Car cutting out and battery sign on dashboard

Roberto_gas

Happened to me twice today morning. Never had such issues.

Car stopped in traffic once and when i tried to accelerate realised it has cut-off. Tried starting again and it started and ran for another 1 km. Same issue again and it happened when i was at 50 kmph..both times battery red image on the dashboard..managed to stop on bus lane slowly without power steering. Checked battery terminals carnked again and reach home 3 km far without any further issues.

What is the possible issue here ? Battery seems fine as car starts at 1st crank. Anything I can check ?

Thanks in advance.

Alanstrainor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058241187/car-cutting-out-and-battery-sign-on-dashboard

What car is it? Make, model, engine, year.

Red battery light would point to an alternator or charging problem. Has there been any work done to the car recently that could cause this? I presume the battery terminals were good and tight?

Realistically you're going to have to get the battery/alternator tested to see if they're putting out the right voltages. If you had a voltmeter you could get a good idea yourself. But the investigation shouldn't be too costly for a mechanic at the same time.

zg3409

Typically the light means alternator is not charging battery and engine may die a short or long time later. Sometimes it can be intermittent. You should go to good back street repair place and they will diagnose battery or alternator. Some alternators van be refurbished but typically it's just replaced. If you let battery go flat and stay flat a few times then battery will need replacing too.

Sometimes you may have bad battery connection or the heavy negative lead to the chassis may be making a bad connection at the other end meaning it looks to disconnect but problem is away from battery.

If engine immediately dies you may have an engine issue where engine is stopping and that causes the error. There could be any number of issues causing an engine to stop such as clogged fuel filter, low fuel, dirty injectors or any number of intermittent faults.

Roberto_gas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118911392#Comment_118911392

Thanks...Interesting as the car was heavily loaded in the boot. Will look at others.

Roberto_gas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118911121#Comment_118911121

2007 Hyundai accent, 1.4L petrol. No work done on the car recently.

colm_mcm

Any squeaky belt noise on startup etc? I would say it’s either battery, fan belt or alternator.

mikemac2

I had the same on another model. Yes the altenator was not charging

With a fully charged battery I believe I was able to do 40 minutes of driving so enough to get to a garage.

I believe I paid waaaay too much for a new alternator. I asked about a refurbished model but they said it wasn't possible at the time and I was a bit clueless about cars. I went ahead and paid for the new alternator but OP you can ask for different options

Roberto_gas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118912689#Comment_118912689

yes ! Fan Belt is bit squeaky during cold weather…it was changed couple of years back

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118914272#Comment_118914272

That’s what turns the alternator to charge the battery. Could be related.

rock22

Noisy fan best will indicate a problem. You ned to sort that first.

If the engine stops, for any reason, the charging light will come on.

cml387

I would suggest that it's nothing to do with the battery or alternator.

If the engine cuts out the battery light always comes on, that is normal.

If the alternator had failed and the battery wore out trying to keep the electrics going, it would certainly not have started on the first turn.

When was the car last serviced?

Roberto_gas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118914391#Comment_118914391

thanks it was serviced 9 months back..used it yesterday and no issues

MacDanger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118914391#Comment_118914391

I'd agree with this - in my experience, if there's an alternator problem, the battery light will come on but the car will continue to run untl the battery runs down and then it will stop and won't start again until the battery has been recharged or the alternator has been fixed.

I'm afraid I don't have any advice on what it might be though

Spook_ie

OBD scan for faults that have caused the engine to stop.

Roberto_gas

Thanks ! Will get it checked

Roberto_gas

Update:Car stopped twice today again. It will start after few mins. The key immobiliser light was going away in 5 seconds and car wont turn over at all.

No faults on OBD scan later..potential suspect is key battery and immobiliser..Garage guy told to use new key with new battery and check for few days..else will have to clean the steering harness ignition wiring…

Does that sound a correct diagnosis? Thanks

Dirty Nails

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119042690#Comment_119042690

Unlikely. Immob didn't make the car cut out on the road & key battery is only for remote locking (assuming it's not a seperate fob). When it stops next listen closely for hum (2 or 3 seconds) under the rear seat when you turn ign on. You might have a weak fuel pump issue. As far as the scan goes,unless you have better equipment,you're only scanning engine codes & not immob faults.

Roberto_gas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119043187#Comment_119043187

Thanks…so the humming should be loud enough or not present at all? Thankd.

Roberto_gas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119044434#Comment_119044434

No humming at all on fuel pump.

Throttle Body? I had a 1.4 petrol golf years ago that was prone to cutting out - fix was to remove the air filter and to give the carb and throttle bodies a good spray with carb cleaner, clear out all the residue etc - fixed the issue nicely for me!

Common issue apparently.

zilog_jones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119042690#Comment_119042690

Immobiliser misbehaving sounds more like a symptom of the problem (electrical/battery) rather than the cause. As others said, it wouldn't cause the engine to cut out after it's already running, and the battery in the key is relevant only to remote central locking (I assume your car doesn't have keyless ignition).

Roberto_gas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119045476#Comment_119045476

You are right ! The issue returned back again after couple of weeks. Car hot and stalled twice. Sat for 10-15 mins and back up and running. So key is out of question. Crankshaft sensor and fuel pump the possible culprits now. Will they not show as error codes on scanner though ? I am going to take it to garage today to get it diagnosed again. How can i ensure i am not sent back saying everything is fine and nothing on scanner ? Thanks

Roberto_gas

UPDATE - Getting crankshaft sensor changed as there was no movement in tacho when issue ocurred again..garage scanned lot of times to catch any faults but nothing...car restarted after cooling down. They did not think it was fuel pump issues (which i am not 100% sure but let the experts determine it). Hopefully issue will be fixed post sensor change.