Your fleet running reports

[Matty]

I feel like I'm backtracking again, but the rear 3/4 view....yeah, decent. The front is gopping with the jutting chin.

[Nathan]

I feel like I'm backtracking again, but the rear 3/4 view....yeah, decent. The front is gopping with the jutting chin.

It is fair to say (given the history) 'because racecar'

[Beany]

Hmm, car has been sitting since Friday, battery now barely can undo the central locking. Had the dashcam still in, so either it's capable of killing the battery in a week, or I have a different parasitic drain....

Oh well, bridges to cross and all that.

[JonMad]

Brake pedal went soft on the Megane whilst pooling around doing an essential trip. Only the once, then it was fine again, but grumbly. Pad levels seem fine. I've previously had to top up the fluid a little bit every now and again. Suspect leaky cylinder on one or more of the pistons?

[mik]

Or master cylinder.

[NotoriousREV]

Brake pedal went soft on the Megane whilst pooling around doing an essential trip. Only the once, then it was fine again, but grumbly. Pad levels seem fine. I've previously had to top up the fluid a little bit every now and again. Suspect leaky cylinder on one or more of the pistons?

Stuck piston come unstuck and you've now got a pad with a weird wear pattern on it?

[mik]

Pad material has become non-Newtonian?

[Beany]

Hmm, car has been sitting since Friday, battery now barely can undo the central locking. Had the dashcam still in, so either it's capable of killing the battery in a week, or I have a different parasitic drain....

Oh well, bridges to cross and all that.

Here's a dumb question - can you bump/roll start a car with a near flat battery?

I've got about 100m of steep hill I can use (in reverse ) but I'd rather not leave the car at the bottom of it, if it's unlikely to work, especially as there's a blind corner at the bottom...!

Given how temperamental modern-ish cars can be about voltages for ECUs to run correctly, etc....

If it seems like a no, I'll see if I can tap some local people who are willing to BREAK THE QUARANTINE to drop me off a boggo battery charger and I'll just sit on it overnight.

[RobYob]

Hmm, car has been sitting since Friday, battery now barely can undo the central locking. Had the dashcam still in, so either it's capable of killing the battery in a week, or I have a different parasitic drain....

Oh well, bridges to cross and all that.

Here's a dumb question - can you bump/roll start a car with a near flat battery?

I've got about 100m of steep hill I can use (in reverse ) but I'd rather not leave the car at the bottom of it, if it's unlikely to work, especially as there's a blind corner at the bottom...!

Given how temperamental modern-ish cars can be about voltages for ECUs to run correctly, etc....

If it seems like a no, I'll see if I can tap some local people who are willing to BREAK THE QUARANTINE to drop me off a boggo battery charger and I'll just sit on it overnight.

Yes, I did this for a while, 2nd gear get up to brisk walking pace then turn the key to start while letting the clutch in, then quickly let the key go when it catches to stop the starter motor overspeeding.

Or spend £50 on one of those Li jump packs!

AND buy a new battery!

Part of my breaking down on the M4 in the rain in the 530i was gradually watching every electric system shut down apart from the ignition, by the end I still had ignition but absolutely nothing else (odo screen was 2nd last to go). BMWs are tough as.

[JonMad]

Brake pedal went soft on the Megane whilst pooling around doing an essential trip. Only the once, then it was fine again, but grumbly. Pad levels seem fine. I've previously had to top up the fluid a little bit every now and again. Suspect leaky cylinder on one or more of the pistons?

Stuck piston come unstuck and you've now got a pad with a weird wear pattern on it?

Could be. Possible causes now expanded to:
- stuck piston
- master cylinder
- slave cylinder
- brake line(s) corroded?

[Mito Man]

My lithium jump pack has died or malfunctioned. It’s fully charged but I went to jump the tractor and once I plug the jumper cables in it says it needs recharging and won’t do anything. I bought it before I went to Italy so it’s less than 7 months old. Got out the 10 year old lead acid jumper and it worked first time.
You’re not meant to leave lithium batteries fully charged as that’s what kills them but you can’t leave a jump starter half charged can you...

[Swervin_Mervin]

Brake pedal went soft on the Megane whilst pooling around doing an essential trip. Only the once, then it was fine again, but grumbly. Pad levels seem fine. I've previously had to top up the fluid a little bit every now and again. Suspect leaky cylinder on one or more of the pistons?

Stuck piston come unstuck and you've now got a pad with a weird wear pattern on it?

Could be. Possible causes now expanded to:
- stuck piston
- master cylinder
- slave cylinder
- brake line(s) corroded?
- Renault

EFA

[Beany]

Yeah, new battery on the cards. Neighbour has a charger so problem solved for now. it's only a 2-3A job but I'm sure it''ll put enough juice in it overnight to kick it over tomorrow afternoon.

[evostick]

My lithium jump pack has died or malfunctioned. It’s fully charged but I went to jump the tractor and once I plug the jumper cables in it says it needs recharging and won’t do anything. I bought it before I went to Italy so it’s less than 7 months old. Got out the 10 year old lead acid jumper and it worked first time.
You’re not meant to leave lithium batteries fully charged as that’s what kills them but you can’t leave a jump starter half charged can you...

Where you keeping it? They hate the cold. If I leave lithium ion batteries in the van overnight they won't take a charge until back up to about 10 degrees.

[Mito Man]

In the car boot, but it’s quite warm in there now during the sunny days so it should be fine. I think the battery bit is fine as it still charges and works as a usb power pack - I suspect the jump leads which have their own computer box must be the issue.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Could it have dropped below it's minimum charge level?

[Mito Man]

No, it has a 4 bar LED indicator and I charge it once a month as it drops a bar usually.
https://typesauto.com/products/10000ma ... power-bank
It’s this model, I might see if I can get a replacement jumper cable as I think it’s not communicating correctly.

[Beany]

In the car boot, but it’s quite warm in there now during the sunny days so it should be fine. I think the battery bit is fine as it still charges and works as a usb power pack - I suspect the jump leads which have their own computer box must be the issue.

The leads contain a series of diodes to prevent reverse charging, it might be they're fucked (the cheap ones aren't well made).

See if you can find a set of compatible leads to replace them, before writing it off entirely. (edit - didn't see the new post, I see you're heading that direction anyway)

See here(I've put it at the relevant timestamp, but the rest of the video is worth a look if you're interested in these cheaper jumper packs)

[Mito Man]

That reminds me I have an electric skateboard I used to rip around London in but hadn’t used in a few years. Got it out a few weeks ago and it was totally dead. Luckily like an EV it regenerates when off throttle so I rode it on a treadmill for 15 minutes and that got the lipo back up to minimum voltage so that I could charge it via the wall.

Lipos are a PITA though with all the management they need. I have all of them on a metal shelf in the garage so I don’t forget and cycle them - 3 dewalt batteries, 5 Milwaukee, 6 DJI, the RC car stuff, LED torch stuff and it will only get worse!

[Matty]

Hooked the Evora upto Aldi's finest car charger - not like it'll be going anywhere for the time being. Votage on the display initially dropped to <9v, and it was saying the battery was flat....yet it's always started strongly and on the first turn even when I took it for a quick drive last week. It's now recovered to 11.3v but still saying it's got 0% charge. I'll see where it goes.

So on the end of the 2nd day, car was reading 12.4v and 2/5 bars - seemed like progress. Left it off 3rd day, put it back on today and car was reading 12.2v and 1/5 bars. After 8 hours I've just disconnected it and it's now showing 11.8v and 0/5 bars More like battery discharger, amirite?