When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Strange sequence of events...dead battery, ticking, smoke etc
Car - '14 c63 507 25,000 miles
Mods - Catless headers, row boxes, EC v7 tune
Parked the car in my driveway (5 days ago) on Wednesday evening 11/1 before I went away for the weekend. Unlocked the car yesterday once in afternoon and once in the evening with the remote, grabbed something, put something in the trunk and locked it again with the remote (didn't start it). Today, the remote would not unlock the car so I used the little key to open the trunk first (noticed the 2 courtesy lights were off) then unlocked the driver door with the little key. Pressed the brake, hit the start button and nothing (No starter click etc). Figured the battery was dead so I hooked up the GB40 NOCO genius boost directly to the battery terminals and the alarm went off. Canceled the alarm with the remote and attempted to start the car. Heard the starter click once but didn't turn over at all. Tried once more to start it, heard the starter click again but nothing. Grabbed the multimeter and the battery voltage was around 6 volts. The jumper box was at 25% and didn't have enough juice to start the car. Had Geico roadside come and they tried their portable jumper using the +/ground connections under the hood but nothing. They tried the cables directly from their truck and she started up.
Roadside guy attached the battery load tester to the connections under the hood (I thought they should go directly on the battery terminals?). He said it looks like the alternator is trying to overcharge the battery and the alternator may be bad. I'm thinking the alternator is trying to charge the battery since it was so low that it may appear to be overcharging? Regardless, he went on his way and the car remained at idle. The sticker on the battery reads 12/16, indicating the battery was installed on December 2016 and is not the original battery. I checked the VMI and noticed in December 2016 there was "battery electrical fault" listed on the work order so I'm guessing the battery was replaced by the dealer. Hard to believe the battery is going bad after a year but anything is possible right....
As soon as the car started there was a loud tick coming from what sounded like the top of the motor but when you walked to side of the car, it sounded like it was coming from under the car. Never head this before. After the oil temp reached 170 at idle, I revved it to about 2500 and the speed of the ticking increased. I drove off for a few miles, and when the oil reached 210, I got out and the noise was gone. Any idea? Last oil change was 3000 miles ago with mobile 1 0w40 and topped off last week with 1/2 quart. Would this have any relation to the car being off for 5 days and all the oil drained off?
Moving forward, I drive grandpa style about 20 miles on the highway and 5 minutes stop n go local and all seems fine. I stop, leave the car running in park and start to unload some things from the trunk. After about 2 minutes there is a good amount of white smoke coming from the tailpipe. Certainly not something I would consider normal. Not much can be done so I drive off and noticed the oil temp is at 240 and its 50 degrees outside. Last time I have ever seen 240 was on a 100 degree day in stop n go traffic. Back on the highway for a few miles and she cools off to 220. Back into the local traffic for a few miles and she's back at 240. Get to my destination, let her idle for a few minutes and I don't see any smoke this time.
As far as the battery is concerned, I have a blackvue front/rear dash cam that is connected to a power magic pro since May. If your not familiar with the power magic pro, it monitors the battery voltage so it can shut itself off when the voltage falls below a set number and/or the timer stops. I have it set to turn off at 12.5 volts and/or 6 hours, whichever comes first. I'm sure the unit is working properly because if it wasn't, then the SD card would be completely full of video files for the whole time the car was parked. The last recording was from Wednesday night after I turned the car off.
So to me it seems that possibly the battery has gone bad or something else is draining the battery. I find it strange that yesterday the car opens with the remote and today it doesn't. Perhaps the volts dropped past the acceptable amount to unlock the car since yesterday?
So your camera charger monitors the battery. The car's ECU also monitors the battery, while it's off.
Do you still have the battery sensor ? I believe that even stores battery freeze frame sets of data.
I wonder if your Monitor interferes with the ECU getting data. I would look in a log with alternator logging, to see what the ECU sees about the alternator and battery data.
So your camera charger monitors the battery. The car's ECU also monitors the battery, while it's off.
Do you still have the battery sensor ? I believe that even stores battery freeze frame sets of data.
I wonder if your Monitor interferes with the ECU getting data. I would look in a log with alternator logging, to see what the ECU sees about the alternator and battery data.
What battery sensor?
Interesting theory about the dashcam unit interfering with the ecu. However, its essentially wired independently of vehicles electronics and only uses the keyless go fuse as a tap for a 12v switched source and another line direct to the battery itself for monitoring the volts. But again, anything is possible
Only thing that I see in the torque pro app regarding the battery for logging is voltage. Nothing alternator related
Google it. It's a box attached by the terminal. The ECU knows the temperature of the battery, I want to say amperage draw, voltage and couple more things. I'll tell you next time I fire up my xentry.
I was trying to see if it knows how old the battery is or when it was changed, didn't have luck with that.
You need a star xentry machine. Maybe there is someone in your neighborhood that can take a look at what's going on.
Last night after driving the car back home, the battery reads 14.6 volts when the car is running. Alternator is working fine. Turn the car off and its at 12.25. Car was off for 12 hours and the volts are down to 11.92. My dash cam was still running as normal and like I mentioned before, is set to shut down at 12.5v OR 6 hours after the car is off, whichever comes first. I still dont think this is the problem but I will completely disconnect it tonight and see what happens to the battery. But a healthy battery should be around 12.6 so I wonder if theres possibly a dead cell in the battery.
I did witness an odd event though. After parking the car and locking it today, I came back an hour later. Unlocked with remote, opened front door, opened trunk, attached the clamp meter to the positive battery cable and its drawing 6 amps. Yes 6 full amps, thats not a typo AND the car was off. Put the stereo on, and its on 7 amps now. Start the car and the amps drop to 0.3 I believe. Car runs a bit, shut it down and now its only drawing 0.03 amps. Exactly were it should be when the car is off.
Im trying to understand that huge amp draw when the car was off. Any ideas? I was thinking that perhaps the car settled into a sleep state during that hour and essentially shut everything down like it would normally do. Waking it up by disabling the alarm and opening the door, is sending power to all the electronics?
So I tried to reproduce this same event of the huge amp draw by leaveing the car off and locked for another hour. Came back and did the same sequence as before while the car was off but the draw was only 0.03 like it should be.
Ideas?
VLADDS,
The only info I found on the battery sensor was this PDF. Is it safe to say that this sensor will record an amperage draw over whatever limit its preset to when the car is off and it will pinpoint which specific piece of electronic harware is causing the draw?
Let me fire my xentry up.
But it is considered important by the factory, they put reminders for the techs, in the literature.
As far as load, there was something about the car running the blower fan after being shut down for a while, to reduce humidity inside.
So there is a dozen things that this sensor can do. And it can troubleshoot by answering yes to a pre determined question from a set of possible 5.
In my case it stored cause I spend too much time on xentry with the key on and consumer loads .
I see them now. Pretty detailed. Its referencing circuit 15R is responsible for the amp draw during that event. What is 15R?
"As far as load, there was something about the car running the blower fan after being shut down for a while, to reduce humidity inside."
-If true, maybe I just walked out at the right time when the blower was doing its thing lol....Ill keep monitoring it
Or just dump it back to the dealer with all the data
I see them now. Pretty detailed. Its referencing circuit 15R is responsible for the amp draw during that event. What is 15R?
"As far as load, there was something about the car running the blower fan after being shut down for a while, to reduce humidity inside."
-If true, maybe I just walked out at the right time when the blower was doing its thing lol....Ill keep monitoring it
Or just dump it back to the dealer with all the data
Oh, just saw now that you're in Long Island. So you're under warranty, that's why you're bringing it back to the dealer? PM me.
The ticking is very likely the valve lifter have been dry from sitting and non driving. I think many people get that.
As far as white smoke, are you sure is not condensation?
The ticking is very likely the valve lifter have been dry from sitting and non driving. I think many people get that.
As far as white smoke, are you sure is not condensation?
Last time I had the car sitting for a few weeks at a time was last February/march. Never had that loud tick before
It was more then likely condensation. Since that one noticeable incident, I've seen white smoke again but not as thick. It smells like raw exhaust fumes since theres no cats. Definitely not sweet smelling like coolant fumes. Coolant level hasn't moved either. C63 problems lol
Last time I had the car sitting for a few weeks at a time was last February/march. Never had that loud tick before
It was more then likely condensation. Since that one noticeable incident, I've seen white smoke again but not as thick. It smells like raw exhaust fumes since theres no cats. Definitely not sweet smelling like coolant fumes. Coolant level hasn't moved either. C63 problems lol
im pretty sure the ticking is a common issue. The thing, it just doesn’t always happend even when the car have sitting around. I had a few times even on warm engine. And i change the valve lifter when i did the headbolt.
as with your battery, i noticed that raining season can sometimes draw battery current out. Perhaps it rained when you left the car at the garrage?
im pretty sure the ticking is a common issue. The thing, it just doesn’t always happend even when the car have sitting around. I had a few times even on warm engine. And i change the valve lifter when i did the headbolt.
as with your battery, i noticed that raining season can sometimes draw battery current out. Perhaps it rained when you left the car at the garrage?
It definitely rained but I find it to believe that is the problem. Even after the car is running and I know the alternator is doing its job (voltage goes up to 14.6-16.7), once the car is off, the battery will not be any higher then 11.9 - 12.1 volts. It should be in the 12.6 - 12.7 range. I have it on a trickle charger for the past 6 hours. Starting voltage was 11.92 and so far its up to 12.30. Leaving it overnight to see if it fully charges and actually holds the charge after running the car. If not, bad battery I believe.
11-07-2017, 06:58 PM
