I have an ongoing issue with my two year old Zoe GT-Line 2020. For a long time now, especially when it is cold in the morning, a "Check Electric System" message is displayed on the driver's panel. It sometimes goes away, particularly if we drive further than 20 miles or so.
The effect is that the pedestrian warning sound is missing, cruise control doesn't work, and the heating system is partially non-working. Otherwise the car is working as normal it seems.
The Zoe has been into my local Renault dealer several times now for this fault. They have changed the 12v battery, changed the ECU, changed the software, but still the issue remains.
When I check the 12v battery, first thing in the morning with the car 'off', the voltage is 12.06v. When the car turns 'on' (i.e. the key is nearby), the voltage jumps to 13.89v, but will quickly sink back to 12.06v after a few minutes with the car 'off' again. Sometimes it seems to stabilise at 12.89v when there is no "Check Electric System" displaying.
I have no idea what the problem is, but I would really appreciate it if anyone can suggest how to get to the bottom of this annoying problem!
I should update this thread I think. Finally last Autumn the local Renault garage finally solved the issue - but the guy I spoke to was not very clear as to what was done. However, I can happily report I have had no recurrence of the issue since they fixed it. It was a shame it took about seven visits and garage stays - but now all is good. A great relief!
One thought on this: Renault fitted a battery that drops to 12.06v 😂 bellow 12.2v is considered almost dead for a 12v battery. Hence why they should call them 13v batteries maybe, just a thought 🤔💡
Yes, all returns to correct working order when the displayed message clears down, and then doesn’t recur until another morning. I will pursue this and report back.
Hi - that is an interesting thought. I guess the battery management system needs to know the temperature and if it is reading incorrectly it could definitely confuse things. Yes - the car drives fine when the message is displaying, although cruise control and the pedestrian warning sounds don’t work then.
I’ll have a discussion with the garage about this when I next have enough energy to tackle the issue again with them.
Thanks for the input!
This might be no help at all but my other car is a Suzuki Swift Hybrid and it does exactly as you're describing but only when it's frosty and the laser sensors on the front of the car and windscreen are frosted over. Once it warms up and they defrost the warnings switch off.
If you charge your battery it would be a good idea to note it's voltage before fitting. Then when you get it's error message measure again. I know this can be a pain but it might shed some light as to what is going on. I would have thought this should be a repair under warranty carried out by Renault. In my mind there is either a bad connection or a semiconductor part / board causing an issue. Also strange how it sorted itself after 5 hours. If all 12 v cables connectors are clean and tight even the earth strapping and no boot interior lights on (although I wouldn't expect that to drop the voltage so quick after a charge), I think it's back to Renault for repair under warranty. I'm sure it's 5 years, let them know everything that's happened also take phone pictures of error messages as proof and keep pestering them to sort it out under warranty. Just my thoughts.
Thanks for the thoughts and advice. I disconnected the 12v battery and charged it fully overnight. I then re-connected it and at 9:00 am the car immediately displayed "Check Electric System" - I don't even need to press 'Start' to get the message. The car continued to display the message until about 2pm in the afternoon, when there was no sign of it. It is such a puzzle and nuisance.
Hi Jeff, I used to own a Prius that did the same as your 12v battery symptoms. I traded it in for the Zoe. However it came to light for me when the Covid rules limited travel and one cold frosty day an error message came up and needed a couple of mins wait and try again and got working. I eventually got a new battery charger charged up the battery and because of limited use voltage would decrease over time.
When the dealer put your replacement battery in, was it fully charged and did the voltage drop continually over the next few days.
If the voltage dropped as soon as the replacement battery was installed I would be thinking something is draining it down.
In the case of the Prius it would take quite a while for the cars own system to charge the 12v battery, I'm not sure why this was the case.
Hi, yes, I'm pretty certain that everything is plugged in OK.
Now, later the car no longer shows the error message. The only thing that I am sure has changed is that it is now warmer - it was 11c this morning when it showed the error , it is now 18c outside.
The pattern seems to be:
Early morning, car 'off': battery 12.06v
Early morning, car 'on': "Check Electric System" displayed, battery reads 13.89v
Let car turn 'off': battery drops rapidly to 12.06v
Lunchtime, car 'off': battery 12.06v
Lunchtime, car 'on': No error displayed, battery reads 12.89v
Let car turn 'off': battery rapidly drops to 12.06v
Lunchtime, car 'on': No error displayed, battery reads 12.89v
Let car turn 'off': battery rapidly drops to 12.06v ...
This pattern repeats consistently.
I'm wondering why the battery voltage is showing 13.89v when I believe it is charging the 12v and is showing the error display? Then, when there is no error displayed, the battery voltage is 12.89v, and presumably being charged.
This might sound daft, but here goes, have you checked all fuses and any relays are fully home in their sockets? Along with any plugs and sockets.
I would have expected a dealer to do that anyway, just in case, something else to be ruled out.
Hi Nick, thanks very much for the reply. Martins in Basingstoke have been looking at it. Even though the traction battery is at 90%, the 12v is only charged for a few minutes when the car gets unlocked. Do you think it be would worth putting the (new) 12v battery onto a charger to see if that makes the error message disappear?
your main battery will be 12v standard when it’s higher it’s charging… id of guessed 12v also but seems to be more going on which Renault dealer is looking at it?