Battery problem?

[FelimDoyle]

We've had our XC60 for just over two weeks and the “Low Battery” indicator has begun coming on. Indeed last night, while I was pairing a couple of BlueTooth devices with the vehicle, it went into power save mode after only a couple of minutes and shut down the audio/phone/sat-nav system. I had to start the engine to recover full functionality!

My wife has a daily commute of just over 25 miles each way but the first week we had the car she had made a long journey from Aylesbury to Wales with very short journeys during that week and then the long return journey. There was no problem with the battery until yesterday morning but now it's reporting “Low Battery” regularly and we're concerned that it may not power up in the mornings, especially when the cold weather sets in. Hopefully it is just a software fault misreporting the battery charge level.

We've had several XC60s in the past but none have exhibited this problem before. My wife is on a company lease scheme and so the vehicle is usually changed about every six months, hence the high turnover of XC60s!

Ironically this particular model/variant has less electrical accessories than our previous ones (e.g. no keyless entry).

I'll keep you all posted on what transpires over the weekend!

[FelimDoyle]

Well the warning message has been displaying as soon as you unlock the doors so I took the car to Squire Furneaux in Maidenhead on Saturday. They looked up the registration and discovered that it is on a recall. Remember that we have only had this vehicle for two and a half weeks and that, as a “13” registration, we think it was probably manufactured in late summer. More on that when I can figure out the details.

The good news is that it is only a software update which takes 25 minutes to apply and there is nothing physically wrong with the battery, wiring or alternator. I have booked it in for first thing on Monday morning so all should be well when my wife heads home from work on Monday evening. Presumably the software is misreading the sensors or something similar. Again, more on that when I can figure out the details.

Hopefully anyone else out there who is experiencing the same problem will also find that it is just a software issue.

[FelimDoyle]

Of course the “Low Battery” indicator on our XC60 wasn't coming up this morning but the vehicle has been into the dealership and had the software update so hopefully that will be the end of the issue.

[watchboy]

Just shy of 3000 miles on my 63 plate XC60 and after a 150 mile journey along the M4, parked up and low battery warning message?! Looks like a trip to the dealer.........

Paul

[norco]

Just started getting this on MY14 XC60! Picked it up in June no problems til now. Does a 40 mile round trip per day. Looks like a call and trip to the dealer for software fix. Unbelievable it was not fixed before delivery.

[norco]

Sure enough, dealer says there is a recall for the battery message. I said l only got it new in June but odd ones slip through the net apparently. He said it just needs doing on next dealer visit. I said well officially that's in about 18mths. They are doing Sat morning.

[wimorrison]

Originally Posted by norco

Sure enough, dealer says there is a recall for the battery message. I said l only got it new in June but odd ones slip through the net apparently. He said it just needs doing on next dealer visit. I said well officially that's in about 18mths. They are doing Sat morning.

Who is doing the service in 6 months time? Given that the car is new surely that will be the dealer ...

[norco]

Yes correction in 9 mths! My last vw was 2 years. Because we had the 3000 inspection the time has moved back 3 months. Still a long time to have a message popping up.

[watchboy]

Had mine looked at on Wednesday and the software update applied.

Not had the warning message at all since. Something I have noticed although it may be mind over matter??? Is that the display showing you when to change gear used to tell me to change gear at 28-29mph when in third gear and now it seems a bit more 'relaxed' in that it doesn't indicate that a gear change is required until 31-33mph in third gear, also in 4th, 5th & 6th gear it seems less sensitive or 'shouty' than it used to be.

Hopefully that makes sense and everyone knows what I am on about. Just wondering if the battery warning message has been in some way related to the drivE setting / auto start stop settings? Or that, following the computers perceived up / down gear changes was previously affecting the cars ability to charge the battery properly.

Personally I did find that, previously, if you did change up a gear when the car indicated you should the engine would be labouring and a few seconds later it would be saying to change down.

Ultimately I tend to just get on and drive it as I see appropriate and keep an eye on the mpg readings (average and instant) to get and idea as to whether I am getting the best efficiency out of the engine / available fuel!

Anyway, hopefully all sorted now :-)

Paul

[twhitby]

Bit baffled by software upgrades and bluetooth connections... but my T reg V70 has starting issues which occurred before and were sorted by a new battery. I don't drive it every day, and when I do it's mostly short 20ish minutes to work and back. It's now got starting issues and the battery charging light comes on every so often while I'm driving. Is this more a genuine case of not driving enough to charge the battery? It's not a problem we had with our old 850.