Last night when I went to start my car after visiting a meeting (I had no issues on the way there) the battery light came on. I shut down and re-started with no issues. Is this something I need to worry about?
Work recently done has been replacing both positive and negative battery cables within the past 3 years - I also had the alternator changed about a year and a half ago.
I have heard that these cars are finicky with batteries - I mainly drive the car on weekends leaving her parked for most of the weekdays - could this be killing my battery? I don't have the facilities to put her on a battery tender.

 

Clack, if this happens only 1 time, chalk it up to a "fur ball" that you kitty choked on. Keep an eye out for it to happen again, but it may have been a fluke and will not pop its head out for a long, long time. You will drive yourself nuts trying to find a problem like this.

 

Yes, so far it has only happened once, so I'll chalk it up as an anomaly - will keep an eye out though for future occurrences in case a pattern emerges. As you say, hopefully it won't happen again for a long time.

 

Looks like Thermo was right - it was just a glitch. The battery light has been behaving itself since my initial post in this thread.

 

Yes, but your battery may not be fully charged, and that can cause many issues. If I were you I would fully charge the battery.

 

This started happening to me at about 4 years into a new battery and alternator and was intermittent. I would just put it on the charger overnight and that would take care of it.

 

Unfortunately my parking space is in a communal strata basement with no access to a powerpoint so I am unable to trickle charge my battery. Looks like I'll have to replace my battery early if things go pear shaped. That being said I drive the car weekly for about 100Ks so hopefully this will be enough to charge the battery...?

 

As said previously - I don't have the facility to trickle charge unfortunately.

 

Hello Clacka,

Can I offer advice we have for each of our cars . . . twin USB outlet adapters that plug into the cigarette lighter socket are not new, but the later versions come with a bright LED display of the battery voltage. They offer several diagnostic benefits . . .

• without external charging and before starting, display should read a holding charge of at least 12.5 volts for your X400 (perhaps more for X200);
• immediately after starting, display should jump to near 14 volts to indicate healthy charging by alternator;
• then, after an interval while driving, the displayed battery voltage should fall (suddenly) to the fully charged state of near 13 volts;
• over a few years from a new battery, you will note that this charge time will lengthen to the point where the battery expires.

Our support for permanently connected smart charger is based on lifting 3 to 4 year battery life into the 10 to 12 year range, but like you, my daughter lived with a really long extension lead in her power point deprived basement parking. Given these USB jiggers cost less than $20 here in Oz (or imported via AliExpress at 5 for $30!) they are a 'must have' for ensuring the best for the demanding electronics in these cars.

Cheers,

 

Hello cat,

I have a Nulaxy bluetooth adaptor which fits in my lighter socket which has an integrated battery charge readout - so it does the same function as the USB outlet adapters you speak of. The voltage readouts are within the parameters you describe...