Hi all, just got my 2010 JCW Vert. But in the two weeks of ownership, I've now gotten the car on a lift icon and the message "Increased Battery Discharge!" on the display four times. First time it happened once, I shut car off, turned it back on and message was gone.

Second time (3 times in a day), was about four days after I drove 500 miles round trip (should have topped off the battery!). I would start the car, get the message. Kill it, start the car and cleared. Then next stop same deal. Fourth stop in the day it didn't come up.

I have every electronic option available on the car, but nothing plugged in like radar/phone/ipod, so all factory stuff.

I'd hate to give up my new toy this early for service, so any suggestions?

 

It is hard to check this but there should be a indicator on the top of the battery. It should be green if not then the battery needs a good charge.

There have been many instances of bad batteries from the factory so if the battery is not staying charged (green indicator) have the dealer check it and replace it.

One note for you though is that yes a 500 mile drive should top off the battery but a few days of local 1-2 mile drives and lots of starting will be a problem for these cars especially if you have ALL the add ons.

I make sure I put mine on a charger once a month no mater what. But then most of my drives at least this time of year are short at <10 miles and very cold weather.

 

I'd get it in for service, if something is putting on extra draw from the battery it'll shorten it's life, and the sooner you're documenting this the better. And they can check much easier than most (warm heated shop with lifts) in the dead of winter that all you're connection points for the charging system are properly secured.

 

Your car is 2 weeks old, why wouldn't you take it to the dealer and let them correct whatever's bothering it?

Best to do it now, before it makes things worse, isn't it?

 

It would be worth having your battery checked, any auto parts store can load test it right in the car for you. That's what I did last winter, so I knew going into the dealer what was up.

When my A/C was coming on randomly (even when not using the auto setting) last winter in my truck during a cold snap......... 2 weeks of that and then one of the batteries failed prematurely at less than 3 years old. (2 batteries in a diesel). Got the battery replaced under warranty and the random A/C business quit. Apparantly the low battery was causing electronic gremlins.

And yes batteries fail in brand new 2 week old cars, been there too. The battery in our brand new 1998 Dodge Caravan shorted out internally and was getting hotter and hotter just sitting in the driveway. Had to disconnect it to avoid catastrophy and had the car towed to the dealer. A year later the 2nd battery went dead too.

 

I have had increasing problems with the battery going dead. At first I thought it was just because I had opened the door too many times since the last time I started it. But now it is pretty regular, the battery just cannot keep up with all the stuff turning on even before the ignition is hit.. All sorts of electrical glitches also after jumping car too, you have to turn the car off when it is not hooked up to whatever you used to boost the battery and then restart car to reset sensors. Of course there is no pattern to which sensor or how many or few that throw a code.
Car is in shop now for fuel pump and battery, we'll see what happens.

 

When I got my 2010 S, I experienced this same message intermittently for a couple of weeks. Dealer at first could not replicate and suggested I do a full lock of the vehicle in the garage to put the car to sleep. That didn't work. On second visit, they kept the car overnight and ended up replacing an electrical box that described as being like the fuse box. Problem solved with no repeat in past 6+ months.

I guess when they diagnosed it, they had to keep removing various systems from the electrical circuit until they could isolate the draw.

 

Something similar to this happened to me recently. I think the message my mini gave me was "High Battery Drain" and I got that after starting it first thing in the morning. I thought it was odd, but she was due for her one-year service anyway, so I just mentioned it when I took her in.

Turned out to be something in the convenience package wasn't going all the way to sleep like it is supposed to when the mini is off. The dealer had to get some parts, so they kept her for a few days, but they did fix it.