged one if it can recover.
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Yes, I think I agree... Hopefully there's not some harness issue coupled with fuse bypass or something daft related to the towbar.
Also, I wouldn't put it past these modern computer driven systems to fail and leave a relay closed that should be open when it's all switched off.
 
TheChamp said:
The way to check a parasitic draw is to switch everything off, disconnect the negative terminal and measure the current in series to the negative terminal.

I don't recall the acceptable current but it's in the mA range.
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50 ma is about the max acceptable draw .
 
How far does the car drive every day OP?

If the answer is less than 10km round trip then that’s why the battery died and it’s just pure coincidence the tow bar was fitted.

Many people have the “it used to last 5+ years now it’s rubbish with all this modern tech” forgetting they use to drive 50km to and from work and now they are working from home and go to the shop once a week only, which means the battery never charges.

Also if the car sleeps outside that will also eat the battery, at least more so than one living in a garage.
 
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It sleeps inside but drives very little most days other than shopping when we drive about 200km round trip. Last round trip was a week ago for the towbar fitting.

Thing is... I can understand the battery being a bit low and preventing starting, bit it didn't even recognise the keyfob.

To go from starting fine and driving a day before to dead as a doornail (first time ever) was a surprise. Even the inside lights were struggling.
 
Also have a Brezza (early 2023) and when I fitted a towbar, the battery was dead when I collected it. They jump started it and I never had an issue again. Was really odd.
 
FiestaST said:
Fun fact. There is no real English equivalent to "pap" eg. pap snoek is what weak/limp/flat fish?
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Even more so, no real English equivalent to the Afrikaans word “mos” (as in, “jy weet mos”)…to this day, I don’t know how to explain it to non-Afrikaans speakers :unsure:
 
Its a lead acid battery, once drained its toast . towbar guys probably ran it flat and killed it.

They should of put it on a charger while working on it.
i had to replace the battery on my A4 from sitting in parking lot running the fan ended up having to push start it ,two months later it starting to take longer to start day by day then dead. My A8 has electric seats if you mess with them too much without the car running the battery goes flat.iv heard even the new defender runs the battery flat if you open the door too many times.

i used to be able to get varta batteries here. would last 5 to 7 years ,couldnt get anymore so got a bosch.its just a first national battery in a bosch case. will see how that holds but will be surprised if its 5 years
 
Curt889 said:
Its a lead acid battery, once drained its toast . towbar guys probably ran it flat and killed it.

They should of put it on a charger while working on it.
i had to replace the battery on my A4 from sitting in parking lot running the fan ended up having to push start it ,two months later it starting to take longer to start day by day then dead. My A8 has electric seats if you mess with them too much without the car running the battery goes flat.iv heard even the new defender runs the battery flat if you open the door too many times.

i used to be able to get varta batteries here. would last 5 to 7 years ,couldnt get anymore so got a bosch.its just a first national battery in a bosch case. will see how that holds but will be surprised if its 5 years
Click to expand...

I love Varta batteries but its a struggle to get a unit.
 
Curt889 said:
Its a lead acid battery, once drained its toast . towbar guys probably ran it flat and killed it.

They should of put it on a charger while working on it.
i had to replace the battery on my A4 from sitting in parking lot running the fan ended up having to push start it ,two months later it starting to take longer to start day by day then dead. My A8 has electric seats if you mess with them too much without the car running the battery goes flat.iv heard even the new defender runs the battery flat if you open the door too many times.

i used to be able to get varta batteries here. would last 5 to 7 years ,couldnt get anymore so got a bosch.its just a first national battery in a bosch case. will see how that holds but will be surprised if its 5 years
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What would the towbar guys be doing to need to put the battery on a charger?
 
My Theory:

The battery was on its way out.
2 years for a seldom driven car is about the end of it.
During towbar fitment, with doors open etc, they pushed it over the edge.
Just replace it.

BTW, my Fortuner gets driven very seldom.
The batteries last 5 years.
I buy the battery off Toyota each time.
Because, believe it or not, they are always the cheapest.
The battery they supply is a First National Battery.

I have a 7 vehicle fleet, most batteries, especially Willard, die within weeks of the warranty expiring.

I have tried them all, Willard, SABAT, Probe, etc.
All crap.
 
Kosmik said:
Electrics? Hidden towbars or a socket?

Not necceasarily a charger though.
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My point is that you know what the wiring diagram looks like and you install the thing, not like you have to keep the lights on all the time, It is only that time you test after installation and that would never drain the battery.
 
marco79 said:
Are most car batteries not designed to only last 2 years?
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I thought 4 years. It's interesting coz my current Corolla battery still going strong after 5 years and my previous Honda Jazz was fitted with a Raylight Nano that lasted 7 years!!!
 
Nerfherder said:
My wifes SX4 battery lasted 12 years, my honda ones last max 2. Might also be an issue with the car though.
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Started first time for the past two days now. Apparently it's fine, but we all know what happens to lead acid when it gets drained like that so I'm expecting it to be replaced in the next year. For now it's behaving fine. Ah well...
 
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