Help - Vantage Battery (?) Dead

[X7LDA]

Guys,

Need a bit of help if possible.

Got into my 06 V8V this morning, doors opened and alarmed switched off no problem. Key in ignition and turned it around to III and after a series of warning messages I took the key back to 0 and back out again. Put the key in and turned to III again and again, a series of warning messages flashed up - eventually settling to normal. Tried to start the car and nothing....a series of ticks form the ignition but then the dash unit started to fade and then everything shut off. Not a single drop of power anywhere..boot/door/dash/cd/lights..nothing.

Tried to jump start but only thing that came on was an engine management light, everything else remained off and car still had absolutely no power.

Any ideas what this could be or is it as simple as a completely dead battery? Car was driven a couple of nights ago with no problem whatsoever, however it has stuttered in the past couple of weeks on start up and shown symptoms that the battery was on the way out...

AM dealer is going to recover on Monday but trying to put my mind at rest. Found a recall on line called FSA172 - "High Quiescent Battery Drain" which apparently can happen to 4.3 V8V's.

Cheers
Lewis

ETA - found this (http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=789560) which is the same symptoms but unfortunately the 10min charge from the donor car did nothing. Still not even a light on the dash.

Edited by X7LDA on Saturday 14th April 14:29

[Johnfrancis]

Sounds to me like a dead battery, probably not a good connection when attempting jump start, lots of current required. Good leads and good connections essential, the V8 takes some turning over.

[X7LDA]

Thanks John - that's what I thought as well just found it odd that the jump did nothing! Worried about damaging the earth point.

[Jockman]

Johnfrancis said:

...lots of current required...the V8 takes some turning over.

Indeed.

I hope you were using a Land Rover to jump it !!

Good luck with the repair - I would do exactly the same as you are doing

[mikey k]

My S did this after a couple of months
To jump it properly you need to leave the donor car running for 5-10 mins to get some charge in to the Aston.
Then try starting the Aston.
I'd check the voltage, Aston batteries have 8 cells to give the ~12V mine lost two cells and would only hold 8V, once it's running you shopuld get ~13.8V from the alternator to the battery.

[X7LDA]

Thanks guys.

Gives me a bit of comfort that it's hopefully only the battery. Do you know what battery AM use in the V8V? My mate left his big Volvo connected for 10-15mins and still nothing so I think it must be completely goosed. Managed to get a fan turning and the engine warning light on but as soon as it was d/c it went back to posing dead.

[HennyAM]

Best way to jumpstart is to get one of those portable kits.

Make sure you follow the jumpstart instructions from the manual - placing the black cable elsewhere but at the picture won't start your car as there's not enough power sent through to the battery.

When you get it up and running make sure you go for a very long ride.

[Jockman]

HennyAM said:

...When you get it up and running make sure you go for a very long ride.

Indeed, IIRC a minimum of 35 miles for a full charge.

If you do end up with a new battery, please feel free to ignore this instruction

[X7LDA]

Thanks guys.

Going to just get a new battery and be done with it, as it has had a couple of a struggled starts before. Just hope that's all that's wrong it!

Interesting however to hear that it's so difficult to jump a V8V!

[rjn21]

HennyAM said:

Best way to jumpstart is to get one of those portable kits.

The AA approved MegaBoost pack wouldn't touch my V12. Took one look at trying to turn that V12 over and cried off home. I had to use a boost pack under the bonnet on the + stud and alternator plusjumper cables directly onto the battery behind the seats to get enough current to crank.

[mikey k]

rjn21 said:

HennyAM said:

Best way to jumpstart is to get one of those portable kits.

The AA approved MegaBoost pack wouldn't touch my V12. Took one look at trying to turn that V12 over and cried off home. I had to use a boost pack under the bonnet on the + stud and alternator plusjumper cables directly onto the battery behind the seats to get enough current to crank.

+1 on my S last month

[X7LDA]

Just thought I better up this thread in case anyone looks at it in the future.

Yes, it was indeed the battery. New battery in and it's all back to normal again! All the warning lights came back on until we used the reset battery switch and then everything cleared one by one. Had to do the window reset but that was it.

What a job it is to take the battery out though (did it at home not through the dealer). Happy to chat anyone through in the future.

Cheers
Lewis

[mikey k]

X7LDA said:

Just thought I better up this thread in case anyone looks at it in the future.

Yes, it was indeed the battery. New battery in and it's all back to normal again! All the warning lights came back on until we used the reset battery switch and then everything cleared one by one. Had to do the window reset but that was it.

What a job it is to take the battery out though (did it at home not through the dealer). Happy to chat anyone through in the future.

Cheers
Lewis

Good result
Try taking the battery out of a roadster with fixed back seats when the roof won't open and the seat won't move

[Highrisedrifter]

I've been away for ten days so I covered the car and used the BDS (Couldn't get the car near a power socket to use a conditioner).

Tried to open the car tonight and absolutely nothing. Not even a blip from the lights. I tried the other key in case it was a key issue and the same thing.

Car is absolutely non-responsive. The issue is that I can't get into the far at all now as I don't have a physical key, so I have no idea how I will get the bonnet open.

I'm thinking it must be an electrical issue as we went for a 50 mile journey the weekend before last and the car was absolutely fine. A ten day gap where the BDS is on should not drain the battery to the point where the car is completely dead. I know the battery is in good nick as I had it checked about a month ago.

Any thoughts from the forum would be gratefully received please.

[krisdelta]

I believe the tracker can drain the battery, sounds like a good jump is needed - possibly followed by battery replacement if it's drained all the way down.

Inserting the key in the ignition should reset the BDS.

Hope you get it sorted

Cheers

Kris

[Highrisedrifter]

krisdelta said:

I believe the tracker can drain the battery, sounds like a good jump is needed - possibly followed by battery replacement if it's drained all the way down.

Inserting the key in the ignition should reset the BDS.

Hope you get it sorted

Cheers

Kris

Thanks Kris, you could be right but i'd hope the tracker wouldn't drain the battery in ten days though, especially with the BDS activated ensuring other potentially draining features don't use power.

The issue is I can't get inside the car though as I can't open the doors!

[krisdelta]

Can you not open with the key? Drivers door has a lock on my car. Or do you have one of those swanky ECU cars?

[MichaelV8V]

The ECU cars still give you a big chrome key to open the door in an emergency. Don't know why it has to be so big for an emergency key

[X7LDA]

MichaelV8V said:

The ECU cars still give you a big chrome key to open the door in an emergency. Don't know why it has to be so big for an emergency key

What he said.

Once in, get the bonnet up and attempt a jump/charge. If that doesn't work then replace the battery as sounds like yours hasn't got a great deal of life left anyway.

For info; my dealer advised me to replace my battery with the DB7 Bosche battery, which was only £93 and comes with a three year warranty, rather than the standard Aston battery which is £240 and only has a one year warranty...

[Highrisedrifter]

Thanks chaps

It's a 4.7 car with an ECU. The thing is, I don't have a physical key at all unless it is somehow concealed within the ECU itself.