Member Since: 17 Nov 2009
Location: West Calder
Posts: 632
Battery Load
It is winter, freezing temperatures and dark most of the time here in Scotland and I am loving my new D4 which has yet to put a foot wrong!
But I note with some concern that when pressing the start button in these conditions the headlamps light, the front and rear heated windscreens ignite, the air con starts waking up, and all this in addition to the puddle and interior lamps having been on since opening the car and the seat/wheel positioning motors whirring bits into their respective places.
Surely during engine starting when battery load is max, it would have been better to delay the on-ing of main electrical accessories a little. I imagine a slightly weakened battery would struggle to start the engine with all that other gubbins switching on at the same time.
Leather in winter necessitates heated seats, freezing fog just means switch on everything you've got, lights, wipers, heaters, the lot. How much of this can the machine take before the system gets over stetched?
If short journeys are the norm (thankfully mine are not), how would the charging routine stand up to this?
Enquiring minds need to know .....
Now I'm off to play in the snow. 8)2016 D4 Landmark SDV6 (Euro6), Zanzibar (late run D4)
2009 D4 HSE TDV6, Bali blue (first run D4)
2007 RRS TDV8 HSE, some blue
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Member Since: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 867
Hi RM, your alternator has a huge output capacity, even at idle, so powering everything while driving is not going to be a problem, even when trying to recharge a low cranking battery.
Your alternator can easily accommodate all your electrical requirements and charge your battery at the same time, but, as you have already gathered, if you don’t drive long enough to allow the alternator time to charge the battery, your still going to end up with a low charged cranking battery whether you run heaps of electrical accessories or not.2008 TDV8 RR Lux + 2009 D4 2.7
24th Dec 2009 4:35 pm
Ian825
Member Since: 16 Jan 2006
Location: East Yorkshire
Posts: 96
Picked mine up last week & during setting up of the nav & audio system on the drive with the ignition on for no more than 5 mins - I got a warning to start the engine due to battery power, I'm hoping that this was due to not yet having had a real good run since leaving the dealers but time will tell.
28th Dec 2009 7:54 am
John C
Member Since: 28 Aug 2007
Location: East Yorkshire
Posts: 3292
Ian825 wrote:
...I got a warning to start the engine due to battery power...
Nice feature. 2020 SDV6 D5 HSE, Carpathian Grey +
2022 Tesla Model Y LR... almost Carpathian Grey
Previously : 2005 TDV6 SE Auto, Cairns Blue (288K) - ours for 16 years
28th Dec 2009 6:23 pm
mwestcrew
Member Since: 24 May 2005
Location: Warwickshire
Posts: 334
I think it might be OK if the sensitivity was correct but mine freaks out if you so much as leave the (L.E.D) sidelights on for 5 mins or listen to the radio with the engine of for 10. I think they need a software fix for it and I believe they are working on one at the moment.2011 D4 Landmark, Mini Cooper SD Clubman, Range Rover Vogue SE
I was amazed at mine, whilst on a job the other week, jumped out and left all the lights, front and rear flashers, plus strobes running. Didn't manage to get back to the car for some hours. Lights were looking very dim and had a low battery warning but pushed the button and hay presto it started without so much as a grumble. My Auxiliary strobes and flashers are set to power down before they run the battery so low that the car won’t start. It may well be that the LR low battery warning is set a little high.
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