Battery Light Within First 2 Months!! :(

[mike chrysalis]

Hi everyone, first I'd like to introduce myself as a new member and a proud smart fortwo owner. Yet last night while heading over to fire her (Cleo) up for take off the battery light was on!!! The car started fine and all electrical was working ok. I called smart roadside assitance as soon as I first noticed it shining as red as any uninviting warning light would dare to gleam at me and they said it should ok to drive home for the night. Well, I made it home ok, as the battery light turned off at least for a bit while on the expressway. Today it stayed on all day. Tomorrow I'll take it in for service as it's under warranty,on 2 months into ownership to top it off. Just wondering if anybody has heard of this problem and if so what they might know. Is this related to a weak battery to start? Any consolation would be much appreciated.

[Razorback]

I'm just guessing here but it may just be a loose battery terminal.

[SuperGeek]

Loose connections are fairly common (1% being common, in the case of something like this with very low tolerance for defect). An assembly tech may have missed tightening one out of a thousand bolts, or it may have worked loose in transit/driving. It's also possible but less likely that you have a bad alternator. Electrical problems this early, definitely exercise your right to warranty service. Catch and solve them early like you are doing... if you let them go for a few weeks, other components could be damaged.

If you simply had a low battery, the light would go off after a few minutes of idling, assuming you had enough juice to start it up. A loose connection will cause intermittent failures, as the alternator may be producing all the juice you need but can't get it through the system.

[saskdiesel]

Originally Posted by SuperGeek

Loose connections are fairly common (1% being common, in the case of something like this with very low tolerance for defect). An assembly tech may have missed tightening one out of a thousand bolts, or it may have worked loose in transit/driving. It's also possible but less likely that you have a bad alternator. Electrical problems this early, definitely exercise your right to warranty service. Catch and solve them early like you are doing... if you let them go for a few weeks, other components could be damaged.

If you simply had a low battery, the light would go off after a few minutes of idling, assuming you had enough juice to start it up. A loose connection will cause intermittent failures, as the alternator may be producing all the juice you need but can't get it through the system.

No, the indicator lamp is on because of low output (from the alternator).
A low battery will not pull the lamp on. In fact you can start your car, remove the battery and drive around if you want. The lamp will not come on.
This will be an alternator/regulator problem. Not a big deal.

[mike chrysalis]

Well I took my smart into the dealership to research the battery light being on and after a week of being in the shop there is still no resolve. smart dealership indicates that they cannot, even with the help of smart germany technical support, figure out why the light is on. They said it was not battery or alternator related but may be due to the instrument cluster!!! What a pain it's been just to turn a battery light off over week now. They even offered me a rental car which i'm driving for the unexplained inconvenience!!! Although a rental car was a nice token for my extended patience, it's become an unsettling pain in the a** too early on into ownership of a BRAND NEW auto!!! My faith in the auto is somewhat dwindling as well.

Does anyone know if there is a listing of "scancodes" specific to the smart fortwo? It seems that this might provide further insight as the dealership is having big pains with what the problem is. Any other insights are welcome and again appreciated. Hanging in there, i suppose, ~ Mike.

[saskdiesel]

A MIL light may or may not cause a code to be thrown.
The light usually runs parallel or incorperated with a resistance circuit. And its probably that resistance that is causing a MIL.
Depending on how its constructed, they may very well have to replace the cluster.
Still, not a big problem.