Thread: "Low Battery Warning- Start car now" with Traxide DBS fitted

Opening doors etc draws on the main battery every time you open them and the vehicle wakes up.

I'm sure Tim will have some insight.

Hi mijango, and usually this only occurs if you have been parked up for a few days and have been opening doors on the D3 to often.

once you drove home, the message would have ( should have ) cleared.

The other thing to watch for, is the state of your cranking battery. If it's on it's way out, that message can be an indication of a new battery needed soon.

Just see if the messages cam back or remain off.

EDIT:- Just beat me to it Mike

Its an unnerving message when you are out on your own. I have just been through this myself and I got the message on the first afternoon after a full days drive. So after some research and good advice from Tim I can make the following observations:

The low battery warning comes in at 12.2V

The D4 requires 11.58V to start.

The Traxide will isolate the cranking battery at 12V.

Therefore as long as the led on the Traxide is not flashing, you will know that your cranking battery is definitely above 12V and all is good.

When camping try the following:

Keep opening doors to a minimum, as this wakes up the system. Either leave a door open, or even a window to reach through.

Turn your interior lights off automatic so they don't keep coming on when a door is opened.

Turn off the centre screen before shutting down the engine. This stops it coming on when you open a door, but it will turn on again when you start the engine.

It is also worth charging your battery regularly. I have recently had my battery replaced under warranty and after only 2 months or so the new one was only charging to 80% capacity. After a couple of overnight charges it has now returned to charging to 100%.

Cheers,
Jon

Thanks for your responses guys.

We were camping for 4 days and the doors were opening and closing a fair bit, though I was driving the car for at least an hour each day. Also I have replaced most of the interior lights with LEDs and the cranking battery was replaced 18mths ago just before I installed the DBS. For the past year, I've also tried to give it a regular charge with the mx5 ctek charger once a month, or after a trip (after reading lots of chat here about short urban journeys).

I guess what I really want to do is to further diagnose/ get peace of mind by checking:

1. That the isolator is def working (maybe I installed incorrectly?!). Is there anyway I can check that Tim?

2. voltage analysis on the main battery. Maybe before and after charging. Does anyone know what sort of voltage readings should I be seeing?

Messages crossed in cyber aulro world Jon :-)
That's very helpful- thanks! I'll go and check the voltage and state of the isolator light

From a reply from Tim I got and how I understand his reply.
The Battery monitor system logs the electrigery in the late D4s,when it next tests the battery and there is a difference in charge from what it remembers it tells you to start the motor.I got it after charging my system for the first time,it was fully charged.A drive with full electrical load on sorted it.
I just returned from 4 days away and can tell you my experiences,VERY HAPPY.
I loaded the 80lt engel up with warm drinks in the fridge section and warm water bottles in the freezer section,put the engel on freeze and the Ctek on.This was the day before leaving and was left unatended as I got called into work to fight fires.
It was 45degC,D4 locked in my shed overnite.Was quite concerned the morning we left,the bottles hadnt frozen,engel said -6 in the freezer,my heat sensor gun agreed.Put my bait in and drove to Albany a 2.5hr drive.The temp had dropped a bit and the bottles froze a bit.I put the bait in the freezer at the accom just incase.
The engel must have ran flat out all nite to freeze the bottles but it did.On opening the D4 got the low battery warning.Started it drove for 3 mins to get the paper and the message went.
The engel ran on freeze at -21 for the 4 days no futher issues,the beer and champs in the fridge section were ICE cold.The fridge did not cut out at all(Traxide low voltage cutout fitted).
VERY HAPPY,the D2 wouldnt have run as long without solar or battery charger input.
Andrew

My main battery has been lower than 12v many times and i have never seen the message.
In fact before the main battery was replaced under warranty i often noticed the green LED on the traxide system flashing,and when i checked the main battery voltage it was always lower than 12v,often around 11.7 to 11.9v.
Maybe the MY12 d4 or the 2.7 are programmed differently.

I now regularly charge mine with a Ctek5 charger.

Originally Posted by scarry

My main battery has been lower than 12v many times and i have never seen the message.
In fact before the main battery was replaced under warranty i often noticed the green LED on the traxide system flashing,and when i checked the main battery voltage it was always lower than 12v,often around 11.7 to 11.9v.
Maybe the MY12 d4 or the 2.7 are programmed differently.

I now regularly charge mine with a Ctek5 charger.

From Tims post to me,it seems the update models data log the battery voltage where the older just test on startup.
The BCM doesnt then understand added or taken voltage since the last start so it requests a start up.
Its what I understand from Tims reply,see if he replys here.
Andrew