Ignorance and a dead battery

[Red John]

I got up this morning and needed to get something out of my BRZ, first thing I noticed is that the window didn't bump down when I opened the door.
The rest was not so subtle, no electricity at all, battery so stone dead it wouldn't light the dome lamp...............

I retraced my steps to the last time I was in the car, I had turned it on Accessory with my Push To Start button and was exploring the touch screen functions.
When I was done futzing around, I got out of the car and it occurred to me as I walked away that I had not turned the car to "Off" from "Accessory", but having read about the battery saver function in the Owner's Manual, I wasn't concerned, "It'll turn itself off when the key gets out of range" says me to myself.

All very good unless you park next to your gun safe...........where you keep your extra keys.....and the spare fob that operates your car.

The car saw the spare key fob and thought I was still in the car, so It stayed on Accessory until the battery was completely drained.


I took the battery out of the spare fob and got a free jump start out of my free Subaru Road Service, after checking with the Dealer's service department whether the fob was an active (needs battery) or passive system (transponder)

Has anyone else done this?

[whaap]

LOL. You've sure left yourself open to some ribbing from guys that start their cars with the turn of a key.

[fistpoint]

You keep you gun safe outside?

[RoryTate]

Manual trans FTW in this case. The car isn't that heavy to push yourself.

Hrmm. I wonder if it would be possible at all with the transponder...

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by RoryTate

Manual trans FTW in this case. The car isn't that heavy to push yourself.

Hrmm. I wonder if it would be possible at all with the transponder...

I'm curious about this too... although with a dead battery no fuel will be delivered and IF there is any spark it'd be pretty weak... Although I'm not well versed in modern cars with newfangled computers so I could be wrong.

Who's willing to drain their battery and guinea pig this?

[Red John]

Update

I wasn't entirely correct in my diagnosis.

It turns out that the "interior lights on approach" (customizable default setting is "ON") is what killed the battery, I did not in fact leave the Ignition in "accessory" as I thought I did.

Therefore;

You guys who use a key are not immune.....(?)

This car doesn't use the transponder approach, but I bet if it did, the only option would be to keep the spare key out of range.

[Red John]

Originally Posted by fistpoint

You keep you gun safe outside?

yikes!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XZMC1M9o04"]The Mr. Obvious Show - The Critter - YouTube[/ame]

[NRGBalanced]

Originally Posted by Red John

Update

I wasn't entirely correct in my diagnosis.

It turns out that the "interior lights on approach" (customizable default setting is "ON") is what killed the battery, I did not in fact leave the Ignition in "accessory" as I thought I did.

Therefore;

You guys who use a key are not immune.....(?)

This car doesn't use the transponder approach, but I bet if it did, the only option would be to keep the spare key out of range.

I think regardless of whether the smart key is in range of the car, the Accessory mode will turn off on it's own. I've washed my car with the radio on, and it pretty reliably turns off after an hour.

I would hope this also applies to anyone who leaves a key turned to Acc.

[Red John]

Originally Posted by NRGBalanced

I think regardless of whether the smart key is in range of the car, the Accessory mode will turn off on it's own. I've washed my car with the radio on, and it pretty reliably turns off after an hour.

I would hope this also applies to anyone who leaves a key turned to Acc.

I re-read the Owner's Manual about the automatic turn off feature. It says that even when deactivated from the Accessory Mode battery depletion will occur. So it looks like counting on this feature isn't a good idea anyway.

Best practice is to change/turn Ignition Button/Switch to "Off" before leaving the vehicle unattended............and (original post subject) any remote access keys either out of range or battery removed from them.

even so, key switch in ACC would mean leaving the key in the car, since it can't be removed in that position.

[Black Tire]

Manual transmission. Hmmm, I wonder if would have been possible to push start it. Any hills nearby?