dead battery.. lights on but switched off??

[pabz]

Drove the car to work today and parked up.. on my lunchbreak i went to move the car only to find it had a flat battery :mad::mad:

First thing i looked for was if i had left the lights on.. the switch was off.. but on examination of the front i could see a dim glow coming from the headlights :oops: not elecrical problems already! i've no even started tinkering yet :rofl:

i think i have follow me home enabled but follow me to work for four hours is exessive!!

i fiddled with switching the lights on and off in various ignition positions and succeeded in getting them off again then while trying to turnover the engine before it had enough charge, a colleague mentioned that the lights were back on even though i hadn't touched the switch since getting them off :shrug:

does this sound like a simple earthing problem to anyone else? or a duff switch? after doing a search of forums i found one poor chap with this (and many other) problems and one suggestion was a previously flooded ECU :mood:i'm really hoping to count out that possibility!

the car is still covered by the dealers waranty so i don't need suggestions on how to fix the problem, just a good sound diagnosis to supply them with :lol:

[Greeners]

Check plenum as a matter of urgency, especially in light of todays weather, You may be lucky and its the battery that's caused the problem.

[pabz]

i went to the recent midlands meet and drove up in what can only be described as cats dogs and a few goats to boot! Having only owned the car a few weeks i was helpfully shown around, and had help checking, some of the more usual failings including the plenums which, considering the weather only had signs that water had been through the drains but nothing at all lingering so i'm fairly confident they'r clear!

[Greeners]

If the plenums are clear, then there is a chance the follow me home lights have got stuck on as the battery failed.

what happened when you jump started it ?

[pabz]

well my logic dictates that the lights must have been on some considerable time before draining the battery no?

so i think the problem lies in why they stayed on in the first place? :shrug:

and it jumped fine after a few mins of having the booster battery connected. battery held charge and headlight function all working as expected..

there is nothing i hate more than electrical gremlins :rant:

[Tam]

I think the lights come on when the battery is flat to show that it is flat ! ,seems a bit strange to me but normal behaviour for flat battery. I'm sure someone like JDC will be able to help clarify this . So possible something else flattened battery ? .

[redwing]

had same thing with mine id say the battery is kaput

[Greeners]

When the battery gets below it's starting threshold, if you try and start it, you get a flash of the head lights and a series of rapid clicks.

I think if you had yours lights on as the battery was dying it may have fooled the ECU/BCU into what you described, it's certainly something I've never heard of before.....

75/ZT's are very battery sensitive though, and the batteries can fail at the drop of a hat and with no prior warning.

Have a look on your battery for a date sticker, 4 to 5 years is the typical life span...

[mikey_32]

Yeah it's what happened to mine a couple of years ago, whilst on our Holiday, on a camp site in the pouring rain, (good old british summertime) turned out to be little more than the battery, like it's already been mentioned all the onboard computers on the 75's are very voltage sensitive, if you have one cell go down in your battery it can throw up all kind of wonderfull things:o

[pabz]

thanks for getting back to me guys!
Well the car started no problem this morning so if the battery is the at fault its got those really annoying temperamental gremlins..
Oh one more thing i thought to mention that could have some significance..
When i left the car before it died i had used Lazy lock to close the windows..
And yeah the car is 7 years old and i'm pretty sure i've not seen any new batteries in the previous owners service history so if the lifespan is 5 years then that could be getting ready to give up i guess

[kevin]

mine was doing the same as yours two weeks ago.
new battery fitted now all ok.:D

[BobandEna]

It sounds as if the swine flue is not the only thing doing the rounds, I parked up on Sunday, did not go near my Rover 75 Tourer CDTI at all on Monday, I got in this morning put the key in and tried to start her but only clicking with flashing warning lights,:mad: I have put the battery on charge and hope it dose the trick.

[Greeners]

It sounds as if the swine flue is not the only thing doing the rounds, I parked up on Sunday, did not go near my Rover 75 Tourer CDTI at all on Monday, I got in this morning put the key in and tried to start her but only clicking with flashing warning lights,:mad: I have put the battery on charge and hope it dose the trick.

I'm afraid you've lost at least one cell, and no amount of charging will bring it back.....

Oh and welcome to the club

[BobandEna]

Thanks for the welcome Dave.
I got the car to start after charging and am now going out to buy a new battery, you and others may be interested to know that for weeks now I have been unable to get my Symphony Sat Nav to work (the on/off switch) would not light up, now it does and for now working OK. This could be an indicator to low voltage too.

Regards
Bob