GS Non-Start

hashluck

Member
Messages
1,515
So I had the dreaded flat battery on the GS today (it is relatively new and I thought charged when left 2 weeks ago so a bit surprising even with the cold spell). Not even enough juice to open the doors with the remote. Was able to get into boot with mechanical key. (Before anyone suggests it I cannot leave the car on a CTEK as no electricity anywhere near the garage it is in).

I needed to be somewhere so had a go at starting. had a jump start pack and gave that a go. This enabled the doors to unlock and ignition on but on pressing the starter button just rapid click-click-click noise (headlamps dim if those are turned on). I then tried a jump start but exactly the same.

Measured battery voltage 8.7V with nothing connected, with jump pack or jump start connected measured 12.6V - this is with a multimeter and may not be scientific.

So I am a bit surprised that with the jump pack or jump start option there was not enough juice to even try and turn the engine over. Does a really flat battery drag everything down?

Battery is now off the car on a CTEK and will have another go once the CTEK says it is fully charged. May need a new battery I suppose.

Will report back but wondering/hoping if I might also have done any damage to anything repeatedly trying to start and getting the click-click-click? Time will tell I guess.
 

m1980k

Junior Member
Messages
467
Welcome to GS ownership. When my battery was on the way out the car would throw all kinds of wobblies until the day it was almost flat and I got the click click click. New battery and everything worked fine.
 

safrane

Member
Messages
16,746
It takes a huge amount of power to turn these engines over esp when cold.

Hopefully no damage done, the click click is the starter motor throwing the gear back and forth.

Be aware that jump starting can fry the diode in the loom and that is a expensive fix. Best to charge the battery with it isolated then start as normal.

I suspect the battery may be toast after all your shenanigans.
 

hashluck

Member
Messages
1,515
Thanks both. Yes battery isolated or off next time and patience required. Let's see how I get on once it is charged.
 
Messages
1,117
It takes a huge amount of power to turn these engines over esp when cold.

Hopefully no damage done, the click click is the starter motor throwing the gear back and forth.

Be aware that jump starting can fry the diode in the loom and that is a expensive fix. Best to charge the battery with it isolated then start as normal.

I suspect the battery may be toast after all your shenanigans.

I tend to agree. The battery is likely to he finished. Fingers crossed you did not toast the diode. Its quite common on Porsche for guys to jump start across the battery and it fries the ECU and that is a BIG expense to fix.

No idea about the GS. Even the daily Merc requires care jump starting. They send out a Mercedes guy who has a big surge protector in-line on the cables he connects to the dead battery to safeguard the ECU.
 

Swedish Paul

Member
Messages
1,807
Mine did it after a few months of winter storage. Hold your finger down in the stater button for 10 secs, mine burst into life after a few seconds.
 

Swedish Paul

Member
Messages
1,807
And other threads have said if it starts with a battery pack, leave it could nnected for s few minutes before disconnecting so that the alternator doesn’t surge.
 

hashluck

Member
Messages
1,515
Pleased to report that after re-installing fully charged battery the GS fired up first time no problem (and following Voicey's restart advice advice copied again below for info). Hopefully no long-term damage to the battery (the CTEK charged it pretty quickly and with no errors, as above it is fairly new).

The reason the battery went totally flat in the first place is that one of the rear reading lights had been left on (something to check for in the future). I was pleased about that as I hate a mystery! Will take for a long run tomorrow if I get a chance.

This is Voicey's re-install procedure I followed:

"General procedure for all Ferrari/Maserati tipos is..

1) Connect the battery and then go and do something else for 20 mins. This allows the heater mix valve to calibrate.
2) Switch the ignition on (engine off) and wait for the throttle body to calibrate (you can hear it clicking) and for the heater flaps to stop moving (depends on the model). 1-2 mins is enough for this step.
3) Start the engine and let it idle for a while - this starts the fuel trim adaption and variator learning.
4) Whilst the engine is running the bits like windows, radio code, clock, seats, etc can be sorted. I would also check the EPB if fitted.
5) Switch engine off and lock/unlock to make sure all is working well and that the door handles are working (later cars)."

and in my case

6) Check to see if you stupidly left a reading light on last time you locked the car

Surprisingly in my case the car remembered the seat memory settings and even the passenger seat easy-entry still worked (driver seat entry needed calibrating). Drivers window also needed a reset.

Overall not too much drama. Battery easily changed so off the car for some CTEK love next time.
 

samueluper

Junior Member
Messages
103
What battery did you bought?

It's the second time my GS runs out of battery. First time when I pressed start button the car made a clic clic clic noise, but this morning the battery was so empty that the ingnition made no sound, even the f1 pump sounded slow, the remote keys didn't work, etc...
 

hashluck

Member
Messages
1,515
I did not have to fit a new battery but what I do have is a relatively new Bosch S5 008 per Catman above.

Also as Catman says you may have something draining the battery such as a tracker (or as in my case leaving a reading light switched on).
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
If you like spending money you could go for a Ultima Yellow Top battery. Still lead acid but uses absorbent glass matt to retain the electrolyte. They have a lower internal resistance and are better at giving high currents plus they can sit unused for longer periods without loosing charge and suffering sulfation. However they are very expensive comparatively

But if you have a power drain no type of battery will help you. You need to sort that and then standard flooded type is more than up to the job.
 

midlifecrisis

Member
Messages
16,101
As an electronic engineer, I whole heartedly agree with what Catman and Zep have said. Yuasa, Bosch and many others make good batteries but AGM are the best but come at a price.