Battery problems

[smartapple]

Bought my Smart in May 08. After a two week period of inactivity in November, I had to have it jump started. It worked fine for the next 2.5 weeks, before I left it inactive for another two weeks (I have to travel a lot). After the 2nd jump start, I used it for about 3 days and the battery was dead again after 2 days of inactivity. After the 3rd jump start, I left the motor running for about 25 min before turning it off to try to start it again. While I was in the car with the motor running, I heard some odd knocks and clicks in both the front and rear of the car. I've made an apptmnt with a mechanic to get it checked out, but would like to have some heads up on what's going on. It seems like it can't just be an alternator issue and was wondering if any other Smart owners have had similar problems.

[jetfuel]

...you may be the lucky owner of a faulty battery...many problems of holding a charge has been traced to that...have your dealer replace it...and if you are to leave your car for an extended period of time a battery tender is a good addition to your tool arsenal...

jetfuel...join SCOA...you'll be glad you did

[smartae]

Hi! Within 2 weeks of picking up my smartie, the dealer called me to come in for a recall on the battery. the fix is so the battery doesn't just die.

[tigerwong58]

Originally Posted by smartae

Hi! Within 2 weeks of picking up my smartie, the dealer called me to come in for a recall on the battery. the fix is so the battery doesn't just die.

Your repair only applies to early 2009 models, not 2008 models. The trickle charger is the best, especially if you have dash pods.

[RussBarnes]

Mine will be a year old in six days. During the last 359 days it has only not started once and that was leaving it for at well over a month and it was 14 deg when I tried to start it (unheated garage - I'm not cruel to it). I put the charger on and after about an hour at 8 amps it dropped to float and it's fine. My hunch is that these use low reserve batteries due to space and cost. Then if a manufacturer cuts one cent of cost to make a buck we owners will have dead batteries in a few weeks. Is it a design flaw, I think so since they have to know that users don't always drive these daily and maybe a battery that would sit for six months would be better. Would I bad mouth it because of that, no. Can it be cured - sure with a trip to Costco and me shelling out $130 for an Optima with double the reserve. But it would have been nicer to pay an extra $60 to the manufacturer for as good a battery at the OEM pricing.

[SuperGeek]

I've had mine since May 08 and believe the battery's life is lower than it should be, but so far it's cranking just fine. I monitor voltage with the Scangauge constantly and if I leave it for 2 hours or so, the voltage drops from 12.5 to 11.5, in the cold weather it's down as far as 11.1 volts if the auto lights turn on just before I crank in the morning. I'm pretty sure those same numbers were higher a few months ago, but can't tell if it's due to cold weather or battery age.

If it ever drops below 11 volts, I'll go get a load test. It's too cold this week to justify. I'm planning a trip to the dealer (300 miles away) to get 10k service done early, so I'll have them check it also. It's a $50 battery. If it dies, I know what to get: Optima 78/34. May as well upgrade while I can, right?

But yeah, Smart's realizing they made a mistake on the batteries and I expect they'll fix that in the future.

[nycsmart]

I left my Smart overnight ( say 30 hours total) at the airport. It was a cold NYC January. And umm perhaps I had left a utility light on. The battery was super dead. The airport folks TRIED to jump start me. No luck. I have 6,500 miles on my Smart. I left the utility light on (allegedly). All the kings horses and all the kings men could not start that smart.

Had to tow it! At midnight ugh!!! Then had to tow it again to the SMART NYC when it opened. To make matters WORSE they said that it wouldn't be covered by the warranty because I have a SIRIUS RADIO and that causes a constant drain to the battery!

Is that right! I have been driving for over 30 years And have had who knows how many boosts ( I have allegedly left on utility lights on other vehicles I owned). I have never come accross anything like this.

ALSO - TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY I was charged $250! Glad to hear your opnions and advise.

[jwight]

Did a Google on the Sirius radio and found this one:

I have an A4 and the lighter power stays on when the car is off. If I forget to unplug or turn off my sirius one, it will drain away. It has drained my battery once so far.

Annoying ;-)

P

So it may be possible; same with an interior light (not sure what the utility light is you refer to.) I know the glove box light or dome light in some cars can drain the battery pretty fast.

[Osiris]

Is the Sirus hard wired into your car or is it connected to the cig/ acces plug?

[nycsmart]

Thanks for your input. It was the dome light I had on. And the Srius is hard wired. Which appearently is a no no.