economy mode comes on dash before car is started,C5 2008

[Bazzer]

can anyone tell me what this means ? sometimes, not always, when i unlock the car doors and before i even get the key in the ignition, the dash will read " economy mode activated". when i put the key in the ignition and switch the ignition on but before i start the car, it will go out, the car starts ok and every thing is fine. why does it come on to start with and does it mean there could be a problem somewhere.

[vborovic]

Seems your battery needs a really good charge, or a replacement ... the economy mode gets triggered to protect the car electronics, and have it on suspend mode, until the next engine run (to prevent total power drainage and thus doing more problems to the car) ... most newer cars have this mechanism included ... if the battery is good, you should get up to 30 mins of non-engine electronics, but this is related to your previous car run (how much the battery was been able to recharge) and on the total battery life/quality ... I'd say if your battery is older than 4-5 years, it is now a good time to replace it, or you'll be facing the economy mode almost every time you return to the car

[Stickyfinger]

This helps, even in winter, I have one hard wired in now.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/solar-powered ... wwodbKgA0A" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[citroenxm]

As said above your battery is weak! Best a GOOD replacement - theres a lot going on in an X7 even with the keys not in the ignition etc..

Mums had this, new battery, all sorted. While you get this, the "See you Home" headlights from the key wont work either and are automatically disabled.

[Xantippa]

Economy mode is a "feature" on C5 X7 I think. At least here in Finland it doesn´t matter wether you have a full battery and good alternator, my car shows economy mode still very often. And I´m not alone.

[RichardW]

On the modern cars, eco mode is linked to running time - you get the same eco time as running time, up to 30mins, regardless of what's gone before - ie drive 2 hours, stop, re-start & run for 1 min, you will only get 1 min before eco mode kicks in Having said that, it can be worse with a failing battery - if the battery is original, then it's about due a change anyway.

[vborovic]

@ richard - That's only in theory, I have experience where I've drove for 3 hours, and the economy kicked in after 5 minutes, or when I drove for 10 minutes, and got 30 mins of running time ...

[Stickyfinger]

@ richard - That's only in theory, I have experience where I've drove for 3 hours, and the economy kicked in after 5 minutes, or when I drove for 10 minutes, and got 30 mins of running time ...

this

Many times and there seems to be no logic to it. This happens many times despite having a full battery.
The "Solar Charger" keeps a true charge to the battery and reduces any faults being generated, aids good starting etc but does not remove the eco mode completely...but seems to of reduced it.

Really, I find it hard to believe the Petrol Head Modders not solved/edited out this yet ?

[RichardW]

@ richard - That's only in theory, I have experience where I've drove for 3 hours, and the economy kicked in after 5 minutes, or when I drove for 10 minutes, and got 30 mins of running time ...

Well, it IS French, after all

[Richard_C]

Mine is equally random. Even after new a battery last year. Just sitting waiting in a car park for family to appear, it would be nice to have a radio that works un-randomly.

With the My Way colour screen, you can feel the heat from it, so I guess it drains the power at a fair rate. The ideal solution would be a timeout on the screen itself after a few seconds (just enough time to set the radio station) and have the radio continue on, but I guess they don't pay development engineers to sit in a car with the radio on to pick up on these minor irritations. Night mode would do it but that only works with the ignition on.

I had a VW Type 2 years ago, with what they now call a 'leisure battery' to run the radio and interior lights, and a main battery to start the thing. You could sit in it for 2 days in snowy Scotland without driving, as the lights dimmed, knowing it would still start on demand. In extremis you could jump lead yourself from yourself if secondary battery was OK. No need for the -ve jump lead, one would do.

[Bazzer]

Thanks for all your reply's, much appreciated, think a new battery might be the answer.

[Stickyfinger]

Thanks for all your reply's, much appreciated, think a new battery might be the answer.

get it tested first, £80 on a decent battery ?, it is worth a load-test first I think just to make sure.

[stingyzoidberg]

Hi everyone, C5 newbie here!

Got my 2009 C5 4 months ago and was always in economy mode before starting the car (from door unlock).
Looked at the battery and it was a Halfords battery, must have been a replacement so thought there should be some life in it. Cleaned the terminals and put some lithium grease on them and not had an issue since.
Hope that helps

[vborovic]

I'm not sure how the grease could help in getting more power from the battery (or tricking the BSI to delay the economy mode)

[vborovic]

@ sticky - on the solar trickle charger note, where did you place it in the car? I was looking at some that are mounted with the suction cups to the glass ... I was thinking of getting a roof mounted (professional) solar flexible panel (but the whole installation cost would probably be more expensive than some other stuff that I think are more important than a few extra mili-volts ...)