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Topic: Beemer Battery...... (Read 1030 times) |
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pete from Hull
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Non Scorpio at the moment, but still interested...
 
Posts: 1365
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Beemer Battery......
« on: Dec 22nd, 2008, 10:05am » |
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Hi all, remeniscent of electrical problems on the Scorp I had the misfortune of a flat battery on the Beemer during to cold spell.... 
I drove home the previouse night and parked up as usual... everything seemed hunky dory...
Next day 05.45 went to start her up and couldn't even open the doors on the remote....  Grrr I thought, this IS'NT good...... borrowed the wife's Focus and went to work..... 
When I got home I called the RAC who arrived about 6 oclock, within minutes he had it up and running again.... he checked all charging systems, no problems so He made the conclusion it was due to the intense cold conditions, I wasn't all that impressed so I took it down the motorway for an 80 mile run.... it was then fine for the next couple of days... It happened again, so off I went to the MD Stratstones.... £74 ph labour.... they had it for three days and checked all the systems out.
They only found that there is a fault on the steerinwheel adjustment module which has nothing to do with the batt going flat, the reason for that is as follows..... 
Because of the immence amount of electrical gear involved in the running and monitoring of the car it apparently takes 75 minutes for everything to shut down and (go to sleep) ie it has the facility of auxilliary heating, television remote starting etc etc, if you re- start the car before the shutdown is complete and only do short runs, (as I do) then the shutdown zeros and has to restart from scratch again, so if all you ever do is short runs your battery takes a right beating and will gradually discharge itself.... What an inconvenience 
I have decided that it is pointless using the car just to charge the battery so I will buy a good charger and recharge it on a weekend during the cold dark days before spring....
During the time they had the car I was worried sick about how much it was going to cost....
They had also found a couple of engine breather valves that need replacing and was going to cost £98 just for that....  I said to leave that and I would sort it.... I had visions of removing them and finding out what was wrong and putting it right myself as I have in the past on the Scorps....
Friday I went to pick the car up... I spoke to the technition who had worked on it and he explained all the above.... he said it should be ok now as he had reset the battery and fully re-charged it, there was no drain and everything was in order, he agreed that the answer was to recharge it regularly if I wasn't using it a lot, but said to avoid waking it up too much if I wasn't going to use it....
The Bill
I stood at the desk as the service manager did all the jiggery pokery with the invoice.... was it 3, 4, or maybe £500 I was thinking.... i said, sheepishly... how much is it then?
Well, he said.... £74.50,... as he saw the ashen look on my face, he also whatched as the coulour came back into my cheeks and the life returned to me.... I said, is that it? yes he said, he's only worked on it on and off so the charge hasn't mounted up, we've only charged for the hour..... 
I was beside myself.... what a relief.... cor blimey what a relief...
Anyway, feeling very chuffed i went to the parts dept and bought the two breathers to fit myself which will get rid of the engine light that has been on for a few weeks....  Just short of £20 for the 2 and a 10 minute job to replace them....
The car has been spot on since then ..... going to have a good jolly about in it during the holidays.
What a Relief........
Love it...
pete
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Bring back fair wages.........
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matt1987
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Re: Beemer Battery......
« Reply #1 on: Dec 22nd, 2008, 6:26pm » |
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sound about right they have a system called power down most of the nissans have this that i work on and they take around 20mins to go down but never had them flatten the battery.
glad you got it fixed
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gozz
Senior Member
Been around awhile
Posts: 3475
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Re: Beemer Battery......
« Reply #2 on: Dec 22nd, 2008, 9:23pm » |
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Pete.
Do you remember the Morris Minor ? ahhh those were the days,if the battery happened to be flat,which was rare,you just got the Mrs out of bed for a quick shove, nightie flapping in the early morning breeze as you wave goodbye ! then return home later to tongue pie and cold shoulder,yes they were indeed the days 
GOZZ.
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Scorpio_Mike
Senior Member
Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0 V6 & 2.8 Sierra XR4i 4x4
Posts: 2359
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Re: Beemer Battery......
« Reply #3 on: Dec 22nd, 2008, 11:14pm » |
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I can't help thinking that all these gadgets and gizmos you find on cars these days are all very well when the car is new and under warranty but a potential heap of trouble for the future when the owner has to foot the bill.
I know the Scorpio is not without its little quirks and gremlins on the electrical front but things have moved on in 10 or 12 years and are now so much more complex.
Is it really such a good thing 
At least you knew where you were with a coil, contact breaker, condenser and rotor arm
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Star sign is Scorpio !
Sierra XR4i's are great...especially when fitted with 4WD
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pat
Full Member
Rover 75. Rover 620. Ford P100 Pickup.
Posts: 545
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Re: Beemer Battery......
« Reply #4 on: Dec 29th, 2008, 4:12pm » |
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Yeah, I've cracked it with the P100 pickup
I'm now working on the starting handle conversion....
Anybody got a crankshaft dog to fit a Pinto?
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You don't have to be mad to own a Scorp - but it helps!
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pinto
Full Member
TD04 on a galaxy manifold ? whooooooosh !
Posts: 474
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Re: Beemer Battery......
« Reply #5 on: Dec 29th, 2008, 6:51pm » |
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Starting handle ? thats nowhere near as fun as converting to cartridge start like the old aero engines
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Scorpio_Mike
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Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0 V6 & 2.8 Sierra XR4i 4x4
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Re: Beemer Battery......
« Reply #6 on: Jan 1st, 2009, 7:13pm » |
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on Dec 29th, 2008, 6:51pm, pinto wrote:| Starting handle ? thats nowhere near as fun as converting to cartridge start like the old aero engines |
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That would be a Coffman starter - uses something like a large ( blank ! ) shotgun cartridge.
See 'Flight of the Phoenix' starring James Stewart for a demo
Or check this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffman_starter
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Star sign is Scorpio !
Sierra XR4i's are great...especially when fitted with 4WD
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Highlander
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Expert
13 Scorpios, XR4x4, Suzuki SJ413 for off road :)
Posts: 8244
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Re: Beemer Battery......
« Reply #7 on: Jan 1st, 2009, 7:27pm » |
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on Dec 22nd, 2008, 10:05am, peteHull wrote:Because of the immence amount of electrical gear involved in the running and monitoring of the car it apparently takes 75 minutes for everything to shut down and (go to sleep) ie it has the facility of auxilliary heating, television remote starting etc etc, if you re- start the car before the shutdown is complete and only do short runs, (as I do) then the shutdown zeros and has to restart from scratch again, so if all you ever do is short runs your battery takes a right beating and will gradually discharge itself.... What an inconvenience
I have decided that it is pointless using the car just to charge the battery so I will buy a good charger and recharge it on a weekend during the cold dark days before spring.... |
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Thats not a problem as such its just very poor design!
Surely the better idea would be to have non essential electrical systems disabled until the battery was recharged sufficiently or indeed just a warning that the battery was getting low, or a larger or extra battery/alternator?
Or indeed disable the shutdown procedure if the battery charge was low...
Why do they make things more and more complicated
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on Oct 17th, 2011, 12:35pm, Simmo wrote:I give up !  Too much for an old boy! |
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gozz
Senior Member
Been around awhile
Posts: 3475
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Re: Beemer Battery......
« Reply #8 on: Jan 1st, 2009, 9:45pm » |
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So that we can't fix em
GOZZ.
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pete from Hull
Senior Member
Non Scorpio at the moment, but still interested...
Posts: 1365
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Re: Beemer Battery......
« Reply #9 on: Jan 2nd, 2009, 11:36am » |
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It had shown the warning for low battery a couple of weeks earlier and it had said to contact the bmw people, I thought to myself that the car was still starting ok so I disregarded it thinking it was just a ploy to get the car into the dealers. After that the thinng started to happen like the rear headrests were going up and dow by themselves, lights were comming on, heated seats were showing they were on but wern't actually heating up etc etc, then suddenley it went dead. apparentley this was a signe of the battery getting more and more discharged.
It's been as right as rain ever since it has been re-set in the garage. i have bought a good charger but as yet I haven't had it on re-charge.
Looks like I have started a re-education program from scorp to bmw.... headaches headaches.... goog job I am a patient man..... 
Starting handles...... What memories I have of those, a few bruised wrists too.....
Pete
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mindofitsown
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Re: Beemer Battery......
« Reply #10 on: Jan 6th, 2009, 1:43pm » |
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Bruised wrists were not the only problem I recall.......Common also was broken thumbs from kickback as a result of gripping the handle with thumb under fingers instead of thumb next to fingers. You only do it once!
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
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Re: Beemer Battery......
« Reply #11 on: Jan 7th, 2009, 9:53am » |
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on Jan 1st, 2009, 7:13pm, Scorpio_Mike wrote:
That's a thought .......on a cold morning when the car refuses to start, I wonder if lifting the bonnet & pointing a loaded 12 bore at the engine & shouting "START, OR ELSE!!" will do any good ?......
Also, I wonder if that may be where the phrase....'This engine is bullet proof'... came from ? .....
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