General What the hell.........

[Qube O]

Hiya Folks,
Used my Qubo as normal last week, 1.3 MJD Dual-logic, did a few local runs, and a couple of high speed motorway trips, all with no problem, as per normal. Parked it up on Thursday night, came to use it on Friday, unlocked with remote as normal, got in, stuck key in to slot and turned, waited for the pre heat light to go out, all as per normal, turned the key................and a woeful sound came from the car, with the dashboard lights flickering on and off, and the interior lights doing the same.
Decided that somehow the battery had gone flat, perhaps I'd left something turned on, so charged the battery overnight, only taking half a amp. No difference this morning, so removed battery and had it tested, yept it was dead. Experts tell me its not unusual for car batteries to be fine one day and gone the next, something to do with the cells collapsing within the battery, through age & use. This was the original battery, so 7/8 years old. Purchased a new one, £69, fitted it, and all well............even managed to save losing by radio code with using a 9v PP3 battery wired to the battery connections on the car while battery was removed..........so if yours is 7/8/9 years old, and this happens to you.........suspect the battery.
Cheers Qube O

 

[Dranddad]

Hiya Folks,
Used my Qubo as normal last week, 1.3 MJD Dual-logic, did a few local runs, and a couple of high speed motorway trips, all with no problem, as per normal. Parked it up on Thursday night, came to use it on Friday, unlocked with remote as normal, got in, stuck key in to slot and turned, waited for the pre heat light to go out, all as per normal, turned the key................and a woeful sound came from the car, with the dashboard lights flickering on and off, and the interior lights doing the same.
Decided that somehow the battery had gone flat, perhaps I'd left something turned on, so charged the battery overnight, only taking half a amp. No difference this morning, so removed battery and had it tested, yept it was dead. Experts tell me its not unusual for car batteries to be fine one day and gone the next, something to do with the cells collapsing within the battery, through age & use. This was the original battery, so 7/8 years old. Purchased a new one, £69, fitted it, and all well............even managed to save losing by radio code with using a 9v PP3 battery wired to the battery connections on the car while battery was removed..........so if yours is 7/8/9 years old, and this happens to you.........suspect the battery.
Cheers Qube O

Hi Mr O.

Yes from experience with my FreeRider mobility scooter these AGM batteries do tend to die all of a quick, unlike lead acid they are made to run on a deeper cycle to cope with stop/start, they can become damaged from overcharge too, which will not do the life expectancy any favours.

But I think you've done very well with getting 7/8 years out of yours, 4 to 5 is the norm.

Thanks for the info in your post.

Phillip.

 

[g8rpi]

Hi,
Not clear from OP if it was an AGM (absorbed glass mat) or standard flooded plate battery. They are both Lead Acid chemistry, The difference is how the plates are separated and the acid is "stored". AGM is common in Stop-Start cars due to it's high current capabilty and fast recharge. AGM is more reliable, I have a couple of Hawker SBS40 AGMs that are 20 years old and have seen a lot of abuse but still work fine. A common sudden failure mode on modern batteries is cracking of the plate connections or links between plates. Thesse seem to be much thinner than in older designs, probably to reduce weight and cost. A cracked connection will pass enough current for unlocking, dash lights etc but will not pass enough to run the starter.

Robert G8RPI

 

[Qube O]

Hi,
Not clear from OP if it was an AGM (absorbed glass mat) or standard flooded plate battery. They are both Lead Acid chemistry, The difference is how the plates are separated and the acid is "stored". AGM is common in Stop-Start cars due to it's high current capabilty and fast recharge. AGM is more reliable, I have a couple of Hawker SBS40 AGMs that are 20 years old and have seen a lot of abuse but still work fine. A common sudden failure mode on modern batteries is cracking of the plate connections or links between plates. Thesse seem to be much thinner than in older designs, probably to reduce weight and cost. A cracked connection will pass enough current for unlocking, dash lights etc but will not pass enough to run the starter.

Robert G8RPI

Car is non stop/start..........its a 2009 reg, so prior to stop/start. Has no DPF either...............goody goody.
Cheers Qube O.

 

[Dranddad]

Nice to know there are others here too. G8RPI - G1BRF

 

[Red Van Man]

Car is non stop/start..........
Cheers Qube O.

(You should be so) LUCKY LUCKY LUCKY - as Kylie warbled Such a pointless waste of design effort and SO infuriating to have. Has anyone come across a way of making OFF the default yet? There was a neat wiring rejig on the S/S switch in the Smart...

Yours (still) in hope...

R-V-M

 

[ArthurM]

Hi, there's also another one without stop/start and no DPF, thank goodness. They are both a dead loss.

 

[Red Van Man]

Hi, there's also another one without stop/start and no DPF, thank goodness. They are both a dead loss.

As if by magic following my post above ArthurM's, the day after my Qubo chucked an engine warning light and told me the Stop/Start was unavailable. YES!!! RESULT!!!

Unfortunately it just means I need a new battery as there's not enough wallop if it EVER accidentally got left in SS mode to restart the car more than 40 times in a 2 mile journey ([/rant])

This was discovered as it went in for a 33000 mile service last Saturday, along with finding another failure which I first had after about 20,000 miles (from new) on the Red Van - the rubber DPF sensor hoses have fractured so they're pulling air and causing a fault. Replacements with aluminum pipes that don't break. The last time was warranty repair, any ideas on costs of this as I'm out of warranty on the car except from the garage I bought it (LC Motors of Cwmbran) #varesecrazy so I might well be covered for the pipes..

R-V-M

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

even managed to save losing by radio code with using a 9v PP3 battery wired to the battery connections on the car while battery was removed..........

Nope, radio won't request the code if its in the car it left the factory in, Canbus will talk to it. Don't need to worry about that again in future

 

[andydiver]

Nope, radio won't request the code if its in the car it left the factory in, Canbus will talk to it. Don't need to worry about that again in future

Echo, just replaced mine. All I had to do was reset the time and date.