[Gray]

Took car off charge yesterday afternoon, CTek green light on. Go to start car this morning, press start button but no go, display goes out so assume battery died.
Next go to start Forester exactly same problem. Stick the CTek on that for just 30 mins, only 3 lights on but try again and it starts fine.
Return from shops, jump in the 86 press the start button and it starts fine battery meter on dash reads 14volts+.
Any ideas?

 

[Conscript]

Could just be the cold weather. I have an aftermarket battery but even that has been very sluggish to start during this cold snap. Is it the OEM battery? As they are notorious for being particularly weak.

I'd wait for the weather to warm up and see how it fairs.

 

[martinwood333]

Check the battery contacts/terminals. Make sure they aren't corroded up. It's usually the cause for intermittent problems like that. This time of year, up here in Scotland at least, with all the salt covered roads and wet weather, it can sometimes cause terminals to oxidise and create surface corrosion on the terminals affecting the connection.

Cranking the engine requires a lot of power, and if the connection is poor, the starter will struggle to pull all the amps it needs from the battery (high resistance) when you push the start button.

 

[Gray]

Thanks for the replies. Think I may have to put it down to sub standard batteries not providing enough cranking power in cold weather.
Terminals clean and the 86 which is not yet 2 years old came with the c**p 48ah battery which has never lasted for more than a few days without needing to be charged. Alas, my dealer (Yeomans, Worthing) said the battery passed all tests so could not be replaced under warranty when previously taken back to them during the first year. My previous 86 had the upgraded battery and never had any problems (even when we were on holiday in New Zealand for 6 weeks - locked with key to leave alarm off).

 

[jonahjonez]

had a similar problem a few weeks ago; had to get cables to start up. was an intermittent problem that seemed to surface when the car wasn;t driven for a day or two, bought a bosch replacement from gsf and seems to fine now.