Clio mk3 low battery light when driving

[ClioMarkThree]

Hi all. This is my first post so hello!

I bought a Clio Mk3 ph2 1.2tce a week ago now and just can't figure out why I'm getting the low battery (and stop) warning light on after about 15 minutes of driving.

This is the sequence of events that I experience:

1) Car starts absolutely fine, all electrics work on start up (bar the PDC and cruise control decrease speed button)
2) Car drives absolutely fine, but after about 15 minutes the low battery warning light comes on and stays on for the duration of the journey.
3) The strange thing is, if I turn the car off and then immediately turn it back on, the low battery warning light disappears and all is well for another ~15 minutes until it reappears again.

My girlfriend's grandad checked the battery voltages and they were spot on. Battery was being charged on idle (14.3 V) and regulator seems to have been working as you could see the voltage hovering around that level even when applying the throttle. Voltage when car was off was at around 12.5 if I remember correctly thus indicating the alternator was doing it's job? We waited for the warning light to come on and checked the voltage (at the battery terminals) and voltage was identical to before (14.3) with no change that we could spot. We then turned the car off, turned it on immediately and warning light had disappeared with no change in the voltages.

I am by no means a car electrician or mechanic as I barely know the basics, so if anyone's got any idea as to what this could be please please let me know. Car hasn't yet broken down on me and just seems to run as normal with the warning light on.

 

[White16valver]

Welcome to the forum and thank you for taking the time to post a detailed and comprehensive post, rather than one line of garbled text-speak!

How old is the battery? The voltages being fine would seem to indicate it's okay, but if it's old then perhaps it's not charging properly??

I hate electricity, it's like magic lol

You could plug a Clip thing into the diagnosis port to see if it gives you any error codes?

 

[ClioMarkThree]

Thanks!

No worries, feel like I couldn't have shortened it much more if I tried!

I'm not sure how old the battery is, but the car is a 61 plate. I'll have a look through the paperwork to see if it's been replaced (although I assume it would have been?). Well given we tested the voltage after the light came on and it was identical to before I thought it wouldn't be that, but who knows, like you say electricity is like magic!

Drove it today and decided to time it, and it took 12 and a half minutes for the light to come on. I then restarted the car and tried again, and it took exactly the same amount of time to come on. Does the car do something every 12 minutes that would make the warning light come on? Maybe some sort of diagnostics?

Thought it was odd that it seems to take exactly the same amount of time to come on every time. Drove the car for another half an hour with the warning light with no issues whatsoever. If we can't figure out what's wrong with it I may take it somewhere to plug it in to a diagnostics which hopefully will shed some light on what's going on.

 

[White16valver]

The 12.5 minutes thing is weird, but does at least appear to point to something being on the blink rather than a combination of things! (Maybe??)

If you have the radio codes to put in afterwards, you could try disconnecting the battery for half an hour to try and reset the ECU and everything else.

 

[STEVE.M]

Thanks!

No worries, feel like I couldn't have shortened it much more if I tried!

I'm not sure how old the battery is, but the car is a 61 plate. I'll have a look through the paperwork to see if it's been replaced (although I assume it would have been?). Well given we tested the voltage after the light came on and it was identical to before I thought it wouldn't be that, but who knows, like you say electricity is like magic!

Drove it today and decided to time it, and it took 12 and a half minutes for the light to come on. I then restarted the car and tried again, and it took exactly the same amount of time to come on. Does the car do something every 12 minutes that would make the warning light come on? Maybe some sort of diagnostics?

Thought it was odd that it seems to take exactly the same amount of time to come on every time. Drove the car for another half an hour with the warning light with no issues whatsoever. If we can't figure out what's wrong with it I may take it somewhere to plug it in to a diagnostics which hopefully will shed some light on what's going on.

I`m not sure if post 28 was serious, but at least you know you are not alone.

Has your MK3 a keycard?

https://www.clio197.net/threads/low-battery-warning-and-battery-light-clio-200.55294/page-2

 

[ClioMarkThree]

Yes I came across that post searching for any solutions but I was and still am really hoping that I don't have to fork out for a brand new alternator from Renault, especially since there's no guarantee it will fix the issue!

No my MK3 has a regular key so it wouldn't pick up if the battery was low for that would it? I could always try to change it and see what happens.

I`m not sure if post 28 was serious, but at least you know you are not alone.

Has your MK3 a keycard?

https://www.clio197.net/threads/low-battery-warning-and-battery-light-clio-200.55294/page-2

 

[ClioMarkThree]

The 12.5 minutes thing is weird, but does at least appear to point to something being on the blink rather than a combination of things! (Maybe??)

If you have the radio codes to put in afterwards, you could try disconnecting the battery for half an hour to try and reset the ECU and everything else.

Yeah It's weird isn't it! Yeah hopefully, the trader I bought it from has offered to look at it next Friday but for some reason I don't have much faith he'll be able to do much, or at least without charging me...

That's a good idea, I'll try that. Stupid question but where can I find those?

 

[White16valver]

The radio codes will probably be in one of the manuals that (hopefully) came with your car.

It might not even need a code, but I thought most did nowadays!

 

[ClioMarkThree]

The radio codes will probably be in one of the manuals that (hopefully) came with your car.

It might not even need a code, but I thought most did nowadays!

Right so yesterday I disconnected the battery for about 45 minutes and touch wood it's fixed the problem! I let it idle for about 20 minutes and no light, And then drove it for another 20 minutes (so car had been on for total of 40) and no light. Drive it later yesterday and also today for about 25 minutes a piece and no issue so I think that's worked!

The radio code was indeed in the manual but weirdly the car didn't ask for it. All that was reset was the time on the Tom Tom and everything else including the trip computer remained as it was.

Thank you all for your help.

 

[STEVE.M]

Right so yesterday I disconnected the battery for about 45 minutes and touch wood it's fixed the problem! I let it idle for about 20 minutes and no light, And then drove it for another 20 minutes (so car had been on for total of 40) and no light. Drive it later yesterday and also today for about 25 minutes a piece and no issue so I think that's worked!

The radio code was indeed in the manual but weirdly the car didn't ask for it. All that was reset was the time on the Tom Tom and everything else including the trip computer remained as it was.

Thank you all for your help.

Right so yesterday I disconnected the battery for about 45 minutes and touch wood it's fixed the problem! I let it idle for about 20 minutes and no light, And then drove it for another 20 minutes (so car had been on for total of 40) and no light. Drive it later yesterday and also today for about 25 minutes a piece and no issue so I think that's worked!

The radio code was indeed in the manual but weirdly the car didn't ask for it. All that was reset was the time on the Tom Tom and everything else including the trip computer remained as it was.

Thank you all for your help.

Were you driving with the lights on today and yesterday?

 

[ClioMarkThree]

Were you driving with the lights on today and yesterday?

Yesterday yes. Today, it was mixed. Drove it for about 15 minutes before it started getting dark (lights off) and by the time we were returning home it took about 25 minutes (lights on).

Why do you ask?

 

[STEVE.M]

Yesterday yes. Today, it was mixed. Drove it for about 15 minutes before it started getting dark (lights off) and by the time we were returning home it took about 25 minutes (lights on).

Why do you ask?

There are 3 sets of windings inside your alternator, if one fails, it will jog along fine on the other 2, until you use the lights, heated rear screen etc.

 

[Ian James]

Has anyone managed to solve this as I have had the problem for about 6 months.

Sometime the Radio/Sat Nav go off and stay off and the indicators will only 'click' once (hazards still work normally)

Thanks

 

[Gregx20]

Hello, I bought a Clio mk3 yesterday off of a private seller, was there any fixes for this problem