First McLaren

[mcl570]

RBT0 said:

Battery charger.

What's your best view, always plugged in or only if battery drops below a certain threshold, e.g. 50%?

What's the best battery life strategy for McLaren Li-On?

Obviously if car is left parked for more than 20 days then I would plug it....

Many thanks

my advice - whether you are leaving it for 1 day, 7 days, 30 days... always keep it plugged in. These cars are so sensitive to battery related issues, there is no point risking it IMO. Remember also, it conditions the battery, it isn't necessarily a 'charger'.

[justin220]

Same, anything over a couple of days I've plugged in

[RBT0]

Thanks.

Is it normal that the cluster doesn't show the charger plugged in, eg a sign saying battery on charge? The charger seems working though.

Sorry for the nooby questions!

[12pack]

Theoretically a Li-ion battery should never be left on full charge over an extended period (lots of info on this for my DD Tesla) but like the others on here, I use my 650s occasionally in the weekend and then just leave it on charge through the week. Never seen anything but 100%.

The charger should indicate that it’s connected and how it’s progressing through the charge cycle. When I plug it in, the charger takes a good 5-8 hours before it indicates that the battery is fully charged, even after just a couple of drives, and the car info cluster showing 100%.

Edited by 12pack on Sunday 30th June 15:01

[BoxerF50]

RBT0 said:

Battery charger.

What's your best view, always plugged in or only if battery drops below a certain threshold, e.g. 50%?

What's the best battery life strategy for McLaren Li-On?

Obviously if car is left parked for more than 20 days then I would plug it....

Many thanks

We have always keep all of our McLarens on chargers when they are not being driven. Never had a single battery issue.

[355spiderguy]

Due to an extended family holiday and work commitments before it, my 650 spider sat for just over 5 weeks without being plugged in on charge...just never gave it a thought.

Remarkably, upon finding time to jump in the car on Monday there the battery status was still showing 100%.

Car is 4 yrs old in October.

Funnily enough, before i bought and i spoke to the always helpful Scott at Mclaren Glasgow about all my 650 queries, he said he had never had a McLaren requiring a new battery yet either by paying customer or on warranty.

I used to get about 5 days with a fully charged battery on the Ferrari before it didn't have enough juice to start without being left on trickle...and that was a new battery.

Edit to add any 650 requiring a battery...

Edited by 355spiderguy on Sunday 30th June 20:52

[jamieo]

I leave mine plugged in almost all the time. Got a set up in garage that makes it easy so little reason not to.

[RBT0]

jamieo said:

I leave mine plugged in almost all the time. Got a set up in garage that makes it easy so little reason not to.

Plugged at 2pm and at 7pm the charger indicated battery full charged.

Based on your feedbacks I’ve decided to leave it plugged and yes got a set up which takes me seconds to plug unplug anyway.

Yesterday the car was showing 48 days of parking left, today were 46. Car was kept locked and alarmed.

So it looks the days shown by the car are not accurate?

[TB993tt]

I would only plug my 720 in if I was leaving it for 2 weeks or more and have had no problems.

[RBT0]

Sorry for the paranoic question.

Just checked and the charger, now plugged in for more than 24h, is a bit warm when touched (top and bottom of the case)

Having experience only with mobile battery charger, I would have expected it to be warm during or straight after a full charge process, not after 24h of having the battery already at full charge, i.e. supposed to be battery conditioning mode?

1. paranoic

[paul1962]

My charger always seems warm whether it’s been on a day or a week.
I’ve an accumate on another car and that’s the same so nothing to worry about.

The days left display is strange. In the past mine has gone from 49 to 46 in a day then remained on 46 for a few days. It’s a bit like checking the oil, you get different readings on consecutive days under the same conditions.

Edited by paul1962 on Tuesday 2nd July 12:38

[RBT0]

Well, tried to read the oil on my 600LT for the first time after a long drive when I was back on my drive but it said conditions not met.

Tried inside the garage after 5 mins and got same message.

Oil temp was above 100 deg and water around 90 deg.

Both surfaces are flat, drive maybe less than 2 deg slope, garage is absolutely flat (as far as I can see) I bet to find a perfect flat road!

Any other reason, engine too hot?

[Crazy4557]

Just checked my oil and car was on a slight sideways incline, engine oil 100 degrees + a bit and read it fine. Try again as the slightly off level didn't seem to make any difference nor did the engine oil temperature to mine.

[dsl2]

I take it you know you have to keep standing on the brake pedal to start & throughout the procedure or you just see conditions not met? You then hit the accelerator with the other foot & can just floor it as it automatically won't let you go beyond 2000rpm.

[anonymous-user]

RBT0 said:

Well, tried to read the oil on my 600LT for the first time after a long drive when I was back on my drive but it said conditions not met.

Tried inside the garage after 5 mins and got same message.

Oil temp was above 100 deg and water around 90 deg.

Both surfaces are flat, drive maybe less than 2 deg slope, garage is absolutely flat (as far as I can see) I bet to find a perfect flat road!

Any other reason, engine too hot?

with engine running > car into neutral > engage handbrake > depress footbrake > select oil test from screen > watch screen which tells you to depress accelerator > depress accelerator > car then takes control and revs to 2000rpm > keep footbrake and accelerator depressed for 120 seconds during check.

[RBT0]

S*it! Thanks gents, clearly need to try the procedure better, sounds like an airplane as the way the car looks

So basically left foot on brake and then when needed control accelerator with the right one?

[dsl2]

Jesus I'm getting worried about you!

Exactly as already stated. You select oil level check (with hot oil, best after a proper run) then depress brake with left foot & KEEP it there, then simply stand on accelerator with right foot to the floor as it will self limit the RPM to 2000rpm. Hold it there for the complete count down time as displayed on the screen, when its complete it will display the oil level for you.

[RBT0]

dsl2 said:

Jesus I'm getting worried about you!

Exactly as already stated. You select oil level check (with hot oil, best after a proper run) then depress brake with left foot & KEEP it there, then simply stand on accelerator with right foot to the floor as it will self limit the RPM to 2000rpm. Hold it there for the complete count down time as displayed on the screen, when its complete it will display the oil level for you.

Lol thanks mate will try asap, think it’s clear.

Other question, is it normal when I select the tuner, after “initialising tuner” it says “tuner not found”, don’t think so.

[dsl2]

To be honest I've never used the radio in my car in 4500 miles, I just bluetooth music from my iPhone but that doesn't sound right.

This maybe worth a shot- With the ignition on if you try holding down the centre button of the main iris rotary control knob for 30 seconds this should re-boot the iris system & may clear the issue for you.

[RBT0]

Thank you, to be honest I am just trying all functions and see if they works, I love the engine soundtrack in the cabin, the car feels very raw which is what I was looking for, but not a malfunctioning radio although to be used rarely.

I am also so blown away by the whole experience, so bear with stupid questions/slow to understand....