MrDRMorgan said:
muadib69 said:
Here is the actual message on the dash. Also the yellow warning light with the exclamation mark has been there for a while now. The dealer finally checked it and it has to do with "automatic air vents" in front of the car, I guess its broken. The dealer will also replace that part.
OK, I'll bite! The car is parked on your driveway and will not start. How did the broken "automatic air vents" kill the car? Did something over-heat while the car was parked? I do not know anything about the automatic air vents other than they are electrically operated. Perhaps, being broken, they were stuck and kept drawing 12 volt power even with the car powered off. If true, this would eventually drain the 12 volt battery and kill the car.
Sorry for being vague about my post. I'll try to explain better:
For months before the spark "died", I have had that yellow warning light on the dash. Been ignoring it and postponing a trip to the dealer until about a month ago I had to take it in because of the "airbag issue". Aside from the recall, I told dealer to check what the warning light is about.
Once I got the car back on the same day, the recall was performed and the dealer said that the warning light is due to a malfunctioning "Active Grill Shutter". To explain what this is:
[In order to improve the aerodynamics and maximize thermal efficiencies the Spark EV employs an Active Grille Shutter system. The system includes a motorized actuator that closes louvers at the front bumper to enhance vehicle aerodynamics in driving situations where cooling and A/C loads are relatively low and high levels of front end airflow are not required. The engine control module determines shutter state based on various vehicle conditions such as vehicle speed, coolant temperature, fan state, refrigerant system pressure, A/C compressor state and ambient temperature. If high levels of airflow are required the active grille air shutter actuator opens the louvers.]
The dealer did not have this "part" of the active shutter available and told me to come back once they order the part. Last week, I was getting "Propulsion power reduced" randomly. The car would still start after several on/off. Finally yesterday, I was trying to back out of my driveway and got that message again. But this time it won't start anymore no matter how much I did the on/off cycle -All electricals still worked (headlights, radio, etc). That is when I finally called roadside assistance to get it towed to dealer.
So the car is on its second day at the dealer and haven't heard from them yet. They are to do two things: Check why the car won't start anymore and also install the new "part" for the active grille. Is the broken active grille responsible for the no propulsion? I don't know, but I am leaning more to both things as a coincidence.
Ill post updates once I hear back from dealer, hopefully today.