SussexCL
Member
You may have seen from my introductory post that my 2000 CL600 is new to me, just a month into ownership.
Now, in that month, I was on holiday for a fortnight, so we have about a week before, and a week after of experiential use.
The first week, the door locks were reluctant to lock, I thought it was the transmitter, and it turns out that indeed one of them does need new batteries, will sort this weekend, have already bought. Anyway week one, the car refused to start one morning, and a quick run on the trickle charger had it back to form. Of course I went on the forums, only to find a myriad of this and that battery drain problems.
Two week holiday, car is predictably flat as a pancake. Trickle charge, and recondition the battery.
This past week, the battery has barely been able to hold charge for more than two days. And then one day, she refused to start at the station, so I called the AA. One quick connection with their booster and it sprung to life. The ever helpful AA technician checked the flow of charge, and the alternator is doing its job. Then he checked the drain, and said that it was acceptable, bearing in mind that the car would not yet have gone to sleep. So I bought a new Varta Silver Series battery and replaced it last night. Will it last until the weekend, we will see!!
I guess the reason for the thread is to try and dispel some myths. I have seen suggestions as bizarre as turning your air conditioning and radio off before you switch the ignition off. Removing the CD shuttle from the disc changer. Hmmm, I cannot believe they suffered this problem from new, and am loathe to be dictated to by a recalcitrant car. The car has (dated) gadgets, and I want to use them. But as my station car, this needs to be reliable, and whilst I am not one of those 'throw eveything at it' people (previous owner spent £9k in four years), I am also not one of those 'run it on beer-tokens' people either. I love a challenge, and I especially love solving it. I would admit that electrics are not my forte, but hey, when better to learn.
A quick review of the forum had my battery replaced, and my PAS, ABS, and windows reset, so thank you for that.
Now, in that month, I was on holiday for a fortnight, so we have about a week before, and a week after of experiential use.
The first week, the door locks were reluctant to lock, I thought it was the transmitter, and it turns out that indeed one of them does need new batteries, will sort this weekend, have already bought. Anyway week one, the car refused to start one morning, and a quick run on the trickle charger had it back to form. Of course I went on the forums, only to find a myriad of this and that battery drain problems.
Two week holiday, car is predictably flat as a pancake. Trickle charge, and recondition the battery.
This past week, the battery has barely been able to hold charge for more than two days. And then one day, she refused to start at the station, so I called the AA. One quick connection with their booster and it sprung to life. The ever helpful AA technician checked the flow of charge, and the alternator is doing its job. Then he checked the drain, and said that it was acceptable, bearing in mind that the car would not yet have gone to sleep. So I bought a new Varta Silver Series battery and replaced it last night. Will it last until the weekend, we will see!!
I guess the reason for the thread is to try and dispel some myths. I have seen suggestions as bizarre as turning your air conditioning and radio off before you switch the ignition off. Removing the CD shuttle from the disc changer. Hmmm, I cannot believe they suffered this problem from new, and am loathe to be dictated to by a recalcitrant car. The car has (dated) gadgets, and I want to use them. But as my station car, this needs to be reliable, and whilst I am not one of those 'throw eveything at it' people (previous owner spent £9k in four years), I am also not one of those 'run it on beer-tokens' people either. I love a challenge, and I especially love solving it. I would admit that electrics are not my forte, but hey, when better to learn.
A quick review of the forum had my battery replaced, and my PAS, ABS, and windows reset, so thank you for that.