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Battery problem

18K views 31 replies 11 participants last post by  sadang 
#1 ·
Dealer told me my battery is low because I only do short journeys, it starts car ok and operates everything except the Stop Start feature for ECO.
Tested voltage this morning and it is 12.2 volt.
Car will be 2 years in September.
I've lifted bonnet and have charger on now and charging at 13.8v.

Would like to do overnight charge but with bonnet not closed alarm went of.
Looks complicated to remove battery.

Anyone had this problem and anyone manage a warranty replacement of battery should I be able to prove it failed?
 
#2 ·
Stop start does require regular long runs to keep the battery in peak condition. Many people have bought used cars and queried why stop start isn't working. The same response is given, the battery needs to be fully charged and more often than not when they bother to respond, they say that after a long run the stop start began to work.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for that quick response of encouragement.

The answers now might be sort of how long is a piece of string and I'm wondering how long a run might be needed not really wanting to go on a journey just for sake of this charging and any idea how long on charge would do the job.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Mine doesn't get a lot of use but I fully charge it once a month at least to keep it topped up. I've always done that right from new.

We're doing a 100 mile journey Monday but I still topped it up yesterday. My total mileage to date is only around 3600 miles.

Luckily I keep my car garaged so it's no problem.


PS: All our short local journeys are done in my wife's 206 which I also top up regularly.
 
#6 ·
It was charging at 13.8/13.9 v but as now dropped to 13.0v which I assume means we are getting there and will remain at some point at a level just above the aimed for 12.7v which indicates a full battery.
 
#7 ·
12.2v is very low, and for a 2 year old battery, not at all good. Makes me ask if the charging system is as good as it should be.

Mine is about 18 months old now and my stop start works well within a mile from home almost always.

Is your charger one of those automatic ones? Just asking because the older style should not drop the volts towards the end of the charge.

Disconnect the charger and leave for an hour or so then check the volts across the battery. You may have a small problem with something discharging when the ignition is off. Having charged it you shouldn't get lower than 12.6 after several days, let alone hours.
 
#8 ·
After about 3 to 4 hours on my Smart charger was bought for my caravan leisure battery went out for short run without air conditioning on and the Stop Start worked at traffic lights.

On way back I put the ventilation/AC on and at the one stop at traffic Lights Stop Start did not work.
 
#10 ·
Battery is 12.27V this morning.

It seems then it is a bad design that in summer to have the ECO Stop/start the AC as to be turned off.

In order to have the ECO work do I turn more off in the climate control screen in addition to the AC?
 
#11 ·
The more systems you introduce into the car, the more demand you put on the engine and battery.

If you were to have a battery which can cope with the demand of all these systems at any given time, the battery would be too big, heavy and expensive to be practical.

I think what the designers have done is come to a compromise, resulting in certain functions not being operational when others are active.

A/C is a high-demand system in any car, so from an energy/consumption point of view, it makes sense to shut the A/C off. But it's definitely not comfortable in 30deg heat!
 
#12 · (Edited)
The A/C is powered by the compressor, run directly off the engine, nothing to do with battery size. The stop start will be inoperative while the A/C is on because it requires the engine to keep running to power the compressor.

If your battery is down to 12.25 this morning after charging it up yesterday then you definitely have a problem, either the battery is dud, or you have some residual drain on it which ought not to be there.

If having stop start is more important to you than A/C, all you need to do is turn off the A/C on the heating screen.
 
#13 ·
Absolutely, which is why I included the words "engine" and "consumption" :)

My point is that unless manufacturers develop super-efficient power sources (combustion or battery) there will be a compromise somewhere along the line. With an "Eco" car, they are probably thinking that using less fuel by knocking the A/C down will appeal to/appease policy makers and tree huggers, and favouring the need for a more robust battery to handle the demand of frequent starting up and having auxiliary components (ie sat nav, stereo, lights etc) powered up whilst frequently stationery with the engine off.
 
#14 ·
Absolutely, which is why I included the words "engine" and "consumption" :)

With an "Eco" car, they are probably thinking that using less fuel by knocking the A/C down will appeal to/appease policy makers and tree huggers, and favouring the need for a more robust battery to handle the demand of frequent starting up and having auxiliary components (ie sat nav, stereo, lights etc) powered up whilst frequently stationery with the engine off.
Seems daft to me I have to loose ECO features.
 
#15 ·
Is the air-conditioning in all trim levels? My GTI has climate control and start stop works fine with it on. Although I accept that if the compressor is required then the engine will be required so start stop will be disabled briefly. This was the same on my 2008 which also had climate control.
 
#26 ·
Hello,

I dare ask you to confirm the information about what you said, namely "it's realy disabled, and light on switch is lit, when outer temp is above 34." Where did you find this information, a link, a reference, a specification?

Yesterday when the outside temperature was 39 degrees Celsius, the button was really on and it stayed on even though I pressed it a few times. It went out for a moment, then lit up again.

Thanks,
SaDAng
 
#21 ·
Well, in my more recent experience with my 308, the stop start will not operate with the air con on if the cabin is too warm and it's trying to cool too quickly. It has worked on the odd occasion since when the cabin was cool so the air con wasn't really doing anything. So it's all about demand by the climate control.
 
#24 ·
There is an important distinction here. Stop start is not disabled with climate control set on.

However, your stop start may not stop the engine for a number of reasons (many of which are normally outlined in the owners manual), the most common is a lack of battery charge, this tends to be more common in winter when demand on the battery is generally higher, but if you rarely take your car out of traffic this can result in the battery not getting sufficient charge. With respect to climate control, If we consider how it works, cooling the air requires the air con compressor to run periodically, which can only be done by the engine running. Hence if the air needs significant cooling the compressor will run for a lot of time, so the engine will often have to run when start stop would otherwise want to stop the engine.

If the eco light flashes on the dash but the engine doesn't stop it means that start stop is operating but there is a reason why it won't stop the engine.

Dealers don't always give accurate information. Sometimes they will just say something because it's easier, and they believe it's sufficient for the problem in hand.
 
#27 ·
If the outside temperature is to hot / cold compared to the cabin temperature selected then the start / stop system is disabled automatically - the button will also illuminate.

If you press the button during this time then a warning should be displayed stating its disabled as temperature unsuitable ( or words to that effect )
 
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#31 ·
According to what I read and understood till now, the battery is the main factor for the correct functioning of S&S system. A charge status over 75% is required. Another factor is the maximum difference of 3 degree between temperature in cabin relative to that requested by driver. However, there are many other factors on the basis of which S&S ECU decides whether or not to activate the stop / start function.
 
#32 ·
I finally managed to take a new AGM battery, three days ago. The S&S worked immediately after I changed the battery. Now, after 3 days everything is fine. The S&S function works perfectly even if the car stayed in the parking lot for two days. I am attaching two reports about the condition of the battery. The notable difference is the charge level which has now reached 90.1% compared to 60% with the old battery and 82% immediately after installing the new battery on the car. And this new value is after 14Km done on 15.07.2021, then two days break in the parking lot, and today 17.07.2021 I did another 14Km. Another difference is the accuracy of the load state estimate, which is now nominal (ie <5%). And one last difference that I consider important is that the battery charge level is "Top" now, being "Bottom" with the old battery.

All these are possible only using a Lexia interface and Diagbox software, otherwise is almost impossible to find the charge level status of the battery as it is reported by the Battery Charge Status Control. And this level is considered by the BSI to validate or invalidate the S&S function. For my car which is EURO 6.1 the minimum charge level is 78%, under this value the S&S function becomes non-functional.







 
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