On Thursday my now 12 year old Yeti had its MOT (no issues) and an intermediate service plus replacement of the brake fluid and an air-con recharge. Picked the car up from the garage and everything was fine. Took it out in the evening for a short drive, still OK. Friday morning it unlocked on the key fob without a problem but switching on the ignition all the usual dashboard lights came on, the MFD was very dim and nothing from the starter. Headlights were just a dull glow. I assumed a flat battery, although I don't know why this should have happened. Started first time with a booster battery and no problems the rest of the day. I spoke to the garage, that I've used for years, and they confirmed they hadn't needed to disconnect the battery for the work I'd had done and looking at the terminals I believe them.

This morning (Saturday) again unlocked without any problems but when I turned the key in the ignition all the dashboard lights started flashing and the rear wiper swept back and forth - despite the stalk being in the off position! Again with the booster battery it started first time and has been fine the rest of the day (I've started without problems six times today). Following my own advice to others my first guess would be a battery problem and just a coincidence it's appeared immediately after the service/MOT. If it is then as it was fitted in September 2021 it's still within warranty and the garage has confirmed it would be a free replacement. I'll see what happens tomorrow and Monday mornings but if the problems persist I will drop into the garage and have them test the battery on Monday (although ideally they would try starting the car from cold, which will mean leaving it with them overnight).

As a bit of preparation before I go back to the garage has anyone else had this happen and it has not been a battery problem? In two days I've had two lots of different symptoms make me think its not a specific electronic component breaking down as logically you'd expect that to show the same fault each time you start. Is this something that might show up in error codes (I can't read these but I'm sure the garage can). As far as overnight drain on the battery other than the standard things that keep the car alive when the ignition is off I've got a basic NextBase dashcam on a permanent live feed to be able to use its parking mode but I've had that in the car since mid-March so I think it's unlikely that's putting excessive drain on the battery.

From what you describe, there is more being taken out of the battery than is being put in. So either your dashcam or some other device is excessively draining the battery when the car is parked up, or the alternator is failing to put enough charge into the battery.

If the (fairly new) battery is failing, this will reduce its effective capacity and exacerbate the problem. Do check the obvious, like both main cables connecting to the battery posts are clean and tight.

A garage should be able to quickly test the battery health, the alternator performance and the current drain with the vehicle parked (say 10 or more minutes after switching off).

Edited 10 May, 20251 yr by Austin 7

Important note, leaving the dashcam on can prevent control modules from entering sleep mode when the vehicle attempts to shut down - combined with short trips, this can result in low battery SOC. Does your automatic idle stop operate normally?

Long story, but my complicated Audi had a very difficult to identify parasitic drain.

In the end I opted to replace the 12v battery independently (after 18 months) rather than continue with potentially very expensive (trial and error) diagnosis. I bit the bullet on the cost.

Back to our Yeti, I put a new Varta on recently after 7 years - and coded using the Carista app and dongle for £30/40.

Edited 10 May, 20251 yr by Prezafab

Did your garage do something to the dashcam eg disconnect it (as I believe many do so as not to record any conversations or events within the workshop) if they did disconnect/reconnect it maybe it's gone back to a default mode that constantly draws power?

4 minutes ago, muddyjim said:

Did your garage do something to the dashcam eg disconnect it (as I believe many do so as not to record any conversations or events within the workshop) if they did disconnect/reconnect it maybe it's gone back to a default mode that constantly draws power?

OP says dashcam is left on in park mode - this will draw a small but constant current.

2 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

OP says dashcam is left on in park mode - this will draw a small but constant current.

Yes, but has the garage taken it out of park mode? Eg does it now permanently record?

Edited 10 May, 20251 yr by muddyjim
Added question

AFAIK, park mode can be sufficient to prevent control modules from entering sleep mode - it is on my Octavia.

Thanks to all for the above. Annoyingly this morning the car started as normal - I was hoping the non-starting would keep presenting to help determine the cause of the problem. It's interesting to hear your thoughts on the park mode interfering with sleep mode. Don't know why, if this is the problem, it should appear now when the camera has been like this for 2 months or so unless it has slowly but incrementally each day taken capacity from the battery to the point it is now a problem. And it would explain why once the car has started I've not had a problem for the rest of the day, having put some charge back. And thinking about it, yesterday I did a longer run in the afternoon so did about 50 miles yesterday rather than my more typical 10 miles or so and perhaps put enough charge back in the battery to be sufficient to start. today

Again, thanks for these thoughts. Before I go back to the garage I'll try switching the dashcam out of parking mode and see if the problem repeats. I've also ordered a cheap cigarette lighter (very non pc to refer to it in this way but we all know what I mean) voltage meter which should be here in a couple of days. Not very sophisticated but it might give me a clue as to the battery state first thing in the morning; I don't think I'd be safe/competent with anything more complicated.

Warrior 193 I'm not sure what you mean by "Does your automatic idle stop operate normally". Are you referring to Stop/Start as I don't have this on my Yeti - one less thing to go wrong : )

9 hours ago, Paul52 said:

Thanks to all for the above. Annoyingly this morning the car started as normal - I was hoping the non-starting would keep presenting to help determine the cause of the problem. It's interesting to hear your thoughts on the park mode interfering with sleep mode. Don't know why, if this is the problem, it should appear now when the camera has been like this for 2 months or so unless it has slowly but incrementally each day taken capacity from the battery to the point it is now a problem. And it would explain why once the car has started I've not had a problem for the rest of the day, having put some charge back. And thinking about it, yesterday I did a longer run in the afternoon so did about 50 miles yesterday rather than my more typical 10 miles or so and perhaps put enough charge back in the battery to be sufficient to start. today

Again, thanks for these thoughts. Before I go back to the garage I'll try switching the dashcam out of parking mode and see if the problem repeats. I've also ordered a cheap cigarette lighter (very non pc to refer to it in this way but we all know what I mean) voltage meter which should be here in a couple of days. Not very sophisticated but it might give me a clue as to the battery state first thing in the morning; I don't think I'd be safe/competent with anything more complicated.

Warrior 193 I'm not sure what you mean by "Does your automatic idle stop operate normally". Are you referring to Stop/Start as I don't have this on my Yeti - one less thing to go wrong : )

Very likely that the low current draw, if sleep mode inhibited, will have incremental effect - my understanding is that even a very low current draw from an unexpected source is sufficient to inhibit.

13 hours ago, Paul52 said:

Thanks to all for the above. Annoyingly this morning the car started as normal - I was hoping the non-starting would keep presenting to help determine the cause of the problem. It's interesting to hear your thoughts on the park mode interfering with sleep mode. Don't know why, if this is the problem, it should appear now when the camera has been like this for 2 months or so unless it has slowly but incrementally each day taken capacity from the battery to the point it is now a problem. And it would explain why once the car has started I've not had a problem for the rest of the day, having put some charge back. And thinking about it, yesterday I did a longer run in the afternoon so did about 50 miles yesterday rather than my more typical 10 miles or so and perhaps put enough charge back in the battery to be sufficient to start. today

Again, thanks for these thoughts. Before I go back to the garage I'll try switching the dashcam out of parking mode and see if the problem repeats. I've also ordered a cheap cigarette lighter (very non pc to refer to it in this way but we all know what I mean) voltage meter which should be here in a couple of days. Not very sophisticated but it might give me a clue as to the battery state first thing in the morning; I don't think I'd be safe/competent with anything more complicated.

Warrior 193 I'm not sure what you mean by "Does your automatic idle stop operate normally". Are you referring to Stop/Start as I don't have this on my Yeti - one less thing to go wrong : )

Yes, I was referring to stop-start - it is often a good indicator of low battery SOC when it fails to operate.

16 hours ago, Paul52 said:

Thanks to all for the above. Annoyingly this morning the car started as normal - I was hoping the non-starting would keep presenting to help determine the cause of the problem. It's interesting to hear your thoughts on the park mode interfering with sleep mode. Don't know why, if this is the problem, it should appear now when the camera has been like this for 2 months or so unless it has slowly but incrementally each day taken capacity from the battery to the point it is now a problem. And it would explain why once the car has started I've not had a problem for the rest of the day, having put some charge back. And thinking about it, yesterday I did a longer run in the afternoon so did about 50 miles yesterday rather than my more typical 10 miles or so and perhaps put enough charge back in the battery to be sufficient to start. today

Again, thanks for these thoughts. Before I go back to the garage I'll try switching the dashcam out of parking mode and see if the problem repeats. I've also ordered a cheap cigarette lighter (very non pc to refer to it in this way but we all know what I mean) voltage meter which should be here in a couple of days. Not very sophisticated but it might give me a clue as to the battery state first thing in the morning; I don't think I'd be safe/competent with anything more complicated.

Warrior 193 I'm not sure what you mean by "Does your automatic idle stop operate normally". Are you referring to Stop/Start as I don't have this on my Yeti - one less thing to go wrong : )

A decent DMM need not cost much and is a useful addition to the toolbox, also useful for testing fuses, lamps, etc. - in car and around the house.

Something with a resolution count of 4k to 6k and it's certainly not necessary go to the heights of a Fluke.

It's possible that the battery drained considerably whilst the car was being serviced. A decent long run or a proper charge of the battery may make all the difference.

Thank you Zib. I'm back to my more usual pattern of 10 mile round trips each day and not had the problem since i first posted so I think I'm in the "see how it goes" phase. I'm old enough to remember the good old days when (a) if a car broke down it stayed broken until you fixed the problem and (b) you had a fighting chance of diagnosing and fixing the problem without a second mortgage. But in fairness I've had it 12 years and its been very reliable overall.

If you've never considered one before, I would treat yourself to a C-Tek smart charger (MXS or similar). I'm on my second one since they were launched in the late 90s. They keep batteries alive and in good health longer, especially if your mileage is low.

My old Impreza (does 1000 miles a year max) needed a new battery last week but I checked back in my invoices and it was 12.5 years old. Without the CTek I doubt I would have got more than 6 or 7 yrs.

Just as an alternative to the C-Tek - Lidl sell an appropriate charger for £15 and I know many buy this and find it fine, my neighbour has had his for many years now.

And I put up Ring as I use the previous model for my wife 2015 Fabia, (ETA:) £30 or less depending where you buy from. - https://shop.ringautomotive.com/rsc904-4a-smart-battery-charger-maintainer.html

4 or 5 Amps is fine, I prefer 3 or even 2.

Edited 14 May, 20251 yr by nta16
ETA:

My gadget to plug into the accessories socket arrived yesterday so I've been able to take a few measurements

Voltage first thing this morning before starting the car was 12.1v, this then dropped to 11.9v when I turned the key in the ignition and dropped to 10.6v when the starter motor engaged and went straight up to 14.3v when the engine was running.

After a 5 miles run the meter was showing 12.6v with the engine off, 10.7 with the starter motor turning and then 14v with the engine running.

Hopefully someone has a better knowledge of car electric than me (it's a very low bar I've set, trust me) and can tell me if these look like reasonable figures for a healthy battery (it's just short of four years old) or do these suggest the battery's not long for this world, in which case I'll need to go back to the garage and see what happens under the warranty. Thanks for any advice.

Those figures don't look too bad but you could could consider giving the battery a bit of a treat with a full charge.

Thank you. It certainly wouldn't do any harm, I'll get onto that.

From my own experience the battery in the 1.2 seems barely up to the job and doesn't take much to drain to the point where it won't start the car, had it happen a number of times due to nothing more than having the doors open for a while when cleaning inside. These days everything is about weight saving meaning components are designed down to the bare minimum leaving little or nothing in reserve.

Fortunately I have a boost charger and a spare battery, a big bugger off a diesel car and twice the size of the Yeti's, so it's an irritation rather than a problem.

That's interesting, thank you, and could explain why it went flat whilst in for a service - just enough left to start it at the garage but too short a trip home to replace the charge so failed in the morning. Sometimes you wonder who makes the decision on where to save weight - the pre-F/L Elegance came with a 6CD changer as standard and I've lugged it around as unnecessary weight for 12 years because sat alongside it is an SD card reader that can accommodate dozens of albums on a single card. Simply Clever - well, sometimes maybe. I think a battery booster might have to go on the shopping list.

7 hours ago, KiNeL said:

From my own experience the battery in the 1.2 seems barely up to the job and doesn't take much to drain to the point where it won't start the car, had it happen a number of times due to nothing more than having the doors open for a while when cleaning inside.

When they deserve it (which can be often) I slag VW off, I'm not as VW fan but I've not noticed the batteries that VW factory fit to be that bad. A battery on a modern car has to be very low before it wont start the engine and unless something like lights are left on over many hours or something is left in draining the battery there are usually warnings that the battery is getting low and too low. Just because an engine start doesn't mean the battery isn't in a low state of charge.

If your battery gets very low and more than once then your booster charger, if high/heavy, may not have helped the situation and possibly made it worse. Obviously I can't know as I don't know the details of your booster charger. The more often a battery is allowed to get too low and /or for too long the more the chances of fully reviving the battery dimmish and disappear.

Low (amperage) slow, long, FULL recharge (or as much as the battery allows) is best to do a Heineken, quick fast and high may be more convenient but it's not always enough for best.

I cleaned my wife's 20015 Fabia MK3 last month for the first time in 12-18 months (I forget) and the door or doors would have been open for many hours plus the radio playing, I don't go fast and was doing a full roof down, door shuts, engine bay and wheels clean (and polish). I no longer remove the wheels to clean under the wheel arches and can't remove all the seats, I wasn't doing interior. I didn't worry about the battery at all.

1 hour ago, Paul52 said:

I think a battery booster might have to go on the shopping list.

That and jump starter packs are like having a dog and barking yourself, you should need them for yourself, if you're a mechanic or go out to broken down vehicles that's a different matter, it's like having a spare car in the garage just for when another car might play up or breakdown.

Look after the car battery, and that's very easy and very easy work (where you're not really there anyway) then you don't need your property cluttered up with expensive boys toys that are very rarely used prevention is better than cure, especially when it's so easy and very occasional.

If you have a home you know about what uses electric and what wastes electric (especially if you've got kids that don't contribute to fuel bills - and leave the electric and heating on unnecessarily).

Think of the battery like a bank account, if you keep drawing out without putting enough back in you're soon in debt.