service battery charging system

[mczajka]

Nikwax, I did not take a reading from the battery terminals while running - this was from inside the car using the accessory port (lighter outlet). I should also do what you suggest.

bmemmott, so, was your car inoperable or left you with a dead 12 volt battery? My car has been running flawlessly except for this issue, which has not stranded me anywhere because in actuality, the battery has not been being drawn down while sitting.

[mczajka]

brunoylupe, so your issue was different than mine. Mine is the 12 volt battery light with the service battery charging system warning, only coming on when the car sits overnight.

[bmemmott]

Nikwax, I did not take a reading from the battery terminals while running - this was from inside the car using the accessory port (lighter outlet). I should also do what you suggest.

bmemmott, so, was your car inoperable or left you with a dead 12 volt battery? My car has been running flawlessly except for this issue, which has not stranded me anywhere because in actuality, the battery has not been being drawn down while sitting.

The car never left me stranded. The battery light would remain on for about 30 sec after I turned the car on and started driving. I never checked the voltage.

[mczajka]

bmemmott, yes that's the same issue I'm having. Car is running fine though. Dealer is telling me they need to update/create software to fix this.

I'm leasing so as long as the car is running and doesn't leave me hanging, I can be a little more patient, I guess. As an owner, I could see the concern. It's also a second car. If this was my only car, would be more of a concern too.

[nikwax]

Update:

Well, a co-worker gave me a Volt meter to take home and I read the 12 volt battery directly. It's reading 12.62, and the car has been sitting for about 3 days.

This is normal.

What is odd to me is that when I power the car up and use an accessory volt meter, it reads 11.93.

The dealer just called me and said there are 9 other cars in the country with the same issue and the GM engineering team is working on it and it will most likely be some type of software update, but don't hold me to that.

12.62 is normal for a charged 12 volt battery. If you are only seeing 11.9 volts across the battery terminals with the car running, then the battery is being discharged. You should be seeing around 14 volts (at least, that's true of an ICE).

Correct. But you probably won't see 14 often, if at all, because the battery shouldn't need charging. It is more of a buffer in this case because it has no engine to start. In this case it just starts the computer and engages the contactor to deliver 360v which will then be used to supply 12v.

Thanks, I meant to ask what the service battery is for. But I would think that it would always have 14 volts across the terminals when the system is on, assuming that the voltage to the accessories is in the 14 volt range. Again, this is ICE thinking on my part.

[mczajka]

Taking the car in again to see if they can fix the problem. It wasn't fixed the first time, but the car has been functioning flawlessly since I got it. Only issues are these messages coming up (12 volt warning light and service battery charging system; both message go off within the first 5 min. of driving).

I have about 1100 miles on the car. Took a trip from So. MD to Shepherdstown, WV area this weekend for the Firecracker Run. http://www.firecrackerrun.org

[mczajka]

Picked up the car Saturday. Sunday morning the message was back. They had the car for about 10 days, and the last thing they did was check all the "grounds." They've been working with Spark EV engineers.

Next thing they are going to do is replace a module.

I keep posting this info. because I'm hoping someone else with the problem pops up. One other guy had the problem, but he did a buyback, and I haven't seen or heard from him since. I tried to message him through this website. I'm leasing the Spark EV and have another car, so I'm being overly patient. Car has over 1200 miles on it now.

I want to wrap it with some graphics, but I'm waiting until this problem is fixed.

[mczajka]

This is the part they are going to replace when they have the time. I actually drove the car up to the dealer Saturday (with an appointment), only to be turned away because they had 2 other Volt projects to work on this week with only 2 mechanics that work on Volts and Spark EVs. Great service! I live 40 miles away too. I've never seen such a disconnect between a scheduling department and CSRs. I offered to leave it over a week, but I got the impression that GM wouldn't cover the rental for dealer problems/delays.







After all of this, a Model 3 is not looking like a bad thing for the next car, no matter how long I have to wait. Or, perhaps a dealer with more Volt volume and mechanics. Normally I would think 2 is pretty good. I suspect other dealers only have 1 expert.

[nikwax]

After all of this, a Model 3 is not looking like a bad thing for the next car, no matter how long I have to wait.

So you want to get another bleeding edge vehicle?


I imagine the Model 3 will have a lot of teething issues. Maybe you want a Model 3 about the third year of production.

[cwerdna]

After all of this, a Model 3 is not looking like a bad thing for the next car, no matter how long I have to wait.

So you want to get another bleeding edge vehicle?


I imagine the Model 3 will have a lot of teething issues. Maybe you want a Model 3 about the third year of production.

Yep, judging by Tesla's track record.

Heck, the 1st Model S was delivered June 2012 (http://www.greencarreports.com/news/107 ... -jurvetson) and even now, there are STILL reports of people going thru multiple drive units, mostly due to noise. And, there numerous drive unit failures on the D (AWD) models, which only recently came out.

And, for one reason or another, some folks have gotten their battery packs swapped out at least once.