Battery completely dead - no prior symptoms

Highwayman · Oct 6, 2023

Went to use my car yesterday afternoon and the remote key fob would not unlock it (car had been standing in the garage for three days). Thought it was a bit odd.

Changed the battery in the key fob - no difference, still would not unlock the car.

Got the spare key (never used from new) - no difference.

Had to leave the car and use another one to drive up to Liverpool for the football.

This morning had some time to investigate and the main battery is dead - showing 3volts on multimeter. (Auxiliary battery was at 12.16volts). Zero systems in the car working.

I called the dealer and apparently this is not the first report of such symptoms and they’ve had three others. It’s a problem with the battery and cells failing, so will need a new one.

If I learn anything interesting as it gets fixed, I’ll update further.

I have had the battery on charge all day and it is taking a charge, hopefully enough to start it in the morning so that I can get it to the dealer.

Not sure how you watch out for this one, because mine was perfectly well behaved ….. until it wasn’t.

Krabby · Oct 6, 2023

Can you swap the batteries around? Could be a short term solution if the main battery itself is failing.

Ovrland Bill · Oct 6, 2023

Krabby said:
Can you swap the batteries around? Could be a short term solution if the main battery itself is failing.

That would seem to be a great ‘work-around’. (Even easier if the battery leads could just be swapped?)

Highwayman · Oct 6, 2023

Krabby said:
Can you swap the batteries around? Could be a short term solution if the main battery itself is failing.

Great suggestion - thanks

I’ll see what is or isn’t possible in the morning when I try and start it. If it starts, then I’m going as is.

Bmac · Oct 6, 2023

That happened to me. Left it in the Gatwick long stay carpark for a week and the battery was completely dead. So flat it took the AA 20 minutes to charge it sufficiently to start. The alternator worked really well on the way home but it almost cooked the battery - see photo.

Highwayman · Oct 7, 2023

Brief update

After charging the battery with a CTek conditioner, it was over 80% charged this morning (it had been on charge for 24 hours up to this point). Car started without issue, but had every warning message possible. All messages cleared within a minute, with the exception of a service indicator warning - apparently I am 2,384 days overdue for a service!

On the trip over to the dealer (45 miles) the battery was charging between 16 and 22amps all the way. Very high for a battery that had been fully charged.

Dealer called late afternoon (Thanks Dave Miles at Heritage Gloucester) to let me know that one of the cells in the battery has gone, and he will replace it.

acwiltshire · Oct 7, 2023

Highwayman said:
Went to use my car yesterday afternoon and the remote key fob would not unlock it (car had been standing in the garage for three days). Thought it was a bit odd.

Changed the battery in the key fob - no difference, still would not unlock the car.

Got the spare key (never used from new) - no difference.

Had to leave the car and use another one to drive up to Liverpool for the football.

This morning had some time to investigate and the main battery is dead - showing 3volts on multimeter. (Auxiliary battery was at 12.16volts). Zero systems in the car working.

I called the dealer and apparently this is not the first report of such symptoms and they’ve had three others. It’s a problem with the battery and cells failing, so will need a new one.

If I learn anything interesting as it gets fixed, I’ll update further.

I have had the battery on charge all day and it is taking a charge, hopefully enough to start it in the morning so that I can get it to the dealer.

Not sure how you watch out for this one, because mine was perfectly well behaved ….. until it wasn’t.

I have had 2 low battery warnings this week . Put it on charge and got it back to 60%. Today went 35 miles and alarm came back at 48%. After lunch went home on M4 charge gradually reducing from 40A to 4A eventually settled back at 62% charge. Will report when it goes for his software on Monday

Jean Mercier · Oct 7, 2023

Highwayman said:
I am 2,384 days overdue for a service!

I think you are are sir Jim R, Ineos Grenadier n°001, that's the only possible explanation

trobex · Oct 8, 2023

What country makes the batteries for Ineos. I would like to put some Aussie Made batteries in the Gren... I have run century batteries only for over 20 years in my vehicles and not one failure. I have plenty of mates who bought cheap imports and lucky to get 2 years from their battery.

AnD3rew · Oct 8, 2023

trobex said:
What country makes the batteries for Ineos. I would like to put some Aussie Made batteries in the Gren... I have run century batteries only for over 20 years in my vehicles and not one failure. I have plenty of mates who bought cheap imports and lucky to get 2 years from their battery.

Pretty sure they are Moll brand which is German, although don’t know if they are actually made in Germany, but a quality brand.

bigleonski · Oct 8, 2023

trobex said:
What country makes the batteries for Ineos. I would like to put some Aussie Made batteries in the Gren... I have run century batteries only for over 20 years in my vehicles and not one failure. I have plenty of mates who bought cheap imports and lucky to get 2 years from their battery.

I don’t seem to have much luck with under bonnet batteries. I also use Century Overlanders (starter and deep cycle) and generally only get 3-4 years from them.
We replaced the battery this year in my wife’s X3 with stop-start the same as the IG. We got 8 years out of it - outstanding. Not sure why but I’ve always got longer life out of factory batteries than replacements.

trobex · Oct 9, 2023

AnD3rew said:
Pretty sure they are Moll brand which is German, although don’t know if they are actually made in Germany, but a quality brand.

Yeah, something is fishy with the way this battery config works in the Gren - far too many people having issues with the entire battery set up, holding charge, recharge, and the lead on the signal's issues throughout. Keep an eye on this I say!

Highwayman · Oct 14, 2023

Quick update.

I collected my car this morning after having a new battery fitted under warranty (they did the software update at the same time).

All seems to be well, with the battery only charging at 3 to 5amps on the way home (45 miles) compared to 16 to 22amps driving to the dealer a week ago.

Talking to the staff at Heritage Gloucester (thanks again for fitting me in with zero notice) mine was not the first they had seen with a battery issue. They also told me that INEOS have issued a service bulletin about the batteries, so it is a “thing”. They don’t know the root cause (the bulletin didn‘t provide details) but it is something to be aware of. My experience appears to be typical - everything is fine, until it isn’t.

acwiltshire · Oct 15, 2023

Highwayman said:
Quick update.

I collected my car this morning after having a new battery fitted under warranty (they did the software update at the same time).

All seems to be well, with the battery only charging at 3 to 5amps on the way home (45 miles) compared to 16 to 22amps driving to the dealer a week ago.

Talking to the staff at Heritage Gloucester (thanks again for fitting me in with zero notice) mine was not the first they had seen with a battery issue. They also told me that INEOS have issued a service bulletin about the batteries, so it is a “thing”. They don’t know the root cause (the bulletin didn‘t provide details) but it is something to be aware of. My experience appears to be typical - everything is fine, until it isn’t.

My Diesel Fieldmaster went in last week for the software and all the recalls.
I reported that the battery state was going into warning teritory twice ie less than 48% and not recovering beyond 62%. Anyway result was when I collected after 3 days they had decided to replace the alternator. Next day he is at 81%

Highwayman · Oct 15, 2023

acwiltshire said:
My Diesel Fieldmaster went in last week for the software and all the recalls.
I reported that the battery state was going into warning teritory twice ie less than 48% and not recovering beyond 62%. Anyway result was when I collected after 3 days they had decided to replace the alternator. Next day he is at 81%

Thanks - that’s interesting.

According to the bulletin from INEOS (I haven’t seen it, just quoting the dealer) they were made aware of an issue, but it did not specify root cause. So could be a number of faulty batteries, or alternators, or may be both.

Ineos4 · Oct 16, 2023

Same issue happened to me last wednesday, i didn't drive the car for 2 days but had the Dashcam plugged in. At the same time, the car fridge (2.5Ah) was also plugged into the aux battery (100A) so logically 40hrs (after getting a new point installed by auto electrician to direct feed from) and that died also. Had to plug the main battery into c-tek trickle charger overnight to get it to start again. A number of issues for me, & I'm not a sparky. I bought the car fitted with everything so i didn't need to worry about it.

The instructions are insufficient to explain the wiring and how it all relates (there is nothing online).
not easy to figure out where to charge the battery from (under bonnet) at the front of the car, and the 'earth' point to use and what to connect to, the wording in the book doesn't tell you where to connect.
difficult to pull cover off under car seat to direct connect the charger to.
even if the battery does charge, why do i need to jump it when i have an aux in the car connected to it, is the voltage two way.
Can I 'jump' the main battery from the aux, that it is connected to already? is there electrical issues i need to be aware of?
There is no display for the aux battery voltage/percentage even though i got it fitted at factory build and there is information for the main battery

Luckily it happened in the garage, so i was able to plug into mains to charge, but seriously what would have happened if i was camping.

Lollo050968 · Oct 17, 2023

This morning I started charging the battery because it said less than 58%, my two battery monitors said nearly the same for both batteries.
After 8,5h charging, CTEK said full, monitor said full,
INEOS said….74%…5A, 8,5h…. should be more about 80-85% now.
I let the charger (MX5.0) now until tomorrow morning connected, and will see.
It’s a miracle.
lost 42% in 7 days, without using the car

PS: I bought now a jump starter and will not care anymore about the SOC until SoftwareUpdate is installed…..and in case of ….I have the jump starter.

acwiltshire · Oct 17, 2023

Lollo050968 said:
This morning I started charging the battery because it said less than 58%, my two battery monitors said nearly the same for both batteries. After 8,5h charging, CTEK said full, monitor said full, INEOS said….74%
I let the charger (MX5.0) now until tomorrow morning connected, and will see.
It’s a miracle.
lost 42% in 7 days, without using the car
View attachment 7829911 View attachment 7829910 View attachment 7829909

Hi there . I had battery warning 3 weeks ago at 48%, recharged it with an old style battery charger. Drove it 80 miles and could only get up to 66%.When it went for the software update and the other stuff they decided to change the alternator. Collected it last week and got up to 81% chrging well. BUT didnt use the car for 3 days over last weeekend and now 48%. Just fininshed shit email to agent

Orcmurd · Oct 17, 2023

Lollo050968 said:
This morning I started charging the battery because it said less than 58%, my two battery monitors said nearly the same for both batteries.
After 8,5h charging, CTEK said full, monitor said full,
INEOS said….74%…5A, 8,5h…. should be more about 80-85% now.
I let the charger (MX5.0) now until tomorrow morning connected, and will see.
It’s a miracle.
lost 42% in 7 days, without using the car

PS: I bought now a jump starter and will not care anymore about the SOC until SoftwareUpdate is installed…..and in case of ….I have the jump starter.
View attachment 7829911 View attachment 7829910 View attachment 7829909

Have similar experience using MX10 charger which says battery full but Grenadier says 78%. I believe the CTEK charger but unfortunately it appears the Grenadier believes itself and after 4-5 days of no use the SOC drops to an indicated 65% and then on next drive alternator is working hard to charge the battery.

Lollo050968 · Oct 17, 2023

Orcmurd said:
Have similar experience using MX10 charger which says battery full but Grenadier says 78%. I believe the CTEK charger but unfortunately it appears the Grenadier believes itself and after 4-5 days of no use the SOC drops to an indicated 65% and then on next drive alternator is working hard to charge the battery.

Good (not really

) that others have the same problem, at Ineos and connected work shops, I have everytime the feeling… you are the only one with this problem….

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Battery completely dead - no prior symptoms

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