Being locked out/needing use of key & reset button.

[mah006]

When i returned to my car after 17 days the traction battery had reduced from full to just over 3/4 so i would imagine it helped keep the 12V topped up

I managed to charge mine to 3/4 full in sports mode. 90 days later it started and showed just under 1/4 full. Very impressive.

Which car is that, a HEV or a PHEV?

Mine is a HEV

[andrewsmith]

I managed to charge mine to 3/4 full in sports mode. 90 days later it started and showed just under 1/4 full. Very impressive.

Which car is that, a HEV or a PHEV?

A HEV.

Early days but probably the best car I've owned.

[PhilHornby]

I've had this problem recently but the PHEV doesn't have the reset button so had to get the AA out.

Do you recall the 'state' of the battery?, i.e. did it appear completely dead (or disconnected!), or was it as you might experience on a 'conventional' car, eg dim lights etc, signs of life, but not enough to do anything useful

If it was the former, it would be indicative of something stepping in to 'save' the battery - though without a reset switch (maybe it's hidden ), that would seem a less than useful implementation.
If it was the latter, I was wondering about using an add-on battery saver such as this or this (neither are cheap).

Given that the 12V lead-acid battery is in the boot, and you have the Ultimate (presumably with the powered taillift), it must have been quite entertaining gaining access to it!

[ExTyke]

I've had this problem recently but the PHEV doesn't have the reset button so had to get the AA out.

Do you recall the 'state' of the battery?, i.e. did it appear completely dead (or disconnected!), or was it as you might experience on a 'conventional' car, eg dim lights etc, signs of life, but not enough to do anything useful

If it was the former, it would be indicative of something stepping in to 'save' the battery - though without a reset switch (maybe it's hidden ), that would seem a less than useful implementation.
If it was the latter, I was wondering about using an add-on battery saver such as this or this (neither are cheap).

Given that the 12V lead-acid battery is in the boot, and you have the Ultimate (presumably with the powered taillift), it must have been quite entertaining gaining access to it!

Thanks for your interest. The car/batery was completely unresponsive: as dead as the proverbial parrot. In theory (i.e. unless someone else knows better) I'd expect very little power to be needed to start the car as there is no need to turn a starter motor. As soon as the ignition is on the 12v will start charging from the traction battery. So if they had been any power at all I would have hoped to be ok to get going.

In answer to your question the car was jumped from some connection points near the fuse box under the bonnet. The power taillifit was one of the last things to start behaving correctly again after we got it going and I had to close it manually at first.

Last week I was parked up again but checked the car regularly by sending blue link requests to the car and checking that it is acknowledging them. I then visited the car after two days and ran the ICE for five minutes just to make sure. I really don't want to try to reproduce the problem but may do so when I've more time and don't need the car (or I go on holiday and haven't any choice!)

When I took the car in for testing they said the battery was fine but there was a reported fault of a relay which had been stuck. They couldn't tell me when it was or whether it could be related to the problem. So I've already decided to invest in a charging pack. Autoexpress as recommended some at about £90 which look good. But I'll look at your suggestions too - thank you.

[PhilHornby]

The car/battery was completely unresponsive: as dead as the proverbial parrot.

It smacks off some sort of protection circuit disconnecting the battery. (It would have been hard for it to be completely discharged to zero; relays would drop out and disconnect themselves); electronic modules would detect a 'brownout' and stop working.

I'm also struggling with the reported fault of a "stuck relay", or rather, I'm struggling with the concept of it somehow repairing itself. (Stuck normally means the contacts have welded themselves together, or some mechanical ailment has struck the internals and jammed it up).

When I tried powering my HEV from a power pack (with the 12V battery disconnected), it objected strongly to there being some power - but not enough. Lots of clicking relays and repeated attempts and failures at booting up. Life Jim, but not as we know it

Could they have hidden a reset switch somewhere? (Like the Service Interval Reset switches, you sometimes found in gloveboxes, for example). It's all a bit weird...

In answer to your question the car was jumped from some connection points near the fuse box under the bonnet.

Ah - I didn't know they'd made a connection available in the engine compartment. A voltmeter on that connection point might have revealed something. (As would accessing the inaccessible battery, to do the same )

Last week I was parked up again but checked the car regularly by sending blue link requests to the car and checking that it is acknowledging them.

Remember that Bluelink is supposed to turn itself off 'after a while'. ISTR it was documented as 4 days in the last update - but the EULA contained so much other crap, I may have misremembered that.

But I'll look at your suggestions too.

My 1st thought was, I could build a simple battery protector; my 2nd thought was: I bet they already exist ... and so they do . There's are probably loads more to choose from as well.

[Southern Lad]

Back now. Battery had hardly used anything wile away. I do wonder if this is isolated to certain vehicles as a separate problem. Like others on the forum we have either had or not had any of the problems others have encountered etc.

[Philr]

Back now. Battery had hardly used anything wile away. I do wonder if this is isolated to certain vehicles as a separate problem. Like others on the forum we have either had or not had any of the problems others have encountered etc.

Do you mean are some cars possessed and do things just to p*ss off their owners?

[Southern Lad]

Back now. Battery had hardly used anything wile away. I do wonder if this is isolated to certain vehicles as a separate problem. Like others on the forum we have either had or not had any of the problems others have encountered etc.

Do you mean are some cars possessed and do things just to p*ss off their owners?

Ha ha. Now there's a thought.....

[andrewsmith]

When i returned to my car after 17 days the traction battery had reduced from full to just over 3/4 so i would imagine it helped keep the 12V topped up

I managed to charge mine to 3/4 full in sports mode. 90 days later it started and showed just under 1/4 full. Very impressive.

Which car is that, a HEV or a PHEV?

There does indeed seem to be evidence that the Traction Battery is being used to top-up the 12V battery. But I wonder why it's not deployed more responsively? (so you could leave the parking lights on for more than 2½ hours, for example). Some early incarnations of Aux Battery Saver+ gave an indication when they had activated. It also limited itself to 20ish activations. Who knows what algorithm is being implemented now

In March when I picked up the car, the dealer stressed that it should be driven "at least twice a week", to avoid the 12V battery going flat - clearly they've not been informed of any of this .

A HEV.

[andrewsmith]

After 97 days standing, the battery dropped from 90% to 30% charge. Everything else seemed fine too. Not recommended but good to know if you face this problem.