So had an interesting experience today. My stop/start system hasn't worked properly for ages- I've always put it down to the fact that I do lots of stop/start city driving, so it never really gets the chance to charge up sufficiently to activate the system. But today it's been really odd. I stopped for coffee for about 10 minutes after driving for about 20, but sat in the car for about 5 minutes answering some texts that had come in while I was driving and getting the coffee. The ignition was on, with the radio on etc, and the lights were on because I'd left the switch 'on' as it was raining. Within a couple of minutes (tops) I get a beep and a '12v battery charge low, charge by driving' (or words to that effect) message on the MaxiDot. I turned the engine on, finished what I was doing on my phone, and headed on. 

 

I've not driven the car for a little while- Tuesday evening being my last trip. The car has sat since then locked outside the house. Looking back, it's often a little slow to start when I've left it for a while (over a weekend or something), which I hadn't really thought about before. The other weird thing is that the stop/start is much more likely to operate if I have been driving recently. For example, it would often work for the first couple of stops after I'd left the gym, where the car had been sitting for an hour or two, but then (after doing the same amount of driving between stops) it won't the next morning, even once the car has warmed up (oil as well as coolant). The stop/start system also barely worked the days after doing long (4/5hr) motorway drives, which should be more than enough to charge the battery up to 100%.

 

This makes me wonder if there is a battery drain. The charge that builds up while driving trickles away overnight. Is there a way of checking this? There aren't any warning lights on, and I'm expecting the dealership to fob me off. I'd try calling them anyway but it's Sunday today so the service department is shut! When it stops raining, I'll go see if there are any codes stored, but it's disgusting so I'm not doing it just yet!

 

Any thoughts?

It could be a battery problem.

Since my car was new , in may 2015, it would only charge to 70 pct.

Three months ago I bought a pulse charger for ATM battery and gave it 5 to 10 mins. charge.

Now it charges to 80 to 90 pct.

But I drive long distances, and I think there are other treads mentioning that the battery is too weak for driving short distances.

Edited 21 January, 20188 yr by torslunde
Spelling - as usual ... :)

I tried doing the state of charge check a while back, but apparently that feature was dropped at some point between the MY15 and MY16 cars, and mine's a MY16. So I've no idea what it's actually charging to. Anyone know if Torque or Carista can read the state of charge?

 

I'm going to phone Skoda tomorrow.

My 2013 Touran does exactly the same thing - if I switch the radio on whilst parked and the engine is off, beep and message low battery, never fails to start though. Was your engine running when you got the message? Our 2015 Fabia stop/start also behaves similar to yours - its normal usage is perhaps 5 or 6 trips a week each one about 3-4 miles, stop/start doesn't kick in, however if it does a 30-40 mile journey then the stop/start kicks in for a couple of days until the battery drains a bit. Out Fabia has the  DRL s on all the time - I wonder if this coupled with short journeys is just taking too much from the battery. Despite this the car starts instantly every time no problem . Have you done a vcds code read - I checked our Fabia when we were getting a stop/start warning message - only thing that came up was an earthing fault for the DAB aerial - which required a new DAB module under warranty to fix. Whilst I couldn't see any connection with the stop/start it has cured the stop/start warning message........

Engine was off- but it's not done this to me before. My issue is really that a 30-40 mile trip doesn't last a couple of days- and I spend around an hour/hour and a half in the car most days, it should get plenty of opportunity to charge! Even when I was commuting to Bolton (about 20 miles each way) it wasn't working properly. I'm going to go do a code read, and call Skoda.

There have been cases where the radio drains the battery if the radio is not manually switched off before switching the engine off. Switching off the engine with the radio still playing switches the radio off too but I have read somewhere that there is a fault in the radio that continues to drain the battery afterwards. Also it could be that the light in boot or glove box do not go out when they are closed (a faulty switch) so they are on 24/7

Try this;-

 

When you arrive somewhere turn everything electrical off before turning the engine off.

Then when you go to start the engine again you are only getting the battery to start the engine.

 

Also when starting, turn the key to the ignition position, count to three, then start the engine.

This lets the fuel pump get up to pressure. I will turn my stop/start off at the count to three bit.

AGM/EFB can live with a lower charge and also will get charged at a faster/higher rate than wet batteries.

 

Thanks   AG Falco

2 hours ago, wiganken1 said:

There have been cases where the radio drains the battery if the radio is not manually switched off before switching the engine off. Switching off the engine with the radio still playing switches the radio off too but I have read somewhere that there is a fault in the radio that continues to drain the battery afterwards. 

 

Interesting, will follow that up on our Fabia.

Interesting. I know the boot light is OK- it's not on when the car is closed up and the seats are down (and no errors with the MaxiDot showing it open when it's actually closed). No idea of course about the glovebox- I'll leave my phone videoing inside it and close it up to have a look. 

 

Regarding the radio- sometimes when I turn on the ignition SmartLink is all ready to go, and I don't get the 'Initialising SmartLink' message. Could this be it not turning off properly? I'll try turning off the radio manually before turning off the engine and see if that helps. 

 

I typically turn on the ignition, put my seatbelt on, plug in my phone, then start the engine. So the fuel pump definitely has time to pressurise. 

I always turn off the stop/start after starting the engine. Not just to save the battery but also to extend the crankshaft bearing life nearest to the starter motor. I know these bearings have been beefed up to cope with the extra stop/starts but I feel the less 'starts' the battery is subjected to the better. It seems wrong to deliberately design cars to stop/start 10x more than is needed. The fuel savings are sure to be minimal. In addition I find it annoying.

Also see following links: -

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/answer/23741/battery-being-drained

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/answer/90229/an-electrical-fault-is-draining-the-battery-if-my-car-is-not-used-regularly---how-do-i-find-it-

I have no intention of keeping the car beyond the lease period, so I'm not particularly fussed about the long term reliability! Apologies to anyone who buys the car after me... 

 

And when it's working it improves city fuel economy by around 10%.

 

I'm going to try turning off the radio before I leave the car, but I'm not sure how 'off' the radio actually is when you do that. The bluetooth system is always running, and the radio display shows the clock when the radio is off. I'm pretty certain if the ignition is on, then the control unit is on too. 

Turned off StopStart on both our MK3 Fabs using a cheapo obd2 adapter and Carista . Best thing I have ever done but you have to insist when in for service not to reativate.

The battery will also last longer if you lock the car.

Some people will park the car ( in a garage ) and not lock the car.

This leaves more electrical stuff on than when it is locked.

 

Thanks AG Falco

On 23/01/2018 at 18:46, AGFalco said:

The battery will also last longer if you lock the car.

Some people will park the car ( in a garage ) and not lock the car.

This leaves more electrical stuff on than when it is locked.

 

Thanks AG Falco

AG Falco, am intrigued by your statement about locking the car. What systems remain energised when car is not locked please? Have just recently been getting low 12v warnings on our April 2016 Fabia which is garaged & usually unlocked.

29 minutes ago, Flopsy said:

 AG Falco, am intrigued by your statement about locking the car. What systems remain energised when car is not locked please? Have just recently been getting low 12v warnings on our April 2016 Fabia which is garaged & usually unlocked.

 

I agree with you, but I'm not in a position to challenge that statement as logically it couldshould be correct, it might even encourage more of us to lock our cars even when they are in a secure garage!

 

I've had the need to check my cars after the "allowed" delay in putting everything to sleep that normally should be sleeping when the car is not being used (battery draining on SEAT Ibiza that was finally fixed!), and found that the drain current had dropped to within the accepted level, that check was carried out on a late 2009 SEAT Ibiza, an early 2011 Audi S4 and an August 2015 Polo.

The way it was explained to me, by a rep from a battery manufacture, is this.

It is a bit like the difference between turning your laptop/mobile phone off ( locking the car)

and putting it in standby/sleep mode. ( not locking the car. )

So some of the equipment is still in a standby/sleep type mode if you don't lock the car.

 

I turn everything electrical off before I turn the engine off.

Then when you start the car again the battery is only trying to start the engine.

Your battery will also last longer if you do this. I keep my cars a long time.

The more the battery is asked to do on start up the more charge it will loose.

This was also advised to us by the rep.

Imagine asking yourself to get up from bed and run 100 metres, get dressed and make a cup of tea.

 

You will notice that if anything ( lights/wipers ) is left on it slows/dims when you start the engine.

If the infotainment system is left on it takes a while to start up.

But if you turn it on a little while after you have started the engine it starts up quickly.

I think it powers up in to a standby/sleep mode all on it's own after you start the engine.

 

Hope this helps.

Thanks AG Falco

 

 

 

I also have the issue with start/stop not working, but I have not received a warning about low battery. I do have a battery charger connected to the block/internal heater plug, so whenever I plug my car in, the battery charges as well. After a charge, I get S/S working for a couple of times, and then it stops again. I read somewhere about a faulty gimmick that prevents the battery from charging up fully (sorry, I cannot remember any more details than this), and that Skoda dealers are  aware of this. The fix is to replace the charge regulator or whatever it is.

Just for the record the fuel pump primes as soon as it detects an unlock signal from the key fob 

 

1 hour ago, malcster said:

Just for the record the fuel pump primes as soon as it detects an unlock signal from the key fob 

 

 

This is a hangover from the other car which is a Diesel Engine where you can here the fuel pump start when you turn the ignition on.

 

Will it keep the pump primed if you don't lock the car then?

 

Thanks AG Falco

Edited 25 January, 20188 yr by AGFalco
typo

Not sure I just know most cars do it 

10 hours ago, malcster said:

Not sure I just know most cars do it 

 

I'm slightly confused by this, originally car companies, from in my experience at least back to 1982, primed the (petrol) fuel system for a short period as soon as the driver's door was opened, for me this started when I got my first car that had fuel injection. Our previous VWs, a 2000 Passat and a 2002 Polo both did that, daughter's late 2009 Ibiza does that as well, but I'm not sure what our current car's fuel priming strategy is - now you have made me think! Time to check up on that!

Might it be different if it is a Direct Injection engine as these run at higher pressure?

Common rail Diesels and the present TSI engines are Direct Injection Engines.

 

Both my last two Diesels didn't start any pump until you turned the ignition on.

Neither are/were a VAG though.

 

Thanks AG Falco

 

I always lock the car- it's street parked in Manchester!

 

Regarding the fuel pump, you can hear it prime when you unlock the car I think. It may be like my old Polo which didn't even have central locking would prime it when the driver's door was opened. 

 

On 25/01/2018 at 19:03, the_raz said:

I also have the issue with start/stop not working, but I have not received a warning about low battery. I do have a battery charger connected to the block/internal heater plug, so whenever I plug my car in, the battery charges as well. After a charge, I get S/S working for a couple of times, and then it stops again. I read somewhere about a faulty gimmick that prevents the battery from charging up fully (sorry, I cannot remember any more details than this), and that Skoda dealers are  aware of this. The fix is to replace the charge regulator or whatever it is.

 

This is interesting- pretty much exactly the behaviour I'm getting. Whenever it's had a good charge (such as a long motorway journey) it works for a bit and then gives up.

I think that the charging of the battery happens more when you brake than when just driving along the motorway.

See half way down on this page:- marked energy recovery and then more...

http://www.skoda-auto.com/en/models/new-fabia/pages/technology.aspx

 

Thanks AG Falco