[Tregger-Happy]

Hi All,

Just back from my autumn break in the sun. I'd left the Treg at home for the week in the, not too severe, colder weather.

to my surprise, when I came to start her for the first time this morning, she was showing all the signs of a dead battery. Lots of clicks and lights trying to come on and off on the dash, but not a hint of her turning over. So, no option other than to call VW Assist. A kindly RAC man called Paul turned up with his battery jump-starter and the treg started immediately. While she was idling, he tested the battery and confirmed there was nothing wrong with it (it was not Duff) and the alternator was obviously working ok since the volt meter on the dash showed a strong 14 volts.

He suggested booking it into VW to check if there was anything draining the battery while standing unused, so she's in tomorrow for a check-up.

I continued on my 25 mile commute to work with no problems and parked up outside work. At the end of the day, I made for the journey home and before starting, I made a point of chinking the Volt meter. It was hovering healthily between the 12V and 13V mark. It dipped down to 12V while starting, but imediately shot to the 14V mark after starting, So no problems there. The return journey home was another uneventful 25 mile drive.

So, I was just wondering if anyone else had had this kind of problem and if they could fore-warn me before my trip into the dealers tomorrow.

Look forward to hearing from you guys.

 

[Scottie]

The car was obviously in the huff with you for leaving her at home while you went off and enjoyed yourself.

Other than that I am no help.

 

[chrisbin]

Strange, but I'm sure Simon will sort it out!

 

[Tregger-Happy]

Just to update. The car was at the dealers to have the electrics checked out. They found nothing wrong with the battery or alternator. The battery drain while the car was at rest was reading normal. Technician just said that hopefully it's just a one-off because everything was reading as perfect. He asked if I wanted to leave the car with them, parked-up for a week and then check the battery and electrics, but i declined the off. I'll just wait and see how it goes

 

[Guest]

Neil,

Out of interest, what was the normal battery drain while the car was at rest. It'd be interesting to know how long the car could be left locked in the airport carpark, and still start when you get back at midnight!

We left my wife's CLK in the garage for 5 months while we were in US and it started fine. But I have left an Optimate hooked up to the Treg this winter, not least because the battery is in such an inconvenient place.

Cheers, Andy

 

[Tregger-Happy]

can't really remember, but i think the tolerence was up to 0.39 Amps max.... but I could be way off.

 

[Cas]

Tregger-Happy, did you ever get a resolution for this?

I too have a Treg that is reluctant to start when left for a week or so. It always does start- but sometimes on the first turn of the key the starter-motor engages but does not have enough umph to actually turn the engine over. If I leave it for 30 seconds with the ignition on it then starts.
My car has been in the dealer twice in the past month- the first time they had the battery on test for 4 days and then the second time they had it on test for 8 days and they report that the battery is OK. Maybe it could be a relay issue.

Is yours OK now?

Cas

 

[Tregger-Happy]

I've had no issues since. The longest I've left it for since the problem was from Friday evening until Monday morning. I made a note of the battery voltage when I then came to use it... it was reading 12.5 Volts which is about perfect. It always reads 14V once it's started.
Maybe it was just a glitch, the treg has a few of those. I guess I'll just have to wait until it's left for a week again.

 

[Hipflyguy]

May wanna check these threads for battery conditioners...

search.php?keywords=battery+conditioner&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

Pilgrim and MarkII entrusting their cars with a CTEK is endorsement enough for me.

How you feeling TH...? I'm sore from your better half whooping us all at the weekend... (set you up again Chris, what's the best you can do)

 

[Tregger-Happy]

OK! It's happened again.

After a week away skiing and the Treg left on my drive, once again it was dead.
VW Assist came to give it a boost start and all is ok now with the battery charging as normal.
But since this is the first time it's happened since the last incident back in October, I fear this is not just a little software bug.
The longest I had left it following the first incident was 3 days, but I had no problems re-starting after that time. So, why such a drain on the battery when left for a full week?

I'll be booking the Treg in as soon as possible for a diagnostic, but this time I'm expecting they'll need it for a longer period. Looks like I'll be needing a loaner.

If anyone is having similar problems, I'll be gratefull for any pointers.

Respect to you all.

NP.

 

[kenford44]

Hi

The exact same issue i was away for a week treg parked in Birmingham airport for 8 days and when i got back flat battery it was the first time it ever let me down
Car is 3 years old on longlife service and used most days

VW assist guy started in 30 seconds with a power charger it took only 15 minutes to get him to the car not bad for 0800 on a sunday morning and he said it would be ok after a good run which it has been, I left it last week for 4 days and no problem but it goes in tomorrow for the third ll service so will get the battery checked while it is there

PS Should be on the Spotted menu but there are always lots of Tregs in Birmingham Airport come on Who are you mystery travellers !!!!

Ken

 

[NoobyT]

Hi

The exact same issue i was away for a week treg parked in Birmingham airport for 8 days and when i got back flat battery it was the first time it ever let me down
Car is 3 years old on longlife service and used most days

VW assist guy started in 30 seconds with a power charger it took only 15 minutes to get him to the car not bad for 0800 on a sunday morning and he said it would be ok after a good run which it has been, I left it last week for 4 days and no problem but it goes in tomorrow for the third ll service so will get the battery checked while it is there

PS Should be on the Spotted menu but there are always lots of Tregs in Birmingham Airport come on Who are you mystery travellers !!!!

Ken

Parked at Birmingham airport, could aircraft vibrations have been setting the alarm off frequently resulting in a duff battery? It always made me laugh when so many car alarms in the Heathrow car parks went off when Concorde took off!

And anyway, I thought the car park folk had a little man who runs around starting cars like yours?

 

[Buster]

I had this problem on my old one 2.5 never really got to the bottom of it but some say it could have been bad earthing

Not much more help than that

 

[chrisbin]

On a slight tangent, if you use "meet and greet" at the airport, what happens if the car won't start when they are supposed to be coming to pick you up.........??? Anyone experienced that?

 

[Tregger-Happy]

On a slight tangent, if you use "meet and greet" at the airport, what happens if the car won't start when they are supposed to be coming to pick you up.........??? Anyone experienced that?

Not sure, we used the SWMBO Pug 207 and left it in the airport parking for the week we were away, but they usually have their own battery jump starters. I didn't trust the Treg to start after being left for a week (my fears were justified).

All in all, I'm getting a littled tired with all the Tregs bugs. However trivial some of the problems are, such as the odd sensor failure or battery drain, my feeling is that the Treg is not as reliable as I expected a VW to be.

With my waranty expiring in October, I think it's time to look elsewhere. I'm considering the hyundai santa fe with its 5 year waranty. the peace of mind would be worth it.

 

[Tregger-Happy]

Treg has been with the dealer since Tuesday and they have just notified it is ready for collection.

It turns out that they have replaced the radio sat-nav and the drain on the battery is now ok. Have not collected the car yet... I wonder if they've fitted the touchscreen version... If only I would be so lucky.

Hopefully no more problems.

[just an update... unfortunatley like for like replacement on the satnav, but they also changed my hub caps because they had been damaged during the last service and the centre had gone milky.]

[At least this was one job that doesn't require the engine to be taken out

]

 

[tonyw]

Hi I havent logged in for a while so apologies for answering this one late.

i had a similar problem in that my battery died after 3 days of not being used.

they found the problem to be the aux heater, i had been using to heat the car before i went outside but the electrical side didnt switch off, even after i shut everything down and it continued to draw on the battery.

The local VW said they had to reset the ECU and after they did that the drain stopped.

probably not the same problem but i thought it may be worth pointing out.

TW

 

[rory]

Your battery is going flat because the TmC is switched on in your mfd radio sat nav. It switches on every few minutes to search for mfd messages which are not switched on by vw in the uk. This small current sets off various test circuits which leads to a draw of nearly 1 amp. After about 80 hours a 140 amphour battery will not start the car.
VW know about this fault.

 

[Guest]

Just back from a week in Jamaica 8) and wanted to report that the treg was parked up for 10 days and the beast started first time

For anyone flying out of Birmingham I can strongly recommend the Marriott Forest of Arden for an overnight stay and free secure parking