Help a gal out, battery/smart charge/alternator issue?!

[Miss_M3M4]

Hello people!

I have had my 04 plate clio sport 172 for nearly 2 years now and love love love it, however i have a persistant fault that only occurs in winter, wondered if anyone could shed a light on the situation!
When i save the car from stalling, the Stop and Battery light flashes up, once this happened, eventually all the power in my car just drained away and it eventually died. I was recommended to get a new battery. This seemed to fix the issue with no issues for nearly a year. Until yesterday, i noticed my wipers were getting extremely sluggish, then service, ESP, ABS & airbag light on my dash came on (low batt voltage) i pull into the nearest garage, switched the car off and tried to turn it back on. Nothing just a lovely ticking noise and all lights on dash flashing but engine just wouldn't tick over. Friendly local recovery service came out, bosster on to the batt and read the ampage, he said that the battery wasn't charging & it could be an Alternator issue or a "smart charge" issue with the ECU. I previously had the alternator checked out when this issue first started to be told it was fine. This seems to only be happening in the winter when the temperature drop to below freezing, this nugget of information made the recovery guy think that it was this smart charge issue which is controlled by the ECU.

I was just wondering if anyone out there has had this issue with their Clio's and how you managed to fix it? Also you wonderful technical people out there, could you explain what this smartcharge is?

Muchos appreciated!!

M3M4

 

[MikeClio172SPT]

Hi, does sound as if you have a charging issue, a ticking or clicking noise from the starter is the starters solenoid trying to engage the motor part of it, but if the battery's flat, or the starter is sticking, this is the click you will hear. But seeing as you said you had a jump start & it started.... this tells you the battery was indeed flat, the battery should be charging off the alternator when driving, even when the cars idling, the battery should be charging, our 172's doesnt have the smart charge on them, mostly newer cars have it, fords have got it. I would personally monitor the alternators output, its possible its not charging all the time, so when the battery's powering everything, lights, heater, etc, the car starts dying, once the battery runs so low, the ECU will lose power, the fuel pump in the tank will stop running etc.

 

[Miss_M3M4]

cheers!

 

[Chip-mk1]

As above. There is no smart charge, so it's alternator or battery or wiring problem. Or a loose belt slipping more when it's cold!