For the second time in the last week or so I got a new 'alert/warning' noise and I have no idea what it's trying to tell me as there's nothing on the display or in the handbook.

When I turned the engine off and took the keys out the ignition it was a very low 'bong' noise, much lower than any of the usual ones, ie. 4 degree temp warning, seatbelt warning. Thought i'd possibly imagined it the first time last week after a short-ish drive but yesterday I wasn't even driving it but had the ignition on (engine not running) with the doors open & stereo on doing some work and when I took the keys out, it did it again. I turned the ignition back on and off again and it didn't re-occur, and if the car was running it wouldn't do it then either so I can't even recreate the noise to work out what was going on!! Maxidot isn't displaying anything either.

Was wondering about post #8 as a possibility (http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/192176-bong-when-parked/page__hl__+bong#entry2292395), especially as i've fitted a new bolero the other week, but i've had absolutely no problem with battery drain or starting the car at all even with it having been left standing for 2-3 days at a time since then so in my head I didn't realistically think it was this.

Any ideas, cos i'm proper stumped!

Mine has done this

Ive no idea either what causes this low pitch bong

when this happens is your indicator left on? it may be alerting you as it leaves on a parking light to the side which the indicator points.

Was your indicator stalk down to the left or the right as you removed the key?

'Alert' that you had selected your 'Parking light'.

(One side light front and back at the right or left)

george

haha great minds

No and no. I know what they indicator warning light sounds like and it's much lower than that.

My car's not been driven for about a month due to a knee operation, so even though it's starting straight away, is it possible it's some sort of low battery alarm/warning?

Oh crap minds then

I get a low pitch bong and the letters TMC flash in the top right hand side of the screen on my columbus when the TMC has been set with no traffic management available.

I get a low pitch bong and the letters TMC flash in the top right hand side of the screen on my columbus when the TMC has been set with no traffic management available.

That wouldn't happen when you're turning the ignition off and taking the keys out though, surely?

The Octavia is known to do all sorts of weird and wonderful things when the battery is on its way out.

It also continues to start OK though which doesn't do you any favours when trying to blame the battery!

When it gets dark and the car is locked take a look through the glass at the hazard light switch, is it flashing very dimly?

The Octavia is known to do all sorts of weird and wonderful things when the battery is on its way out.

It also continues to start OK though which doesn't do you any favours when trying to blame the battery!

When it gets dark and the car is locked take a look through the glass at the hazard light switch, is it flashing very dimly?

Ah, forgot about that little treasure! I read about that recently so i'll have a butchers when I stick the battery back in shortly. The interior's out and on my dining room carpet at the mo so I thought I might as well do the battery somewhere where some toerag won't nick the charger!

That wouldn't happen when you're turning the ignition off and taking the keys out though, surely?

It happens at odd times, never noticed it occuring when turning off ignition or removing key. (note flashed message is No TP not No TMC my poor eye sight)

Nope, hasn't bonged again since i've been back on the road, but a few things have come to light suggesting it IS down to a low battery:

1) Found this little gem in the manual; 'If the battery has not been driven for more than 3 to 4 weeks, the battery will discharge because certain electrical components consume electricity (e.g. control units) also in idle state'. This wasn't a problem on my older cars so with more emphasis on electonic bits & bats that's something that's probably evident on most modern cars I'd have thought.

2) The battery has a "magic eye" charge level indicator which is green when adequately charged, black when needs charging and colourless/yellow when it needs checking. Mine was black and therefore needed charging.

So there you go.

Bingo!

I always plug it into a ctek at the weekend, highly recommend it.

I've had this on occasion - but most noticeably when we had the car doors opening and closing a lot when we went camping in the summer. We did 1500 miles odd in the 6 days on the road, so it's not that the car was sat unused on the drive.

In terms of diagnosis however, as I've got both Parrot bluetooth and Pure DAB radio connected to the speakers as well as the Bolero, I wasn't sure if it one of them making the noise rather than the original Skoda bits. Talking to my local dealer when the car went in for its MOT, they'd not heard of it which I though was odd.

Anyway, it started again yesterday while I was dismantling the dash to replace the DAB aerial, and was happily bonging away with the doors open, doors shut, doors locked etc. This time (as I was fiddling) I switched on the radio on (engine not running) and I got a message on the screen to advise that the radio would automatically switch off to preserve the battery.

Next time it bongs I'll check the radio again, but it does seem likely that the Bolero is warning that the battery is going flat (though as many have pointed out, the fact that it can start the car easily enough means it's not going that flat)

I've had my car do this bong noise too and it has perplexed me. It only does it occasionally and it seems quite random.

Sarge.

Does appear to be a battery thing, even though the car's battery appears fine and starts the car okay. Strange!

Could it be an earth issue on the head unit loom, so the head unit thinks that the battery voltage is low ?

Car running = 14.4v not running a shade over 12v, with a slightly iffy earth to the head unit it may be seeing less than 12v with the engine off and so thinks there is a low battery.

Paul

I was working on the Octy one day, and after something like 10hrs of the engine not running but the Columbus on, it bonged and the music stopped.

Confused, I went around to the front doors and looked in, and it said "Radio will turn off to save battery."

Then I started the car, and you could hear that it was a little flatter than usual - it needed a bit of effort to actually get going.

125TDI engine.

With the engine running, the voltages can be anywhere from 13.5 to 15, depending on what the alternator is deciding to do at the time. It usually sits between 14.0 and 14.8. Measured with an ELM327 bluetooth adaptor and Torque Pro.

Battery is usually 12.7 (keys turned on but engine not running) to 11.7.

Worth a purchase guys

http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_35188.htm

Lats night when I was putting my winter wheels on I thought a heard a bong, but wasn't sure, and the car was switched off,so just carried on and ignored it. Then when I'd finished and had locked the car it went out with another few bongs. There didn't seem to be anything anywhere to give a clue why it was doing it. It seemed to stop, so I left it, wondering what was going on.

This morning it won't start. The battery can barely turn over the engine, and the dash makes a "buzzing" noise while flicking - is this normal when the battery is flat?

The battery is charging just now, but I'm guessing by this thread I need a new one.

I had the boing when loading the Scout to go on holiday, I was running the cool box at the time. Suspect it is a low battery warning.

My car made a very low bong when the service was due. Just had the service done and no bong in assume its the flashing spanner scenario with a bong lol