Battery or just Italian gremlins

K

Kazzer

Junior Member
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205
Hi guys, went for a spin today and when we got home pulled up outside home put into reverse engine fan came on and the dash lit up like it was christmas.
The following appeared: parking brake failure , parking brake engaged, asr system failure , msp sytem failure,
parking sensor failure, plus something to do with the suspension, parking sensors stopped working , heart sinking moment ( me not the car)

Never seen anything like this before - just gone out and started the car, moved backwards and forwards on the drive and revd it nothing coming up on the dash now.

Can this be put down to the usual Italian gemlins? or is it an indication of something else.

Also is there any way of telling if it is the original battery in the car?

Never done this before
 
K

Kazzer

Junior Member
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205
Is there any way we can check if it's an earth problem. The battery is usually on trickle charge if the car is not used each weekend
 
Contigo

Contigo

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If it drives now don't worry about it! Just monitor it and make sure the battery is tip top.
 
safrane

safrane

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16,885
If the battery is more than three years old it may now be 'pooped'...these cars do tend to eat them.
 
K

Kazzer

Junior Member
Messages
205
Battery seems to be OK but if it is the original it's 6 years old
Car is going to Carrs to be serviced and motor after Brooklands so perhaps a new battery as we don't know if it has been replaced
Drives fine no problem just happened when I reversed onto the drive
I know it could be nothing as my 156 comes up will silly things from time to time

Should it be kept on the charger while not being used during the week?

It's used each weekend should be OK?
 
K

Kazzer

Junior Member
Messages
205
safrane said:
If the battery is more than three years old it may now be 'pooped'...these cars do tend to eat them.
Click to expand...

That's what we were thinking had to replace the battery when we bought the spider as it was stood in the showroom for 12 months
 
sofasurfer

sofasurfer

Junior Member
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398
I would say battery issues. Mine has done similar things in the first couple of months and I believe it was due to my car not being used for a few months whilst waiting to be sold. As my car is a daily driver there hasn't been any signs of this happening again and all is well. Whilst I was at Emblem yesterday I mentioned this to them and they confirmed it was probably due to the battery causing ECU issues. As long as the warnings disappear when you turn off and then back on the ignition it SHOULD be ok. What is worrying is that your car is on a trickle charger which should keep the battery in a good state of health. Are you taking the car out for long journeys when you do use it at the weekend as they need a proper run for the battery to charge?
 
K

Kazzer

Junior Member
Messages
205
Do 50 to 60 miles both sat and sunday and sometimes the same once during the week in all modes and runs fine

Looks like battery then?
 
Felonious Crud

Felonious Crud

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All those warnings are symptomatic of a buggered battery. They scare the **** out of you the first time. It's the way it cycles through handbrake failure, gearbox failure, engine failure, death, famine, pestilence and war.

Driving it regardless is fine but unless your battery is quite new I'd stick a new one in. It seems like it's a sensible precaution every five years or so. Anyway, you don't want to get stranded when your battery decides it's too knackered to start the car one day. That's not to say you shouldn't also get it checked.

Bosch is the forum's generally recommended battery and it's an easy replacement.
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

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48,809
Felonious Crud said:
All those warnings are symptomatic of a buggered battery. They scare the **** out of you the first time. It's the way it cycles through handbrake failure, gearbox failure, engine failure, death, famine, pestilence and war.

Driving it regardless is fine but unless your battery is quite new I'd stick a new one in. It seems like it's a sensible precaution every five years or so. Anyway, you don't want to get stranded when your battery decides it's too knackered to start the car one day. That's not to say you shouldn't also get it checked.

Bosch is the forum's generally recommended battery and it's an easy replacement.
Click to expand...

This. The odds of all those systems failing at the same time are very low. I've had charging issues and have seen exactly that. Bosch S5 from Ebay about £100 and 10 minutes to fit

C
 
K

Kazzer

Junior Member
Messages
205
Thanks all for the replies

Silly question time :
When you change the battery what if anything do you need to reset?
 
Felonious Crud

Felonious Crud

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Kazzer said:
Thanks all for the replies

Silly question time :
When you change the battery what if anything do you need to reset?
Click to expand...

The clock. That's all, in my experience, at least. You'll need to take the key out of the ignition and start the car before it is happy that it's the right key and that the remote locking etc should work.
 
StuartW

StuartW

Member
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9,320
Also, the first time you go to start the car after the battery change, leave the key with the ignition on for a good minute to run through all of the start up & re-set procedures.
You may find that your windows and electric seats need to be re-set too
 
K

Kazzer

Junior Member
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205
"You may find that your windows and electric seats need to be re-set too"

Presume that's in the manual?
 
StuartW

StuartW

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Unlikely Kazzer but a search on here will show you how. For the windows, they sometimes will not return to full height once they have dropped when you open the door. And for the seats, when they tilt and slide forward to access the back seats, they don't always return to where they should - this is assuming you have a GT rather than a QP. Sorry, I don't know which model you have
 
M

Michael

Member
Messages
340
Or call the AA/RAC battery service and they'll do it all for you for around £130. All you need to do is make the man a cup of tea.
 
sofasurfer

sofasurfer

Junior Member
Messages
398
LincsOSCA said:
Unlikely Kazzer but a search on here will show you how. For the windows, they sometimes will not return to full height once they have dropped when you open the door. And for the seats, when they tilt and slide forward to access the back seats, they don't always return to where they should - this is assuming you have a GT rather than a QP. Sorry, I don't know which model you have
Click to expand...

How do you sort this out? Is it just a case of manually closing the window and pushing the seat right back?
 
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