The battery on my car gave up last week. I'm used to the idea that
when the battery is dying things like lights get weak and the car gets
difficult to start.

Not this one.

The first clue (which I missed) was that the radio failed. Car was due
for a service soonish so I just put up with it. Except that one day,
driving along, the radio came on of it's own accord but didn't work.
Then the glowplug light stayed on after the car was running. Finally
it failed to start but the lights still worked.

I was still not tuned to the idea that the battery had failed.

When I had the battery replaced I asked a few questions about why I'd
missed the clues. I was told that modern cars "load shed" so when the
battery starts to play up unimportant things (like the radio) are
deemed not worthy of needing power and are "disconnected".

I've learned something!

On Mon, 23 Mar 2020 20:04:13 +0000
Graham Harrison wrote:

The battery on my car gave up last week. I'm used to the idea that
when the battery is dying things like lights get weak and the car gets
difficult to start.

Not this one.

The first clue (which I missed) was that the radio failed. Car was due
for a service soonish so I just put up with it. Except that one day,
driving along, the radio came on of it's own accord but didn't work.
Then the glowplug light stayed on after the car was running. Finally
it failed to start but the lights still worked.

I was still not tuned to the idea that the battery had failed.

When I had the battery replaced I asked a few questions about why I'd
missed the clues. I was told that modern cars "load shed" so when the
battery starts to play up unimportant things (like the radio) are
deemed not worthy of needing power and are "disconnected".

I've learned something!

That sounds like Apollo 13.

--
Davey.

On Mon, 23 Mar 2020 20:20:11 +0000, Davey
wrote:

On Mon, 23 Mar 2020 20:04:13 +0000
Graham Harrison wrote:

The battery on my car gave up last week. I'm used to the idea that
when the battery is dying things like lights get weak and the car gets
difficult to start.

Not this one.

The first clue (which I missed) was that the radio failed. Car was due
for a service soonish so I just put up with it. Except that one day,
driving along, the radio came on of it's own accord but didn't work.
Then the glowplug light stayed on after the car was running. Finally
it failed to start but the lights still worked.

I was still not tuned to the idea that the battery had failed.

When I had the battery replaced I asked a few questions about why I'd
missed the clues. I was told that modern cars "load shed" so when the
battery starts to play up unimportant things (like the radio) are
deemed not worthy of needing power and are "disconnected".

I've learned something!

That sounds like Apollo 13.

Well yes, and airline reservations systems mainframes. Because they
drive not only reservations fares, ticketing etc. but checkin and
departure control (or they did when mainframes were THE thing) if the
central systems started to play up they would stop certain functions
until all that was left were the programs necessary to allow flights
to depart.

On 23/03/2020 20:58, Graham Harrison wrote:
On Mon, 23 Mar 2020 20:20:11 +0000, Davey
wrote:

On Mon, 23 Mar 2020 20:04:13 +0000
Graham Harrison wrote:

The battery on my car gave up last week. I'm used to the idea that
when the battery is dying things like lights get weak and the car gets
difficult to start.

Not this one.

The first clue (which I missed) was that the radio failed. Car was due
for a service soonish so I just put up with it. Except that one day,
driving along, the radio came on of it's own accord but didn't work.
Then the glowplug light stayed on after the car was running. Finally
it failed to start but the lights still worked.

I was still not tuned to the idea that the battery had failed.

When I had the battery replaced I asked a few questions about why I'd
missed the clues. I was told that modern cars "load shed" so when the
battery starts to play up unimportant things (like the radio) are
deemed not worthy of needing power and are "disconnected".

I've learned something!

That sounds like Apollo 13.

Well yes, and airline reservations systems mainframes. Because they
drive not only reservations fares, ticketing etc. but checkin and
departure control (or they did when mainframes were THE thing) if the
central systems started to play up they would stop certain functions
until all that was left were the programs necessary to allow flights
to depart.

just forget the car you ain't going anywhere in lock down....

Graham Harrison wrote:
The first clue (which I missed) was that the radio failed. Car was due
for a service soonish so I just put up with it. Except that one day,
driving along, the radio came on of it's own accord but didn't work.
Then the glowplug light stayed on after the car was running. Finally
it failed to start but the lights still worked.

I've had that kind of weirdness on a car with definitely no smarts... I
suspect there was an earthing problem, so some things would come and go
depending on whether they could get a path to earth through the chassis.
Of course, the problem went away any time I went to try and pinpoint it.

Theo

On 23/03/2020 23:05, Theo wrote:
Graham Harrison wrote:
The first clue (which I missed) was that the radio failed. Car was due
for a service soonish so I just put up with it. Except that one day,
driving along, the radio came on of it's own accord but didn't work.
Then the glowplug light stayed on after the car was running. Finally
it failed to start but the lights still worked.

I've had that kind of weirdness on a car with definitely no smarts... I
suspect there was an earthing problem, so some things would come and go
depending on whether they could get a path to earth through the chassis.
Of course, the problem went away any time I went to try and pinpoint it.

Theo

I blame canbus ...

On 23/03/2020 20:04, Graham Harrison wrote:
The battery on my car gave up last week. I'm used to the idea that
when the battery is dying things like lights get weak and the car gets
difficult to start.

Not this one.

The first clue (which I missed) was that the radio failed. Car was due
for a service soonish so I just put up with it. Except that one day,
driving along, the radio came on of it's own accord but didn't work.
Then the glowplug light stayed on after the car was running. Finally
it failed to start but the lights still worked.it

I was still not tuned to the idea that the battery had failed.

When I had the battery replaced I asked a few questions about why I'd
missed the clues. I was told that modern cars "load shed" so when the
battery starts to play up unimportant things (like the radio) are
deemed not worthy of needing power and are "disconnected".

I've learned something!


Modern (i.e. 90s onwards) tend to be very good at starting so it is easy
not to notice that the battery that the failing. When one car's battery
failed, I charged it up drove the car 10 miles to Halfords, bought a new
battery and then had to fit it to start the car to go home.


--
Michael Chare

On 23/03/2020 21:24, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
On 23/03/2020 20:58, Graham Harrison wrote:
On Mon, 23 Mar 2020 20:20:11 +0000, Davey
wrote:

On Mon, 23 Mar 2020 20:04:13 +0000
Graham Harrison wrote:

The battery on my car gave up last week. I'm used to the idea that
when the battery is dying things like lights get weak and the car gets
difficult to start.

Not this one.

The first clue (which I missed) was that the radio failed. Car was due
for a service soonish so I just put up with it. Except that one day,
driving along, the radio came on of it's own accord but didn't work.
Then the glowplug light stayed on after the car was running. Finally
it failed to start but the lights still worked.

I was still not tuned to the idea that the battery had failed.

When I had the battery replaced I asked a few questions about why I'd
missed the clues. I was told that modern cars "load shed" so when the
battery starts to play up unimportant things (like the radio) are
deemed not worthy of needing power and are "disconnected".

I've learned something!

That sounds like Apollo 13.

Well yes, and airline reservations systems mainframes. Because they
drive not only reservations fares, ticketing etc. but checkin and
departure control (or they did when mainframes were THE thing) if the
central systems started to play up they would stop certain functions
until all that was left were the programs necessary to allow flights
to depart.



just forget the car you ain't going anywhere in lock down....

As far as Covid is concerned, a car is very much safer than the London tube.


--
Michael Chare

In article ,
Graham Harrison wrote:
The battery on my car gave up last week. I'm used to the idea that
when the battery is dying things like lights get weak and the car gets
difficult to start.

Not this one.

The first clue (which I missed) was that the radio failed. Car was due
for a service soonish so I just put up with it. Except that one day,
driving along, the radio came on of it's own accord but didn't work.
Then the glowplug light stayed on after the car was running. Finally
it failed to start but the lights still worked.

I was still not tuned to the idea that the battery had failed.

When I had the battery replaced I asked a few questions about why I'd
missed the clues. I was told that modern cars "load shed" so when the
battery starts to play up unimportant things (like the radio) are
deemed not worthy of needing power and are "disconnected".

I've learned something!

Odd - given modern alternators can cope with the total load at very low
engine speeds.

--
*You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Graham Harrison wrote:
The battery on my car gave up last week. I'm used to the idea that
when the battery is dying things like lights get weak and the car gets
difficult to start.

Not this one.

The first clue (which I missed) was that the radio failed. Car was due
for a service soonish so I just put up with it. Except that one day,
driving along, the radio came on of it's own accord but didn't work.
Then the glowplug light stayed on after the car was running. Finally
it failed to start but the lights still worked.

I was still not tuned to the idea that the battery had failed.

When I had the battery replaced I asked a few questions about why I'd
missed the clues. I was told that modern cars "load shed" so when the
battery starts to play up unimportant things (like the radio) are
deemed not worthy of needing power and are "disconnected".

I've learned something!

Odd - given modern alternators can cope with the total load at very low
engine speeds.

My C5 (replaced 7 years ago) did some form of load shedding if the battery
wss getting flat. Parked up for a week and the remote unlocking didn't. The
was a relevant message on the car's display screen.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

In article ,
charles wrote:
I've learned something!

Odd - given modern alternators can cope with the total load at very low
engine speeds.

My C5 (replaced 7 years ago) did some form of load shedding if the
battery wss getting flat. Parked up for a week and the remote unlocking
didn't. The was a relevant message on the car's display screen.

I can see that. But with the engine running, battery on charge?

Had a BMW where the alternator failed on the way to work. But warning
light not on. First thing to suffer was the auto - went into limp home
mode with only (IIRC) 3rd gear out of five neutral and reverse available.
Followed by the radio failing.

--
*Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 23/03/2020 20:04, Graham Harrison wrote:
The battery on my car gave up last week. I'm used to the idea that
when the battery is dying things like lights get weak and the car gets
difficult to start.


Last time I had a battery go it was overnight in cold weather. The day
before the starter motor turned over fast and the car started OK and
during the day it had a 30 mile run so the battery was probably fully
charged. The next day - nothing - and the battery failed to charge on a
main operated battery charger.


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

"alan_m" wrote in message
...
On 23/03/2020 20:04, Graham Harrison wrote:
The battery on my car gave up last week. I'm used to the idea that
when the battery is dying things like lights get weak and the car gets
difficult to start.


Last time I had a battery go it was overnight in cold weather. The day
before the starter motor turned over fast and the car started OK and
during the day it had a 30 mile run so the battery was probably fully
charged. The next day - nothing - and the battery failed to charge on a
main operated battery charger.

I had one that appeared to have developed an internal crack in the
metal straps between the cells. It would work fine most of the time
and then would refuse to turn over the engine at all, but would run
the lights and ECU until you tried to start the engine. Even a jumper
start wouldnt work. Always came good after waiting a while which
imo is what proves it was a crack in the metal straps.

Replacing the battery worked fine so it wasnt a fault anywhere else.

On Wed, 25 Mar 2020 10:57:02 +1100, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:


Last time I had a battery go it was overnight in cold weather. The day
before the starter motor turned over fast and the car started OK and
during the day it had a 30 mile run so the battery was probably fully
charged. The next day - nothing - and the battery failed to charge on a
main operated battery charger.

I had one that appeared to have developed an internal crack

Well, nobody talked to you or asked you anything, senile cretin!

--
Norman Wells addressing trolling senile Rodent:
"Ah, the voice of scum speaks."
MID:

On Tue, 24 Mar 2020 14:12:20 +0000, charles wrote:

In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Graham Harrison wrote:
The battery on my car gave up last week. I'm used to the idea that
when the battery is dying things like lights get weak and the car
gets difficult to start.

Not this one.

The first clue (which I missed) was that the radio failed. Car was
due for a service soonish so I just put up with it. Except that one
day, driving along, the radio came on of it's own accord but didn't
work. Then the glowplug light stayed on after the car was running.
Finally it failed to start but the lights still worked.

I was still not tuned to the idea that the battery had failed.

When I had the battery replaced I asked a few questions about why I'd
missed the clues. I was told that modern cars "load shed" so when the
battery starts to play up unimportant things (like the radio) are
deemed not worthy of needing power and are "disconnected".

I've learned something!

Odd - given modern alternators can cope with the total load at very low
engine speeds.

My C5 (replaced 7 years ago) did some form of load shedding if the
battery wss getting flat. Parked up for a week and the remote unlocking
didn't. The was a relevant message on the car's display screen.

My S-Max does this. There are peiods when I only do short journeys, then
I go back to longer ones.

After a period of short journeys, the touch locking ceases to work on all
but the driver's door. Sometimes that goes out too and I have to press
the button on the fob.

Not got as far as the emergency key yet.



--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor