Hi
I would like to help the forum community by telling the story of my technical issue.
So I went to a mall to buy some stuff, parked the car, locked it by remote, went in. I came back to my car, I unlocked the car, everything looked apparently normal on the dashboard, I switched the ignition key to ON... and the dashboard went dead! My reaction was of course wtf!? Everything had been fine up until that day. I had my VCDS with me but not my laptop too. Bad luck.
After I checked a few times to key OFF then key ON with the same result, I said to myself... ummm... bad battery??? But how? All of a sudden? So I had a multimeter in my car and checked the voltage on the battery. 12.45 Volts. OK, I know that didn't mean the battery was fine but the information was better than nothing. I couldn't get any meaningful reading of the voltage with key ON because the multimeter has a low refresh rate and I couldn't see how low the voltage went under load. I saw it changed value then went back up to 12 Volts and slowly rising to 12.4 Volts.
So I called a friend and asked him to come help me jump start my car. While waiting for him, I let the ignition key to ON position. After a while (30 seconds or so) the dashboard came to life intermittently while the relays above the fuses started to rattle like crazy. It was a scary show
I switched the key OFF.
After my friend arrived, I hooked my battery to his battery and put the key to ON. The dashboard went ON happily as usual. I asked my friend to start his engine and revv it to try crank my engine. I tried once, twice, 5 times. The engine cranked but didn't start. Of course I started to sweat a little, not only because there were 32 C outside... After another 3-4 cranking attempts, the engine started! The jump start cables were very hot! Never seen such thing after a jump start.
OK, so I went to a car shop and bought a new battery. Installed it, fingers crossed, the car started fine from first key.
Now, when I got back home I hooked the VCDS to my laptop and looked for fault codes. 12 out of 22 modules had intermittent malfunctions.
01-Engine -- Status: Malfunction 0010
8221 - System Voltage, P0562 00 [032] - Too Low
4629 - ECM Power Relay Load Circuit, P068A 00 [032] - Opens Too Early
03-ABS Brakes -- Status: Malfunction 0010
01325 - Control Module for Tire Pressure Monitoring (J502), 004 - No Signal/Communication
00532 - Supply Voltage B+, 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded
04-Steering Angle -- Status: OK 0000
08-Auto HVAC -- Status: OK 0000
09-Cent. Elect. -- Status: Malfunction 0010
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage, 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded
01520 - Rain and Light Recognition Sensor (G397), 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded
10-Park/Steer Assist -- Status: Malfunction 0010
13635840 - Supply voltage, U1011 00 [008] - Voltage too Low
13893632 - Function Restricted due to Insufficient Voltage, U1400 00 [008]
15-Airbags -- Status: Malfunction 0010
00532 - Supply Voltage B+, 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded
16-Steering wheel -- Status: Malfunction 0010
114178 - Function Restricted due to Insufficient Voltage, U1400 00 [008]
136194 - Supply voltage, U1011 00 [008] - Voltage too Low
17-Instruments -- Status: Malfunction 0010
13635840 - Supply voltage, U1011 00 [008] - Voltage too Low
19-CAN Gateway -- Status: Malfunction 0010
00576 - Terminal 15, 008 - Implausible Signal
25-Immobilizer -- Status: OK 0000
42-Door Elect, Driver -- Status: OK 0000
44-Steering Assist -- Status: Malfunction 0010
00668 - Supply Voltage Terminal 30, 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded
46-Central Conv. -- Status: OK 0000
4C-Tire Pressure II -- Status: OK 0000
52-Door Elect, Pass. -- Status: OK 0000
53-Parking Brake -- Status: OK 0000
55-Headlight Range -- Status: Malfunction 0010
5275926 - Power Output Module for Left Headlamp, C1081 16 [008] - Voltage Too Low
5276182 - Power Output Module for Right Headlamp, C1082 16 [008] - Voltage Too Low
56-Radio -- Status: Malfunction 0010
00532 - Supply Voltage B+, 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded
61-Battery Regul. -- Status: OK 0000
62-Door, Rear Left -- Status: OK 0000
72-Door, Rear Right -- Status: OK 0000
77-Telephone -- Status: Malfunction 0010
13635840 - Supply voltage, U1011 00 [008] - Voltage too Low
13893632 - Function Restricted due to Insufficient Voltage, U1400 00 [008]
I cleared all codes and nothing showed up again. The lesson is clear: never assume the battery will give you warning signs before dying. It can fail catastrophic.
Note: The battery was the original one. It lasted 5 years for a rather low mileage of 52160 km.
Now there is a bit of a mystery though. I have a smart car battery charger. I hooked the bad battery to it expecting to tell me it has some malfunction during initial self-test. Yet nothing showed up, and after 3 hours of charging the battery is fully charged. I will test it under load to see what life is left in it.
Question: could you provide a link to a detailed test that can determine what type of internal malfunction has a bad battery?
I would like to help the forum community by telling the story of my technical issue.
So I went to a mall to buy some stuff, parked the car, locked it by remote, went in. I came back to my car, I unlocked the car, everything looked apparently normal on the dashboard, I switched the ignition key to ON... and the dashboard went dead! My reaction was of course wtf!? Everything had been fine up until that day. I had my VCDS with me but not my laptop too. Bad luck.
After I checked a few times to key OFF then key ON with the same result, I said to myself... ummm... bad battery??? But how? All of a sudden? So I had a multimeter in my car and checked the voltage on the battery. 12.45 Volts. OK, I know that didn't mean the battery was fine but the information was better than nothing. I couldn't get any meaningful reading of the voltage with key ON because the multimeter has a low refresh rate and I couldn't see how low the voltage went under load. I saw it changed value then went back up to 12 Volts and slowly rising to 12.4 Volts.
So I called a friend and asked him to come help me jump start my car. While waiting for him, I let the ignition key to ON position. After a while (30 seconds or so) the dashboard came to life intermittently while the relays above the fuses started to rattle like crazy. It was a scary show
I switched the key OFF.After my friend arrived, I hooked my battery to his battery and put the key to ON. The dashboard went ON happily as usual. I asked my friend to start his engine and revv it to try crank my engine. I tried once, twice, 5 times. The engine cranked but didn't start. Of course I started to sweat a little, not only because there were 32 C outside... After another 3-4 cranking attempts, the engine started! The jump start cables were very hot! Never seen such thing after a jump start.
OK, so I went to a car shop and bought a new battery. Installed it, fingers crossed, the car started fine from first key.
Now, when I got back home I hooked the VCDS to my laptop and looked for fault codes. 12 out of 22 modules had intermittent malfunctions.
01-Engine -- Status: Malfunction 0010
8221 - System Voltage, P0562 00 [032] - Too Low
4629 - ECM Power Relay Load Circuit, P068A 00 [032] - Opens Too Early
03-ABS Brakes -- Status: Malfunction 0010
01325 - Control Module for Tire Pressure Monitoring (J502), 004 - No Signal/Communication
00532 - Supply Voltage B+, 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded
04-Steering Angle -- Status: OK 0000
08-Auto HVAC -- Status: OK 0000
09-Cent. Elect. -- Status: Malfunction 0010
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage, 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded
01520 - Rain and Light Recognition Sensor (G397), 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded
10-Park/Steer Assist -- Status: Malfunction 0010
13635840 - Supply voltage, U1011 00 [008] - Voltage too Low
13893632 - Function Restricted due to Insufficient Voltage, U1400 00 [008]
15-Airbags -- Status: Malfunction 0010
00532 - Supply Voltage B+, 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded
16-Steering wheel -- Status: Malfunction 0010
114178 - Function Restricted due to Insufficient Voltage, U1400 00 [008]
136194 - Supply voltage, U1011 00 [008] - Voltage too Low
17-Instruments -- Status: Malfunction 0010
13635840 - Supply voltage, U1011 00 [008] - Voltage too Low
19-CAN Gateway -- Status: Malfunction 0010
00576 - Terminal 15, 008 - Implausible Signal
25-Immobilizer -- Status: OK 0000
42-Door Elect, Driver -- Status: OK 0000
44-Steering Assist -- Status: Malfunction 0010
00668 - Supply Voltage Terminal 30, 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded
46-Central Conv. -- Status: OK 0000
4C-Tire Pressure II -- Status: OK 0000
52-Door Elect, Pass. -- Status: OK 0000
53-Parking Brake -- Status: OK 0000
55-Headlight Range -- Status: Malfunction 0010
5275926 - Power Output Module for Left Headlamp, C1081 16 [008] - Voltage Too Low
5276182 - Power Output Module for Right Headlamp, C1082 16 [008] - Voltage Too Low
56-Radio -- Status: Malfunction 0010
00532 - Supply Voltage B+, 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded
61-Battery Regul. -- Status: OK 0000
62-Door, Rear Left -- Status: OK 0000
72-Door, Rear Right -- Status: OK 0000
77-Telephone -- Status: Malfunction 0010
13635840 - Supply voltage, U1011 00 [008] - Voltage too Low
13893632 - Function Restricted due to Insufficient Voltage, U1400 00 [008]
I cleared all codes and nothing showed up again. The lesson is clear: never assume the battery will give you warning signs before dying. It can fail catastrophic.
Note: The battery was the original one. It lasted 5 years for a rather low mileage of 52160 km.
Now there is a bit of a mystery though. I have a smart car battery charger. I hooked the bad battery to it expecting to tell me it has some malfunction during initial self-test. Yet nothing showed up, and after 3 hours of charging the battery is fully charged. I will test it under load to see what life is left in it.
Question: could you provide a link to a detailed test that can determine what type of internal malfunction has a bad battery?
