Mum has 1.5 dci scenic 05 2800 miles, and last friday it wouldn't start. RAC came out, jump started car and left it running for 1 hour. But same problem happened again on the Tuesday - again flat battery, car won't start - RAC called out again, advised her of problem with battery and should take it to Renault dealer. Car booked into dealership for Wed, they tested battery and found 'no fault'.
Tried to start today and same problem - RAC came out again and he found battery fault.
I have read on some sites about Renault battery drain, but can't find the exacy problem. Any ideas anyone? I just need some amunition for when I go to dealer on Monday. Thanks in advance :)
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Make sure you haven't left an interior light on!
It could also be a damaged door/boot light switch - i.e. one that dosn't turn off.
I had exactly the same problem with a Cavalier once - turned out to be a damaged boot light switch - caused by shoving too much into the boot & damaging the switch.
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thats the first thing the rac man checked!. it was ok yesterday so this fault must be intermittent>
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05 Scenic problems - take it to Renault - that's what the warranty is for.
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Hi I had similar problem with a Cleo.
Get the Dealer to check the pulley bolt on the alternator. This worked its way loose on my car eventually allowing the drive belt to slip and come off-intact!
I hope that helps. Im not that mechanically minded but I know it caused my battery light to come on when I was driving.
If your mum has a Warranty tell her to go back until they sort it out.
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its been back to the dealer who cant find a fault!. its happened 3 times in a week now.
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hogan
What is the dealership testing for here?
They may be testing the battery, which may be fine, but the indication is that the car is draining the battery, which is a completely different problem. It is posible that an electrical fault is draining the battery overnight, which requires the current drain on the battery to be measured, and the faulty component identified.
Can you confirm exactly what they've checked for?
One thought - if the car has a coded radio, is it still working after the test? If it is then the chances are they haven't disconnected the battery, which a current drain test requires - the chances of them (a) knowing the code and (b) putting it in are low!
JS
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all they have checked for is a dodgy battery, and yes the radio works afterwards so i dont think they have disconnected it
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They may well have a Clip-On Ammeter, in which case it isn't necessary to disconnect the battery in order to measure the amount of current being taken.
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Galaxy
Normal static curent drain should be a few tens of milliamps. I'm not sure I would trust a clip on to be accurate enough at such low current values, but I'm happy to be proved wrong. Mind you, if this is draining the battery overnight, the drain must ne in the few amps region, which a clip-on should pick up. My money is still on the fact they've not picked up on what the problem is.
JS
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Clipon current meters are for AC not DC as from a car battery. No way can they measure low discharge currents without removing one pole of the battery - unless they remove each fuse in turn and measure the current of that circuit one at a time.
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Clipon current meters are for AC not DC as from a car battery
martin123,
Sorry but that statement just isn't true! I should know, I've got one!
An example of a clip-on Ammeter which can measure DC Current can be found at:
cpc.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SK...1
In this case it's an adaptor which connects to the input of a standard Digital Multimeter, but they are readily available as a complete instrument. They make use of Hall Effect technology.
This example is the actual one that I've got. I've used it several times for measuring battery drain currents without having to disconnect anything.
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OK Galaxy, I stand corrected, their sensitivity has improved vastly since I was looking for one. I'd be a little wary of using a device rated to 300A with +/-2% +2A for measuring currents in the milliamp range though. Does the +2A mean it needs 2A minimum to indicate??
Martin
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Agree about the use of clip ons - they should have used one in series with the battery. Clip on ammeters are notoriously unreliable at low currents.
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Does the +2A mean it needs 2A minimum to indicate??
No, they are quoting the measurement accuracy at 2A.
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If all other avenues have been dicounted such as interior light,hands free wired incorrectly,alarm system etc and the battery is charging ok may I suggesy a faulty ECU not turning off after its last download when you stop for the day. A much more accurate measurement is to put an AVO in line from the battery when you think you have everthing turned off and read any current drawn.
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You could try disconnecting the battery at night and reconnecting in the morning for a few days. If it's OK there is definitely current drain. If you still get problems starting there must be a fault in the battery.
If there is evidence of current drain you could spend the next few days judiciously pulling fuses until you hit on the circuit that's causing the problem.
Graeme
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Take it to another dealer.
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To drain a battery overnight wouldnt something get very warm?.
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Check that the lights in the storage compartments in the footwells are off.
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thats the first thing the rac man checked,anyway it hasnt done it since, so its a bit strange it happened three times in a week!
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My old Laguna did idi this. Drove everyone mad. Eventually turned out to be the radio that was the culprit. £90 and a new radio / cd cured it. That was several years ago though.
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well it happened again last night. again called rac out who got it started saying they cant find anything wrong!!!!
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