Battery draining, car not starting

[Danny 57]

For the third time in a year the car would not turn over. As before the drain on the battery has returned. Clearly identified by the recovery guy (his name is Chris and he was very distinct in his approach) who is sending his report to state that the sat nav should be replaced. Hopefully it will now happen.

 

Therefore had to drive the wife's Yaris, so no telly at lunch time.  

[gianthotdog]

For the third time in a year the car would not turn over. As before the drain on the battery has returned. Clearly identified by the recovery guy (his name is Chris and he was very distinct in his approach) who is sending his report to state that the sat nav should be replaced. Hopefully it will now happen.

Therefore had to drive the wife's Yaris, so no telly at lunch time.

Did he do a handbrake turn just before he came to a stop??

[Danny 57]

Well a new system has been ordered as soon as Capitol had seen the report with the BAID number (they booked it in with no fuss) as it was the sat nav that was draining the battery. Booked in for the 26th so they can have it for a few days and are giving me a Superb estate 1.6. See how that goes. Will also try for a sat nav upgrade, here's hoping.

Edited 5 August, 2014 by Danny 57

[Danny 57]

Well they have (Capitol Skoda Newport) my car for over a week now and are being hampered by protocol from Skoda uk who are making them take and process a series of test. First they had to charge and test the battery which proved ok. Left it over the weekend and come Monday the battery was flat!

Still tests continuing.

In the mean time I have had a Roomster, Superb estate 1.6 diesel six speed which pleasantly surprised me. Now I have a brand new Leon ST, quite impressed with it. Capitol have kept me informed and have taken their time to make sure I am happy with progress even if it slow though I accept the reasons for it.

[numskull]

Well they have (Capitol Skoda Newport) my car for over a week now and are being hampered by protocol from Skoda uk who are making them take and process a series of test. First they had to charge and test the battery which proved ok. Left it over the weekend and come Monday the battery was flat!

Still tests continuing.

In the mean time I have had a Roomster, Superb estate 1.6 diesel six speed which pleasantly surprised me. Now I have a brand new Leon ST, quite impressed with it. Capitol have kept me informed and have taken their time to make sure I am happy with progress even if it slow though I accept the reasons for it.

 

SUK, huh? Tch. I dunno...

 

Perhaps you suggest this simple test... disconnect the satnav, check the drain on the battery, then reconnect the satnav and watch the drain on the battery once again...!

[Danny 57]

That has been done problem is it will not repeat at the garage which is what Skoda want to happen before they sanction a new Columbus unit so oft now it is a new battery and restart the tests even though it has been proven to two of three recovery guys Skoda will not believe their reports.

[numskull]

That has been done problem is it will not repeat at the garage which is what Skoda want to happen before they sanction a new Columbus unit so oft now it is a new battery and restart the tests even though it has been proven to two of three recovery guys Skoda will not believe their reports.

 

But it did already do it at the dealer, over the weekend? Escalate it in SUK.

[Danny 57]

My local dealer in Newport is very good and is dealing with Skoda UK already it is Skoda uk who are tying their hands. If I did not have faith in my dealer I would not hesitate to escalate it but as it stands I am happy to let them deal with it.

The problem for the dealer in talking with Skoda uk is just as you state it did drain over the weekend despite showing the battery was ok which would point to the Columbus unit. The dealer wants to change the unit (battery now changed) but will not get paid unless Skoda uk sanction it. 

[Danny 57]

Well got a call this afternoon from Jenny to say the car is ready!

They explained that after fitting a new battery Skoda uk came back with a complete software update which gave version 12 straight from VW. They had all the paper work ready for me, they knew that I would want to see it. It clearly show all the steps required and confirms version 12 which the dealer said they had not had yet so were surprised to be given the download info.

The battery drain that would go on for ages, sometimes (2-3 amps) now stops within seconds which is good news.

I will check for the version tomorrow by pressing set up I believe for 20 odd seconds.

Edited 4 September, 2014 by Danny 57

[Danny 57]

I now have: -

 

HW- version H61

SW - version 5274

Map - version DD 7918

 

Which I am told is V12 maps.

[numskull]

The battery drain that would go on for ages, sometimes (2-3 amps) now stops within seconds which is good news.

 

 

What I don't get is what this is and why is it doing this, especially 2/3 amps, which is quite a high draw? Did they explain Danny? Sorry, I'm not having a go, I'm just interested!

[Danny 57]

The dealer did not know either and were struggling to "squeeze" the information out of Skoda UK. The only way to stop the drain when it was happening was to pull fuse (F5 of H5) can't remember which one and that would cut the supply to the Columbus unit. Problem was it would not happen all the time which was to say the least was frustrating!

2-3 amps is 24-36 watts which I presume is what the unit draws when operating normally.

 

Believe me I WANTED to know as well (I am a bit of a "non fathered" person on things like this!  ) and the dealer put a lot of effort in showing me the paper copies of the exchange of emails with various instruction that came from Skoda Uk, hence how I found out about version 12 of the maps.

[numskull]

The dealer did not know either and were struggling to "squeeze" the information out of Skoda UK. The only way to stop the drain when it was happening was to pull fuse (F5 of H5) can't remember which one and that would cut the supply to the Columbus unit. Problem was it would not happen all the time which was to say the least was frustrating!

2-3 amps is 24-36 watts which I presume is what the unit draws when operating normally.

 

Believe me I WANTED to know as well (I am a bit of a "non fathered" person on things like this!  ) and the dealer put a lot of effort in showing me the paper copies of the exchange of emails with various instruction that came from Skoda Uk, hence how I found out about version 12 of the maps.

 

Hmmmm... I find it difficult to understand how and why a map change would result in curing the issue you have with the unit which, by all accounts, has been reduced, but not actually eliminated. Just hope you dont find it dead again on another early morning mate!  

[DCC]

I now have: -

 

HW- version H61

SW - version 5274

Map - version DD 7918

 

Which I am told is V12 maps.

For info.....

 

Map Ver...... 7918..... . V9

                    8048..... V10

                    8129..... V11

Edited 5 September, 2014 by DCC

[Danny 57]

DCC,

 

I did have my doubts as it showed it as such but it also had R12.

 

BTW I will be in Balloch in a week with the wife.

 

I have just phoned the dealer to let them know and he read it back to me as he was under the impression that it was V12. So we are coming to an arrangement when the next service is due in 5k miles time.

Edited 5 September, 2014 by Danny 57

[HoneyMonster65]

This is what my FL 2014 model came with in January as you can see both SW and map version higher than yours. But as long as you are able to start again all good and as you say get maps updated on next service under deal arranged.

 

Apologies for pic quality

[Tim Powys-Lybbe]

My battery has just expired in my 2012 170 Superb, so it was just over two years old.

 

Halfords, who I got to change it said the alternator was OK but the battery duff as I did not drive enough miles.  A lot of my journeys are 8 miles there and back which I would expect the battery and alternator to handle OK.

 

But the local journeys are mostly on roads with a 40 mph speed limit.  At that speed the DSG goes into 6th gear and the engine is doing a mere 1200 rpm.  I wonder if 1200 rpm is enough to get the required juice out of the alternator.  Any comments anyone?

[Danny 57]

Any time your alternater red light is not on it is then charging and as long as you are driving at least for 20-30 minutes without loads of extras on you should be fine.

BUT why did you not report it as a break down as the car is not 3 years old and is covered under the warranty as well as free recovery/break down.

[silver1011]

There have been plenty of threads on duff batteries across the Skoda range, but more so on the Superb.

 

It seems Skoda had a stab at taking some cost out of the batteries and went through a period of fitting lower spec ones. These were failing well within warranty and Skoda UK were replacing for free.

 

As above, your first port of call should have been Skoda Assist or even your local Skoda dealer as your Superb is still in warranty (assuming it hasn't ecxeeded 60,000 miles). Avoid Halfords like the plague for stuff like this.

[ric04vrs]

The map update could also include a software update for the Columbus unit itself, hence the battery drain being resolved

We have plenty of those sorts of issues on Volvos I work on

Sent from Richies iPad

[GaSelle]

My battery has just expired in my 2012 170 Superb, so it was just over two years old.

 

Halfords, who I got to change it said the alternator was OK but the battery duff as I did not drive enough miles.  A lot of my journeys are 8 miles there and back which I would expect the battery and alternator to handle OK.

 

But the local journeys are mostly on roads with a 40 mph speed limit.  At that speed the DSG goes into 6th gear and the engine is doing a mere 1200 rpm.  I wonder if 1200 rpm is enough to get the required juice out of the alternator.  Any comments anyone?

Why did you buy a diesel for such short drives? That´s not good for the engine. I think they´re right, that these short trips killed the battery. My 2011 Superb just had a service last week, where the battery was tested. It has covered 90.000 Km, and the battery was tested to 95% capacity. Still the original battery, btw.

[Danny 57]

Why did you buy a diesel for such short drives? That´s not good for the engine. I think they´re right, that these short trips killed the battery. My 2011 Superb just had a service last week, where the battery was tested. It has covered 90.000 Km, and the battery was tested to 95% capacity. Still the original battery, btw.

 

And then my battery went bits up after just over 2 years and I have covered 34k miles with 25 miles each way to work but it also was not helped by the Columbus unit draining the battery after switching off. Though I did also recieve very good service from my dealer.

[Tim Powys-Lybbe]

GaSelle wrote: 

Why did you buy a diesel for such short drives? That´s not good for the engine. I think they´re right, that these short trips killed the battery. My 2011 Superb just had a service last week, where the battery was tested. It has covered 90.000 Km, and the battery was tested to 95% capacity. Still the original battery, btw.

 

 

Quite easy: I did say "A lot of my journeys are 8 miles there and back which I would expect the battery and alternator to handle OK" and therefore some of my journeys are long ones.

 

And I am still looking for an answer to whether the alternator can charge the battery when the engine is running at 1200 rpm when the car is doing 40 mph.  If it won't charge at those revs then either the DSG is faulty for allowing the revs to go so low or the alternator is faulty.  Which is it?

[GaSelle]

It will charge, even at low RPM´s. But there is a lot of wear to the battery (and engine... and particle filter) on these short trips. So, buy yourself a new battery, and you should be good to go

[BJM]

GaSelle wrote: 

 

 

 

And I am still looking for an answer to whether the alternator can charge the battery when the engine is running at 1200 rpm when the car is doing 40 mph.  If it won't charge at those revs then either the DSG is faulty for allowing the revs to go so low or the alternator is faulty.  Which is it?

 

 

Easily - an alternator will produce full current at much lower revs than the old dynamoes, although the engine revs are not an exact comparison since the differences in drive output and alternator pulley sizes means that the alternator is spinning considerably faster than 1200 rpm.

There is no problem with an alternator matched to the car to produce sufficient current at tickover- essentially as above, if the light goes out the battery is being charged.

 

BUT returning the amount of current used by the battery by, for example, simply heating the glow plugs and turning over a big diesel lump, is a function of time as well as output.

So, running the alternator for 8 miles at 40 mph will only charge for,say, 15 minutes, remembering at the same time other calls on the electrical system will continue, which may not be enough to replace the current used by starting.

 

What will significantly shorten the life of a lead-acid battery is deep discharging i.e. running the battery down regularly, (not necessarily until it is completely flat) then recharging it. This causes sulphation of the pates and early failure.

Hence batteries used in cars which are regularly used in this fashion will almost certainly have shorter working lives than those used with infrequent starts and higher mileages between.

I have seen figures that suggest that due to regular deep discharging less than 30% of all car batteries actually reach 4 years old.

 

So yes, if you continuaqlly do these short journeys, factor in to your running costs of replacing the battery every 3 or 4 years maximum.