Battery Monitor and Charging.

got in the vehicle earlier and had my first red warning light appear - eek… It was the battery warning light. I opened up the off-road mode and toggled to battery monitoring. it showed that the battery was at 50% charge and this was shown in an amber colour on the central display. I drove on regardless as I could see that the battery was charging and took a flyer that it wasn’t critical..

the red warning light stays on until the state of charge was in excess of 60%, and at that point it went out and the warning binnacle returned to black..

However the charging indicator in the central display remained amber until we’d got to ( I think) 75% charged which then extinguished the amber warning in the charging mode.. it took about 30 minutes of driving to go from 50 to 75% Charge for reference.

im not sure what caused the battery to drain to 50% as it’s used every day. That said, I moved it twice yesterday and left it unlocked all day..

I’m not suggesting this is an issue and put it down to the general protection built in that alerts the operator about possible lack of, or low charge.. I think it is smart enough to leave enough power for it to start if there was a general voltage drain.. I’m sure someone will agree / disagree.

Ever Pragmatic said:

got in the vehicle earlier and had my first red warning light appear - eek… It was the battery warning light. I opened up the off-road mode and toggled to battery monitoring. it showed that the battery was at 50% charge and this was shown in an amber colour on the central display. I drove on regardless as I could see that the battery was charging and took a flyer that it wasn’t critical..

the red warning light stays on until the state of charge was in excess of 60%, and at that point it went out and the warning binnacle returned to black..

However the charging indicator in the central display remained amber until we’d got to ( I think) 75% charged which then extinguished the amber warning in the charging mode.. it took about 30 minutes of driving to go from 50 to 75% Charge for reference.

im not sure what caused the battery to drain to 50% as it’s used every day. That said, I moved it twice yesterday and left it unlocked all day..

I’m not suggesting this is an issue and put it down to the general protection built in that alerts the operator about possible lack of, or low charge.. I think it is smart enough to leave enough power for it to start if there was a general voltage drain.. I’m sure someone will agree / disagree.

Click to expand...

Similar thing happened to me a couple of weeks back with the red warning light and the starter battery was showing 46% charge. Turned the key and the Smart Pass did its job and started no problem. I had left the vehicle on the drive for 4 days after a 35 mile drive (a drive I do twice a week) but didn't record the SoC when I parked it up. I was puzzled as to why it drained though as it hadn't when I'd left it before after the same drive. Then I noticed that I had inadvertently left the overhead switch on that powers up the rear accessory socket amongst others but I hadn't left anything plugged in. So I wonder if there is some current drain from that circuit even with no accessories plugged in? Anyway I fitted Bluetooth battery monitors to both batteries and "just in case" have packed my NOCO jump starter in the car rather than leaving it in the garage. I appreciate the battery monitors are not going to give an accurate SoC but the voltage across both correlate with my Fluke multimeter.

marko said:

Turned the key and the Smart Pass did its job and started no problem.

Click to expand...

I don't suppose you lifted the rear seats and checked the Smartpass flashing lights to confirm that?

Like I said @DCPU it started no issue with cranking. Didn’t have time to check the lights as needed to be on the road. Given the state of the starter battery and cranking/start (diesel) only explanation I’ve got is my retail spec smart pass worked as advertised. But I’m not an auto electrician, I’m a mechanical engineer.

I have had two low battery warnig episodes and a recent new alternator ,which hasn't resolved the issue.
Today I set off with 67% drove 4 miles stopped and when restarted got this little treasure !

acwiltshire said:

I have had two low battery warnig episodes and a recent new alternator ,which hasn't resolved the issue.
Today I set off with 67% drove 4 miles stopped and when restarted got this little treasure !

Click to expand...

oof. have you stuck a voltmeter across the one/two batteries to cross-check recently. Did the agent do a full test of the battery(s) before/while swapping out the alternator? presume so.

acwiltshire said:

I have had two low battery warnig episodes and a recent new alternator ,which hasn't resolved the issue.
Today I set off with 67% drove 4 miles stopped and when restarted got this little treasure !

Click to expand...

Something is indeed draining your battery, some "almost" short circuit somewhere.
Or a bad contact that impedes right charging of the battery (voltage OK, current too low!)

ECrider said:

oof. have you stuck a voltmeter across the one/two batteries to cross-check recently. Did the agent do a full test of the battery(s) before/while swapping out the alternator? presume so.

Click to expand...

They told me they found a broken terminal on the alternator. It was in for all of the recalls and the software update . I got the car on May 10th and only had battery issue in the last 3 weeks.

acwiltshire said:

I have had two low battery warnig episodes and a recent new alternator ,which hasn't resolved the issue.
Today I set off with 67% drove 4 miles stopped and when restarted got this little treasure !

Click to expand...

Have had that several times. Typically disappears after a restart. I believe the SOC figure whilst generally fairly accurate suffers glitches as your photo shows.

Orcmurd said:

Have had that several times. Typically disappears after a restart. I believe the SOC figure whilst generally fairly accurate suffers glitches as your photo shows.

Click to expand...

I have installed a bluetooth monitor on the start battery. It almost always shows a higher state of charge than the car systems does, although the voltage is generally pretty much in agreement

AnD3rew said:

I have installed a bluetooth monitor on the start battery. It almost always shows a higher state of charge than the car systems does, although the voltage is generally pretty much in agreement

Click to expand...

The voltage is the only scientific measurement.

Jean Mercier said:

The voltage is the only scientific measurement.

Click to expand...

Probably for simple systems. You can scientifically measure state of charge, but you need an accurate model for the specific battery and the time to measure discharge and recharge under controlled conditions.

AnD3rew said:

Probably for simple systems. You can scientifically measure state of charge, but you need an accurate model for the specific battery and the time to measure discharge and recharge under controlled conditions.

Click to expand...

Most modern systems can monitor the state of the battery and more importantly changes over time.
Voltage, impedance/resistance, rate of charge, rate of discharge etc etc.

Link here to the very detailed thread put up by @DCPU about the Hella Intelligent Battery Sensor that is fitted to the earth/negative post of the starter battery.

Here's a cheap and effective way of monitoring battery voltages. Until the electrical gremlins are sorted this is what I'm using.

I have the twin battery set up on my Grenadier and have had sporadic duff voltage, amperage (both draw and charge), and battery percentage readings since the car was delivered (last September or October). About two months ago the battery state screen changed to a blank screen displaying no battery data.

The car has had the necessary software updates and has been back to the Ineos dealer several times to try and sort the problem.

First time they put new batteries in the car which did nothing. Second time they identified the problem as a faulty LIN bus data controller which they sorted - apparently it was not a plug and play fix and they had to get in touch with Ineos note to programme it.

Thought problem was solved but the dealer then discovered after 24 hours that all the battery data disappeared from the screen as soon as the engine warmed up. Current diagnosis is that the LIN network also operates the auxiliary cooling pumps and one of the pumps has collected a large amount of water into the plugged connection and corroded the Pin off the pump. The the wiring and coolant pump both need replacing. The dealer has said that "the plug is vulnerable and when he replace it, he will adjust the bracket so as to ensure further water runs away from the plugged connection rather than into it". Don't know if this will be a final fix as the dealer doesn't know how long it will take to get a new pump.

Car has been at the dealers for about a month getting to the bottom of this issue but corrosion based faults are concerning in a six month old car. Not sure if anyone else has had this problem but add it to the forum for what its worth.

At least my 25 year old Landcruiser Amazons are still going strong whilst the Grenadier undergoes diagnosis, treatment, and convalescence at the dealers.

The Toyotas never had any warranty work in their life. Regular servicing and oil change every 5,000 miles and a new alternator every 100,000 miles was all they needed to survive. They were a tougher beast from a different era. They only went to out pasture in their old age they don't pass UK Ultra Low Emission Zone requirements on the odd occasions that I have to drive through our larger cities.

I thought, and still hope, that the Grenadier would be a good long term replacement for the Landcruiser but I am not sure it has the build quality to stay the course.