Citroen C3 battery drain

[elpachio]

Hi all, So my wife owns a Citroen C3 2014 model and after 6 months of ownership the battery died. The AA replaced it and said the existing battery was unserviceable, but the alternator was fine. The AA's 5-year warranty battery died today after 1 year.
Of course they did everything they could to avoid replacing under warranty and he made 2 claims that I'm intrigued about.

The battery, according to his devices, was not charging to the level he'd expect and he was getting the message "replace battery". However, he voided the warranty on account of two things:
1) The headlight stick being set to "on" while parked
2) Journeys of 25 minutes to work because the car has a "smart charge" alternator and won't really start charging until 15-20 mins into that journey.

The headlight comment was interesting. On her previous C3, it would alert her to switch her lights off when she turned the engine off. This car doesn't do that, so she switches the engine off and departs the car, and the headlights aren't still on......we'd notice as she parks on the drive!! According to the AA guy, there's a chance that the module doesn't always switch off and so could still be draining the battery while parked. Really?
Is that true??

Also, what's this nonsense about 25 min drives being too short to charge a battery?

And surely it wouldn't come up with a battery charging problem or replacement needed simply if the battery had been drained and needed a decent charge?

Any Citroen experts available to comment on this please? Thank you.

[mickthemaverick]

It may be relevant or it may be completely unrelated but I had a friend who used to have the same battery drain issues and it turned out to be because she never used to lock the car overnight as it was on her private drive. Once she started locking correctly she no longer suffered the battery drain problems, I believe it may be that the ECU needs a lock condition in order to shut down all the systems.

[myglaren]

It is recognised that short trips give rise to such problems. My daughter's C3 as one example, used mostly on a four mile trip at 11 pm and again at 7 am.
Also my Mazda 6 that I have barely used for the past eight weeks. Came up with multiple faults including battery management faults.

A forty mile whizz down the A1 put that right.

It is old information but it was said that the car needed to be run for at least 15 minutes just to replace the charge used to start the car, this doesn't take into account lights, blower, screen demister etc.

[PaulC5]

When you had the battery put on the car did they give you a contract/terms and conditions for the warranty - if so have look at it and see if the 2 reasons for not honouring the warranty are listed. What make is the battery ?

Presumably it was an AA patrol man who came to the 'rescue', why did he think the light switch was set to on or were the lights just left on at the time the battery died ? Where did he get the info the car was being used for 25 minute trips ? For all he knew the car might be doing longer ones at weekends. It could be he had a check list of unfair things to ask so that the warranty could be voided to avoid replacement.

A smart charge alternator is a bit of a red herring, if the battery voltage is low they put in a higher charge to top it up and if things like headlights are put on they also put in more. If what you were told was correct most cars would be needing new batteries every year.

If the battery will not charge up and you end up buying another battery go to somewhere that you may be better able to trust, Halfords might be a possibility but I have no experience of them. I did get Eurocarparts to replace an Exide battery that was failing without any quibbles. Also get a smart battery charger and keep an eye on the battery and if its voltage is getting a bit low give it a charge or drive for an hour or so.

[elpachio]

It is recognised that short trips give rise to such problems. My daughter's C3 as one example, used mostly on a four mile trip at 11 pm and again at 7 am.
Also my Mazda 6 that I have barely used for the past eight weeks. Came up with multiple faults including battery management faults.

A forty mile whizz down the A1 put that right.

It is old information but it was said that the car needed to be run for at least 15 minutes just to replace the charge used to start the car, this doesn't take into account lights, blower, screen demister etc.

Yes, my wife does her regular commutes to train stations etc, and it tends to be about 25 mins there and then the same back of course, several times a week....otherwise I do all the driving at weekends, and admittedly she didn't drive much over Christmas, although I encouraged her out on a drive last week to give it a burst. I don't see how her driving behaviour could essentially kill a Bosch 5-year battery, unless it had a faulty cell, or there's something more sinister going on. His smart charge comment seemed odd, as I thought the purpose of that was to style the charging of the battery according to your driving behaviour, etc.
Thanks for responding

[elpachio]

When you had the battery put on the car did they give you a contract/terms and conditions for the warranty - if so have look at it and see if the 2 reasons for not honouring the warranty are listed. What make is the battery ?

Presumably it was an AA patrol man who came to the 'rescue', why did he think the light switch was set to on or were the lights just left on at the time the battery died ? Where did he get the info the car was being used for 25 minute trips ? For all he knew the car might be doing longer ones at weekends. It could be he had a check list of unfair things to ask so that the warranty could be voided to avoid replacement.

A smart charge alternator is a bit of a red herring, if the battery voltage is low they put in a higher charge to top it up and if things like headlights are put on they also put in more. If what you were told was correct most cars would be needing new batteries every year.

If the battery will not charge up and you end up buying another battery go to somewhere that you may be better able to trust, Halfords might be a possibility but I have no experience of them. I did get Eurocarparts to replace an Exide battery that was failing without any quibbles. Also get a smart battery charger and keep an eye on the battery and if its voltage is getting a bit low give it a charge or drive for an hour or so.

Thank you. They didn't provide a warranty document, but I'll look up what they detail in it. It's a Bosch battery (5-year warranty).
He noticed that the headlight was switched on, even though the engine was off and so the lights weren't physically on, so asked the question and I said that the lights automatically switch off when the car engine is turned off. I didn't think you needed to, as my Honda Insight has auto lights and so I never change them from the auto setting. He implied that they "could" still be draining her battery even though they're off......really??

He asked about her driving and I said she does 25-30 minute drives almost every day to work, so an hour in total.....hardly a pop to the school and back run, so I disagree with him that this constitutes "short trips". I agree with you that the smart charge alternator was an odd comment, and surely that battery should last beyond a year even with those driving habits.

I have a NOCO for starting, but that didn't work today, and I have a voltmeter so I'll keep an eye on it and look at giving it a battery boost especially later in the year as we approach winter. Thanks. I used to live next to someone from Eurocarparts and that was so useful........

Thanks.