Battery Saver Mode

[SSV8TE]

Hey all,
My dash lit up with battery saver mode the other day and i couldnt access any of the dash modes at all. Could do all the stereo changes through the steering wheel but no trip functions.
Once i turned the car off and restarted was gone.
Any one else ever seen this and why would it of happened?
I travel about 150 km's per day so charging would not be a problem. The car had only sat overnight as usual and no left on lights, etc.
Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Andy.

[SSV8TE]

Anybody seen this?:spew:

Cheers,

Andy.

[Grommz]

Never heard of it Andy to be honest.

My SS about a week after i got back from the UK the battery died on me.. the 4-5 days driving prior to that it was fine i just came home one day tried to start it about 30min later and it was dead.

Have you contacted holden about it ?

[SSV8TE]

Never heard of it Andy to be honest.

My SS about a week after i got back from the UK the battery died on me.. the 4-5 days driving prior to that it was fine i just came home one day tried to start it about 30min later and it was dead.

Have you contacted holden about it ?

Not yet james. Just thought that knowing me i have probably done something stupid like kicked the door on the way in the car and started it.:rofl::rofl:
You never know whats going to come on next in the ve dash screens.:rofl:
Thanks anyway might try holden.

Cheers,


Andy.

[smacx]

You didn't have it in "Stealth Mode" by any chance? ie. Held down both the instrument cluster lighting adjuster buttons so that only the speedo was visible.

[EXCESSV]

had it come up before many times...no big deal

[SSV8TE]

You didn't have it in "Stealth Mode" by any chance? ie. Held down both the instrument cluster lighting adjuster buttons so that only the speedo was visible.

No mate didnt touch anything. Will be ringing holden tomorow and see what they have too say.

Thanks all

Andy.

[EXCESSV]

all it means is the battery has gone below a certain voltage level.
not too low that it cant crank but at a stage that the pcm only powers what it needs...so it can put as much to getting the battery back to the fully charged level

[TAKEITEZ]

its a common thing on Euro cars to have a battery current monitor...
it measures how much grunt is going out, or into, the battery and the computer constantly knows this...

in ignition on or accessories on situations the battery slowly drains... expecially noticed during servicing when you can have the ign on for 15 minutes or so with the diagnosis machine hooked up doing service lights and fault checks...

some of them would slowly shut down systems in order of priority as the battery power went down... a smart system indeed...
the last thing you could do was start the car... but by the time the battery was that dead nothing worked... no dash, no radio, no heating, no seat movement, no head lights etc... you could crank it, it'd fire, then everything would come back to normal as the battery charged up again...

where this really got tricky was battery replacement time... genuine battery was the only one you could use... expensive as hell but a non genuine one would throw the computer into crazy mode...
you see you had to enter a whole bunch of specs off the battery 'build plate' into the vehicles computer through the diagnosis machine so it knew there was a fresh battery going in blah blah blah....... just another way to keep you bound to the dealers workshop



i think, you're commodore has done this. and it must have a system similar installed... its warned you that the battery is running low and shut down a few unnecessary things to preserve the batt...

[SSV8TE]

its a common thing on Euro cars to have a battery current monitor...
it measures how much grunt is going out, or into, the battery and the computer constantly knows this...

in ignition on or accessories on situations the battery slowly drains... expecially noticed during servicing when you can have the ign on for 15 minutes or so with the diagnosis machine hooked up doing service lights and fault checks...

some of them would slowly shut down systems in order of priority as the battery power went down... a smart system indeed...
the last thing you could do was start the car... but by the time the battery was that dead nothing worked... no dash, no radio, no heating, no seat movement, no head lights etc... you could crank it, it'd fire, then everything would come back to normal as the battery charged up again...

where this really got tricky was battery replacement time... genuine battery was the only one you could use... expensive as hell but a non genuine one would throw the computer into crazy mode...
you see you had to enter a whole bunch of specs off the battery 'build plate' into the vehicles computer through the diagnosis machine so it knew there was a fresh battery going in blah blah blah....... just another way to keep you bound to the dealers workshop



i think, you're commodore has done this. and it must have a system similar installed... its warned you that the battery is running low and shut down a few unnecessary things to preserve the batt...
Only done this the once but since this i have fitted the hsv pod gauges and now noticing that the voltage is running around 15 v . Hope this is not a sign of trouble to come.

Cheers,

Andy.

[BullockBob]

had it come up before many times...no big deal

It can be a big deal, as I just found out today.

Had the "battery saver mode" come up last week. Didn't drive it for a week. Hop in today and there wasn't even enough juice to light up the date and time.

:vpo:

[SSV8TE]

had it come up before many times...no big deal

After a week or so from when the battery saver mode came up, got up one morning and car wouldnt start. Have spoken to holden and they have said that the computer may not be going to sleep when i shut down the car so once the ignition is switched off the computer should go into sleep mode and as holden have said they need the car overnight to fully charge the battery and then check for voltage drop while sitting dormant. There seems to be a random software fault within the system that not every car experiences.:confused:
Dont know how that works but mine goes in to holden in the next 2 weeks.
Not that impressed with holden considering i have already had holden assist at my house twice in two weeks.
Will post results when fixed.

Andy.

[BullockBob]

After a week or so from when the battery saver mode came up, got up one morning and car wouldnt start. Have spoken to holden and they have said that the computer may not be going to sleep when i shut down the car so once the ignition is switched off the computer should go into sleep mode and as holden have said they need the car overnight to fully charge the battery and then check for voltage drop while sitting dormant. There seems to be a random software fault within the system that not every car experiences.:confused:
Dont know how that works but mine goes in to holden in the next 2 weeks.
Not that impressed with holden considering i have already had holden assist at my house twice in two weeks.
Will post results when fixed.

Andy.

I do know there was a software update required, but my R8 has that already, allegedly.

Anyhow I got a new battery put in yesterday. We'll see how long that lasts.

And what a goddam performance it was to get the old battery out. I would love to meet the person who designed this section of the car. The pathetic trim cutout is useless except for a visual inspection. To get the battery out you have to take the side and rear trim out of the boot. They can't be serious ...

Bob

[SSV8TE]

Thats no good bob but at least you are on the way to getting yours fixed.
I have to wait 2 weeks of crapping everytime i try to start mine.
Hopefully it doesnt happen in that time.I have started to hear quite a few people with this same problem.
Best of luck with yours bob ,

Andy.

[BullockBob]

Thats no good bob but at least you are on the way to getting yours fixed.
I have to wait 2 weeks of crapping everytime i try to start mine.
Hopefully it doesnt happen in that time.I have started to hear quite a few people with this same problem.
Best of luck with yours bob ,

Andy.

Thanks mate. I'll let you know if there's any more trouble. Hope you make it thru the 2 weeks ok. :)

[SSV8TE]

Gday all,
As an update to my battery saver mode mystery, my ute was in holden for the last two days for them to sort out why my battery was going flat and problem found.
The under hard lid light was staying on full time so there was the problem. Simple enough but being so many different warning codes on the dash i didnt even spare a thought for this as i had just fitted HSV gauges and thought i had done something to the electrics. Not the way so for all you people with utes maybe check these lights to save a headache down the track.

CHeers all and thanks for the replies,

Andy.

[BullockBob]

Gday all,
As an update to my battery saver mode mystery, my ute was in holden for the last two days for them to sort out why my battery was going flat and problem found.
The under hard lid light was staying on full time so there was the problem. Simple enough but being so many different warning codes on the dash i didnt even spare a thought for this as i had just fitted HSV gauges and thought i had done something to the electrics. Not the way so for all you people with utes maybe check these lights to save a headache down the track.

CHeers all and thanks for the replies,

Andy.

Glad you got it sorted relatively easily.

I think my battery issue is also sorted, along with passenger side water leak and a slight vibration and rumble noise. For the latter, I pretty much have a brand new rear section and sub frame. Still getting over the shock. But the boys at Brian Gardner got the job done without too much pain, so a big thumbs up to a Dealer service centre for a change.

Cheers
Bob