C3 1.2 2018 Loss of power

[Gv87]

Hi Everyone

My wife has a 2018 1.2 C3. Intermittently, there is a loss of power. If she pulls over, switches it off and then back on 5 seconds later, the performance is back to normal.

No lights show up on the dashboard and no error codes are showing from the ODB reader.

Has anyone had anything similar? It's been happening since we got it in January. Could it be as simple as replacing the battery?

The car is start stop if that makes a difference.

Thanks

[mickthemaverick]

They are susceptible to poor batteries and it may be the case, can you test the voltage across the battery terminals with the engine running to check the alternator output?

[Gv87]

Hi, thank you for your response. I checked the voltage and it was at 11.5 without the engine running. I switched it on and it went up to 14.1 then dropped to 14 and fluctuated between 13.9 and 14. At some points it would randomly drop to 13 and then go back up to 13.9. I only ran it for 5 minutes and did not actually drive it.

This morning I put the key in but did not turn the car on, I tried to run the windscreen wipers and they would not work. It then went into eco mode a lot quicker than usual.

It has not moved much in over 2 weeks though. Before that it would usually only do maximum 10 miles a day Monday to Friday.

Does this sound like the battery needs replacing?

Thank you!

[mickthemaverick]

Yes indeed it does. Without the engine running you should see at least 12.3 and up to 12.7 when fully charged. You could try an overnight recharge but with that low a reading If the battery is 4+ years old I'd go for replacing it. The alternator appears to be working ok but with continual short journeys it is not getting a chance to charge properly.

[Gv87]

Thank you for your help!