[cyberjunkie]

I have a Renault Kwid AMT (2019) that I purchased in Mumbai, and since its first yearly service last year, I have faced erratic starting problems. The Covid lockdown meant I rarely drove the vehicle since the maintenance run (mid-2020), so it's my fault, I didn't spot this earlier. I might have dismissed it as nothing major.

Leading to the initial service, I have driven the vehicle for 120-150km a week. Absolutely no issues, not a thing (except the neighbour's brat scratching the side with his bicycle).

Fast forward to this year (July 2021), the car continues to refuse to start, randomly after being checked up thoroughly by the service centre. The indicators on the dash turn on, the motor helps the engine rotate, but it won't fire. Sometimes, the motor doesn't even rotate the engine. Try it after 20 minutes, and it'll randomly start. Sometimes, it won't start for a week, then randomly start again. When I do manage to get it running, and go for a drive, other random issues have been noticed - such as the horn not working, the AC randomly not running, windshield wiper issues. In my uninformed head, this is probably a relay, electronics, fuses, issue. I had suggested they look at it, but the team told me, they changed some relays and it should be fixed.

We were to drive the car to this year's service in July or so, and the car wouldn't start. Renault sent their guy to revive it, but he drained the battery down, then said he would need to tow it. The service center on receiving the car, said there is no starting issue and that it started instantly. He said the battery is low though, so we will install a new battery, to which I said no.

I am posting here, one to rant, the other to look for any DIY advice, for anyone who has faced or heard of this spooky behavior. I can help the service centre team pinpoint the issue, since they dismiss it as 'no problem'. If the service centre cannot spot the issue, what do you recommend I do? It's odd when they suggest towing the vehicle, then they say there is no issue.

I do not want to have my car towed out from my compound twice in a span of a few months, not when I've barely used this vehicle. It isn't starting now, but it may, randomly.

[shancz]

Sounds like an electrical problem while the horn and AC also acting up might be related or not.

- check engine bay and wiring for rodent damage
- check the cables and state of your spark plugs
- check the wirings for starter motor and its operation, I am assuming your SC would've done it already
- Hope you don't have any blown fuses.

Also, if your car is usually stationary often, invest in a portable charger like the Bosch C3.

[Kosfactor]

DIY - here we go.

Remove the existing battery.
Exchange old battery and purchase a new one.
Install new battery.

That should do it. Please use youtube for instructions to remove and reconnect battery, it's important.

Attempting to start or run the vehicle with a worn out battery will kill your starter and alternator, may damage many other things in the process.

[lsjey]

I tried the following solution and usually used to work in my Manza:

The key fob has a chip and for whatever reasons, the car did not recognize this at times. I went through a similar cycle of calling RSA and getting embarrassed when the car started up without any fuss when the technician started the car. If the car refuses to start, do tap the key in your hand a few times and try. Usually this worked for me. I could not get a proper solution from Tata ASCs for my problem.

Regards,
lsjey

[TorqMaster]

Is your car key start or push button start?

If its the latter make sure the key is in close proximity to the car. Replace the battery in the key fob to see if the issue resolves.

If its former, check the engine immobilizer to make sure the car is inadvertently trying to remain off.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by cyberjunkie

He said the battery is low though, so we will install a new battery, to which I said no.

Given that the car has barely been driven, the battery could indeed be the culprit. Should be an easy check: just check the voltage before and during ignition.

OEM batteries more often not aren't the most long-lasting so it could be working sub-optimally. You can visit any Amaron / Exide battery shop and have the battery tested. If found to lack the necessary voltage, get a new one (exchange the old one).

[abhishek46]

Remove the battery and take it to some battery guy.
Get it tested there under 'load'.

If the problem still persists, get your wiring harness thoroughly checked.

[cyberjunkie]

Thank you for your suggestions. I will go through them.

It seems odd that the battery is healthy enough to spin the motor forever, but can't trigger the spark plugs. That does not seem like a bad battery to me, although checking the voltages (with and without load) is a safe idea. These issues over the year have been erratic, but the problem hasn't deteriorated into a dud battery either.

The car randomly started this morning without a struggle, after days of not working.

Originally Posted by TorqMaster

If its former, check the engine immobilizer to make sure the car is inadvertently trying to remain off.

That's a very interesting suggestion. It's a key start vehicle. I'll try the non-'smart' key as well, maybe even replace the key battery. I'll need to figure where and how the immobilizer works, under what conditions.

Originally Posted by lsjey

The key fob has a chip and for whatever reasons, the car did not recognize this at times. I went through a similar cycle of calling RSA and getting embarrassed when the car started up without any fuss when the technician started the car. If the car refuses to start, do tap the key in your hand a few times and try. Usually this worked for me. I could not get a proper solution from Tata ASCs for my problem.

This too!

[TorqMaster]

Perform the investigation with the all the different controls which need to be activated to start the car - for example should the clutch be pressed? Any loose sensors here?
Would the car start if the gear is on and the clutch pressed? Is the key hole loose? Any door buzzer safety mechanisms ?

One of these seems to be loose or malfunctioning.

My nexon once refused to start when the key was on me but too far away from the sensor despite me sitting in the car. I now have a nook for the key when i am seated in the car.

[Indian2003]

Originally Posted by cyberjunkie

We were to drive the car to this year's service in July or so, and the car wouldn't start. Renault sent their guy to revive it, but he drained the battery down, then said he would need to tow it. The service center on receiving the car, said there is no starting issue and that it started instantly. He said the battery is low though, so we will install a new battery, to which I said no.

Your car has clearly a battery problem. In cases like these you need a multimeter and a battery charger to be able to solve the problem yourself.
Looks like you rely on the alternator to keep the battery charged.

This is only wishful thinking as the alternator will not recharge your battery but top up the amps you use for starting the car and keep the cars electric components running.

I find it strange that the guy from Renault ran down the battery attempting to start the car. 2 or 3 attemps should have been enough to tow the car away.

A trickle charger and a multimeter are very useful tools if you know how to use them.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by shancz

- check engine bay and wiring for rodent damage
- check the cables and state of your spark plugs
- check the wirings for starter motor and its operation, I am assuming your SC would've done it already
- Hope you don't have any blown fuses.

Also, if your car is usually stationary often, invest in a portable charger like the Bosch C3.

In addition to the above sharing a couple experiences :

- had an issue with our Activa not starting, it used to do a partial crank and stop. Unique thing was if you do that 6-8 times, it would just fire up as normal. The indicators and horn behaved normally. I thought that if it was due to a draining battery it shouldn't start after 2-3 attempts at all and other battery driven stuff should be impacted.
Investigations later turned out to be faulty relay.

- Since this March our Access125 was stationary for 2-3 months, I had noticed a slightly weird behaviour even before that while starting and after that time it refused to start using the ES but the kick was fine. Just connected it to a Bosch C3 for a day and all's well post that.

Battery is the easiest to rule out, then the points mentioned in the quoted post.

Hope it helps.

[cyberjunkie]

Took a chance and went on a 200km countryside drive today. The car started without an issue. When were done fueling it up, I realized, the car wouldn't switch from neutral to drive. The brake pedal wouldn't detect as pressed. Rotating the dial from reverse to neutral to drive wouldn't work. Turning the engine off and on wouldn't work. Tried both keys, nothing. This happened every single time when I had to reverse or drive.

I didn't switch to neutral when we stopped at traffic signals to avoid that issue. The car usually creeps ahead if you're on Drive, and you let go off the brake (I'm new to automatics so I guess this is the standard behavior). That creeping ahead has stopped now. At a signal, I felt like the brake pedal sank in, like it does during the power-up sequence. The creeping also started randomly in noon.

The AC wouldn't power on when we got going in the morning, I kept trying and it powered on after some 7-8 attempts. The horn wasn't working, and that too worked after several attempts.

This is not your typical battery-is-low issue, considering all of these are happening when the car is running, and the car starts now without a hitch. I think there are enough consistent and related issues I can demonstrate to the service centre now. They told me everything was OK when they looked at it 2-3 months ago.

Anyway, the drive was very enjoyable except for those moments of frustration. My patience and nerves were tested today.

[cyberjunkie]

An update, I gave the car to the service centre last week. I just received a call telling me that the relays for a few components were bust, as was the brake pedal sensor. They have been replaced.

I should get the car back soon. Will update you on progress. Appreciate the advice.

[ashwinprakas]

Something that has come to my attention with the Bolero, might be useful to know.

I have a dashcam hard-wired to the Car and it has a cut off of around 11V, but the issue is that the car throws a CEL and refuses to crank if the volts drop below the 11V threshold.

This has happened a few times when the car wasn't used for around a month or so, to test my theory last time this happened I touched by motorcycles puny battery to the cars points to bring the volts up and turned the key, just as expected the car fired up without breaking a sweat.

Even when the car doesn't start I have done load tests and ensured that the battery is perfectly fine, just that the car doesn't wish to start if the volts are below a certain threshold.

Not sure if this is some modern BS we will all have to deal with or what, maybe more experienced enthusiasts can educate me on the same.