"Battery Low" and "STOP" on dash..

[kris86]

Hello guys/gals. My name is Kris, only joined up today as im searching for an answer to my problem. Looks like a helpful website so hopefully i may get some answers.

Car in question is a 57 plate Megane R26. Been getting some problems with the bugger lately though:

Driving along normally and i get "BATTERY LOW" and "STOP" written in the dash pod, presumed this isnt the card battery as that says "CARD BATTERY LOW". So i drove home, stopped it and come to the next day i thought id drive to halfords and get a new battery. Car wouldnt start. Got a new battery and fitted it, still wouldnt start! When i start i get this:

Press the brake and/or clutch then start, steering wheel unlocks, fuel pump fires up but it doesnt even try and turn over. Lights/radio all work fine so the new battery is doing its job, but wont even try and fire up. My dad's had the voltage meter on the battery, its all fine. Checked the 3 fuses ontop of the battery under the red cover, all fine.

Even tried jumping it from my dads car, again it doesnt even try and turnover.


Anyone had any experience of this as im at a loss. Due to go into renault tomorrow but if i can narrow it down before i give it to them that would be a great help..

Thanks

Kris

[kris86]

anyone?

[tomalamix]

what about the steering lock? do you ear the locking disengaging? It makes a very audible "CLICK" when it comes out.

Cheers

[kris86]

steering lock unlocks fine when i press the start button and locks again when i take the card out and go to lock it.

Renault have just rang me and said their renaultsport guy has found that the engine wiring loom is broke, leaving me £650 lighter when its fitted when the part arrives in 5-10 days

That(in my opinion) should not be breaking on a car thats 1 year out of warrenty and only covered 30k miles and has FSH etc..
Cheers
Kris

[tomalamix]

You can prepare an exposition to renault telling just that, in fact wiring loom is not a wear part, strange to be broken in a so small period of time. Renault will give offer you 50% discount for start. i think you should do that exposition.

[kris86]

My thoughts exactly mate. Iv contacted RUK and spoke to one of their managers, the guy couldnt have been more helpful and has phoned the dealership to discuss with them and will ring me back tomorrow to inform me if they are going to make a contribution. I am a loyal renaultsport customer and this is my second car. He felt they should contribute because, as you say, its not a part that should be wearing out after 30k. I have also asked for a contribution to the £100 i paid for a very good battery. The car said "battery low" so i bought one, which didnt make a blind bit of difference. The computer should have a different message as it wasnt the battery that was at fault.

Cheers
Kris

[kris86]

Just a quick post to say that renault uk have helped me out ALOT. I cannot thank their service manager enough who has agreed to pay 80% of the charges. Im so chuffed, didnt need that big bill right before xmas

[tomalamix]

£130 then, including parts and labor is not a heavy bill for that service. Just push a little more and ask them for your old battery, since the problem wasnt from there maybe you can use it for some jump start or something similar...not the best in the world but i think its not near the worst case scenario. Better would be not paying nothing at all...

[kris86]

I have my old battery in the garage and they paid for a new battery so overall not a bad result, as you say, could have been alot worse!!

[Andy225GT]

Has the loom change fixed the problem though?

[kris86]

its still in awaiting a part so wont be ready until next week due to xmas. They have paid for a hire car though so its all good. Iv been reassured that the engine loom is the problem and i have told them i wont be paying for anything else to be fixed as they promised me that this would cure the problem.

[AlexB]

kris86,

Measure the voltage between the negative terminal of the battery and the car body when the ignition is on. There should be none, not more than a couple of millivolts. Check if the headlight access hatch cover is in place under the front left wing.

This message comes from either the engine compartment fuse box or the ECU. They detect a voltage drop in the high current circuits under load. The battery has been replaced, hence look for a poor contact somewhere.

BTW, when you attempting to start the engine, do the dials come to life? Does the "Battery Low" message appear every time?

[kris86]

Battery low only appeared once while driving, the dials all came to life when i tried to start.

Arnold clark say there is an earthing fault in the loom somewhere so are replacing it all but are paying for 80% as i said earlier so if it works, im happy with that. We measured the voltages around the battery/fuses and all was ok!

[AlexB]

Arnold Clark, 80%, unnecessary work... In my personal opinion, Kris, you are ticking all the wrong boxes. I am suspecting your garage already knows which wire to connect in order to fix the problem, but they want to rip off you and Renault UK. On the other hand, being Arnold Clark, they can be blissfully incompetent, hence innocent. Please keep us updated on how it goes.

PS: with earthing faults you do not check the 12V voltages and fuses; check the ends of the ground wires for absense of voltage under load. There are just a couple of wires to check.

Battery low only appeared once while driving, the dials all came to life when i tried to start.

Arnold clark say there is an earthing fault in the loom somewhere so are replacing it all but are paying for 80% as i said earlier so if it works, im happy with that. We measured the voltages around the battery/fuses and all was ok!

[kris86]

All fixed, starts like a dream now. They even paid for a hire car for a week! Cant fault renault this time!