[redbaron91]

My parents took the delivery of Kiger RXZ CVT on 31-May.

Delivery was delayed by almost 12 days, due to lockdown situations.

Price details - Ex-Showroom - 9,78,500
OTR (Kerala) - 11,08,784 (excluding insurance & additional accessories)




Since I am staying in a different city, yet to get my hands behind the wheels.

2 days after the delivery, an issue with the battery cropped up. The battery was dead and the car was unable to start.


On top of it, the CVT gear shifter got stuck at "P" mode. With some online research, I found that shift locker will be enabled during battery failure and one must manually disable it.



There is a small flap with "Shift Lock" mentioned next to the gear shift lever. One has to remove the flap using a flat-headed screwdriver, press and hold the button inside it, while simultaneously pressing the brake pedal & gear switch on the lever to move to "N" mode.

The battery issue continued to occur almost every day since then. RSA from Renault jump-started the car 2 times & charged it for a while. For the last 2 weeks, the car is being switched ON for at least 30 minutes & it has clocked around 40-50 Kms totally. Unable to clock more miles (on daily basis) due to ongoing lockdown situations in Kerala.



I informed this issue with the showroom and escalated it with RIPL region team leader via email & phone calls. They have not able to check the car till date due to the closure of their service centre.
They are have agreed to take the vehicle to the service centre once they are allowed to operate by Govt.

It is very annoying & frustrating to have such an issue with a brand new car. I highly suspect some issue with the battery or with the alternator or electrical leakage from a component or wiring harness.

Can anyone throw some light on "How can a service centre technician diagnose such issues with battery"? Can anything be found using OBD scanners?

[redbaron91]

The miserable ordeal with Kiger CVT continues. Renault service centre was not able to find the root cause for the battery drain.

I hugely suspect a fault with wiring harness or with the alternator of the car. But, as per service centre they have checked it all & found no issues.

[redbaron91]

Originally Posted by redbaron91

The miserable ordeal with Kiger CVT continues. Renault service centre was not able to find the root cause for the battery drain.

I hugely suspect a fault with wiring harness or with the alternator of the car. But, as per service centre they have checked it all & found no issues.

As per TVS Renault dealership, the installation of the front parking sensor by their technician is causing the battery drain and that led to damage of wiring harness in the dashboard.
Renault official even tried to pin the blame on me, saying why a non-genuine spare part (front parking sensor) was installed in the car. They were quick to retract the statement, when I conveyed the work was done at dealer end, as they showed it as accessory, while selling the car.
I am yet to receive more details from them regarding the damage of wiring harness

Few things that worries me here is,

1) How an installation of front parking sensor damages the entire dashboard wiring harness?
2) Is it advisable to replace the entire wiring harness, as it needs disassembling of complete front dashboard trim elements & related components. I am doubtful about fit and finish, post such critical work.

[Aditya]

Brand new Renault Kiger CVT | Battery dead in 2 days - Posts moved to a new thread.

Thanks for sharing, redbaron91! Moving your post out to a new thread so as to inform others. A new thread means 100X the views & 100X the visibility in search engines, including Google. Will add to homepage later this week .

@ BHPians, if you should spot any good post in an existing thread that deserves its own new thread, please report the post and we'll move it out for greater visibility.

Thank you!

[Jagann13]

Originally Posted by redbaron91

Few things that worries me here is,

1) How an installation of front parking sensor damages the entire dashboard wiring harness?
2) Is it advisable to replace the entire wiring harness, as it needs disassembling of complete front dashboard trim elements & related components. I am doubtful about fit and finish, post such critical work.

I have no insights on whether the installation of front parking sensors drains a battery. But I have had a somewhat similar experience with our Triber. The issue was not draining the battery, but installation of ambient lighting made a relay go kaput and so did the wiring harness.

While, I completely suggest you to get the harness replaced, make it clear that they fit your dash as well as it is now. In my case, after they worked on the dashboard, it was quite clear that the fit wasn't good and had rattles. So, we had to push them to do it again to make it as good as a factory finish.

[abhishek46]

Devices like the front parking sensors use a very tiny amount of power (typically 60mA, 12V i.e. 0.7watt).

It will take a significant 360hours (15days) for a 0.7 watt device to drain a 36Ah automotive battery.

Something doesn't add up.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by redbaron91

As per TVS Renault dealership, the installation of the front parking sensor by their technician is causing the battery drain and that led to damage of wiring harness in the dashboard

If you have the car in your possession, I'll suggest you to get a digital multi-meter and check for parasitic draw.

Here's a thread from vigsom on how to check for the same: Link to the thread.

Other than that, I am sure the parking sensors would have some kind of coupler or power source used i.e. from the battery, check the voltage that circuit draws and state of battery with that circuit disconnected.

[redbaron91]

Originally Posted by Jagann13

I have no insights on whether the installation of front parking sensors drains a battery. But I have had a somewhat similar experience with our Triber. The issue was not draining the battery, but installation of ambient lighting made a relay go kaput and so did the wiring harness.

While, I completely suggest you to get the harness replaced, make it clear that they fit your dash as well as it is now. In my case, after they worked on the dashboard, it was quite clear that the fit wasn't good and had rattles. So, we had to push them to do it again to make it as good as a factory finish.

Initially, even I had a similar doubt about it. The service centre made their diagnosis in different conditions for any battery drain/ voltage drop/ power leakage and did not observe any abnormality(Battery voltage after one week is 12.68V and Charging voltage 13.54V).

Originally Posted by abhishek46

Devices like the front parking sensors use a very tiny amount of power (typically 60mA, 12V i.e. 0.7watt).

It will take a significant 360hours (15days) for a 0.7 watt device to drain a 36Ah automotive battery.

Something doesn't add up.

They are assuming the installation of the parking sensor might be causing some issues. But till now, they haven't been able to prove it.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

If you have the car in your possession, I'll suggest you to get a digital multi-meter and check for parasitic draw.

Here's a thread from vigsom on how to check for the same: Link to the thread.

Other than that, I am sure the parking sensors would have some kind of coupler or power source used i.e. from the battery, check the voltage that circuit draws and state of battery with that circuit disconnected.

The car is now at dealer end for a 4th time, we barely got the car to drive ever since it was delivered in the last week of May '21.

After the above said initial diagnosis, on 02nd July, the service manager mailed me saying there aren't any issues, but they observed a "non-genuine fitment", that is, the front parking sensor in the car. As I wrote back to them, this was a surprise for me mentioning it was sold to us by the dealer during the sale & installation done at their service centre.
I was amused to know that the service manager was unaware of what parts are installed in their customer's car. Post this, both RIPL & TVS Renault agreed on the mistake and accepted such a part was not supposed to be sold or installed by the dealer.

Now, they are claiming this reason as the root cause for the battery drain, as they cannot find any other root cause. For this, they are seeking consent to change the entire dashboard wiring harness.
As per the service manager, they tapped the line from the ignition wiring harness and gave power to parking sensors and followed standard installation methods. At the same time, the service manager claims there isn't any damage to the wiring harness.

All these claims from the dealership & RIPL don't add up logically. Tapping connection from main OEM wiring harness for parking sensor has indeed tampered it, but it hasn't caused any damage. Then, why do they want to dismantle the entire dashboard & replace the OEM wiring harness?

I am very sceptical about the fit, finish & tolerance of the dashboard after all this re-work. And because they want to change the dashboard wiring harness due to an assumption, I haven't given the go-ahead to change it.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by redbaron91

Tapping connection from main OEM wiring harness for parking sensor has indeed tampered it, but it hasn't caused any damage. Then, why do they want to dismantle the entire dashboard & replace the OEM wiring harness?

I am very sceptical about the fit, finish & tolerance of the dashboard after all this re-work.

I will suggest you tell them to remove the connection, tape it for a while and then you observe the drainage. Not sure about the sensors and current consumption but I will get rid of these before anything else. I

f this works out, you can decide if a patched up (taped) cable connection is acceptable, or you want the complete wiring changed for your satisfaction. You are right with your doubts relating to fitting of the dash.

[AirbusCapt]

Originally Posted by Jagann13

I have no insights on whether the installation of front parking sensors drains a battery. But I have had a somewhat similar experience with our Triber. The issue was not draining the battery, but installation of ambient lighting made a relay go kaput and so did the wiring harness.

While, I completely suggest you to get the harness replaced, make it clear that they fit your dash as well as it is now. In my case, after they worked on the dashboard, it was quite clear that the fit wasn't good and had rattles. So, we had to push them to do it again to make it as good as a factory finish.

It can happen. If the front sensor is hardwired to the electric supply. That means the sensors are powered even when the car is switched off. A simple multimeter check on the sensor socket with the car switched off can debug this issue

[TrackDay]

Originally Posted by redbaron91

Renault official even tried to pin the blame on me, saying why a non-genuine spare part (front parking sensor) was installed in the car. They were quick to retract the statement, when I conveyed the work was done at dealer end, as they showed it as accessory, while selling the car.

That official was very eager to shift the blame !

Originally Posted by Turbanator

I will suggest you tell them to remove the connection, tape it for a while and then you observe the drainage. Not sure about the sensors and current consumption but I will get rid of these before anything else.

This seems like the most apt thing to do now. If the sensors are the ones that are indeed causing the battery drain try getting them disconnected and check if the battery drain issue still persists. Why sell such accessories if the technicians are not trained to properly install them ?

[123.rishabh]

I faced a similar battery drain issue in my brand new Tata Safari 2.2 back in 2008
The Tata ASS guys diagnosed a faulty Alternator and changed it. The problem reoccured and they changed the alternator again.
Again for the third time the same battery drain problem happened and then the tata guys checked the car thoroughly for 2 days and found out it was some issue with incorrect earthing of the vehicle.
After the earthing was corrected, the problem solved.
Sometimes it could be a very small thing causing the problem which gets missed out in the diagnosis process.

[John P Daniel]

Originally Posted by redbaron91

Initially, even I had a similar doubt about it. The service centre made their diagnosis in different conditions for any battery drain/ voltage drop/ power leakage and did not observe any abnormality(Battery voltage after one week is 12.68V and Charging voltage 13.54V).

Battery voltage seems to be on the lower end. Is the charging voltage shown here checked during idle or during revving (~2000rpm)? When revved, charging voltage should be around 14V. If possible, get the battery and charging checked at a battery centre nearby.

[5hank3r]

I bought a duster Last year(Kerala, different district but same dealer as OP) and had a similar problem. After buying, I drove the car for almost 7000 km in 2 months and was happy with it. Then I went abroad for 2 months. Nobody was driving the car during this time but my father kept the engine running for some time every other week. The battery was completely drained when I came back and tried to start. I jump started the car and kept it running. I thought it was just a battery drain(a quick one though).

I drove the car for 800 km in the following week and the battery kept on draining. The battery indicator was off in the instrument cluster, meaning alternator was working fine. I contacted the service center and gave the vehicle for charging the battery. The car didn't crank the next day after receiving from the service center. The battery is not keeping the charge and needs replacement. All this was happening just before the lock down of 2021 May and I got the car back after 20 days (not their fault). I got the battery replaced under warranty at no cost and no problems yet.

[redbaron91]

Originally Posted by AirbusCapt

It can happen. If the front sensor is hardwired to the electric supply. That means the sensors are powered even when the car is switched off. A simple multimeter check on the sensor socket with the car switched off can debug this issue

This diagnosis was done by the service centre already. When sensors were disconnected & the car was kept idle for 2 days, they didn't observe any drop in voltage & the car was working fine.
The headache here is, the service centre is unable to replicate the issue at their end. But, the battery drain is happening intermittently and repeatedly.

Originally Posted by John P Daniel

Battery voltage seems to be on the lower end. Is the charging voltage shown here checked during idle or during revving (~2000rpm)? When revved, charging voltage should be around 14V. If possible, get the battery and charging checked at a battery centre nearby.

The original battery was tested & they couldn't find any fault in it. Despite that, they replaced it with a new one. From our side, we have been extra careful to switch off everything while parking.
A week after the replacement, the vehicle was dead again, post a night drive.


Today (19/JUL), a technical person from the plant has arrived at the dealership to inspect the car. Awaiting for further feedback from them