Car Would Not Start (Solved Hopefully)

[Jonno21]

Of course it had to happen when I had an optician's appointment. Pressed button to start with brake pedal depressed. It just gave a message "Full accessories mode" Could not move gear selector. Switched on and off several times and still the same. Called out recovery services and the car would not communicate with their diagnostic machine. Tried with the second key and still no go. 12v battery was disconnected for a while and reconnected and now it works. Went for a drive around the block while the recovery agent waited to check things were ok.

Now booked in to the dealer in the New Year to be looked at. It did go in for software updates last week but they did not update everything. Second time lucky? I have never had a no start in all my years of driving until now.

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[phil]

I have never had a no start in all my years of driving until now.

Never? Starter never failed? Battery never died? Nothing? I've had dozens.

Good luck with this one.

 

[Jonno21]

Never? Starter never failed? Battery never died? Nothing? I've had dozens.

Good luck with this one.

I know it's hard to believe and I'm not making it up. Let's go through the list:

1982 Triumph Acclaim - bought 1989 kept for 3 years
1989 Rover 216S - bought 1992 kept for 4 years
1988 Mazda 626 - bought 1996 kept for 2 years
1996 Peugeot 306 diesel - bought 1998 kept for 4 years
2002 Seat Leon diesel - bought 2002 kept for 2 years
2004 Mazda 6 diesel - bought 2004 kept for 1.5 years (It did have 2 self destructing turbos).
2005 Seat Leon Mk2 diesel- bought 2005 kept for 2 years
2007 Fiat Bravo Mk 2 diesel - bought 2007 kept for 1.5 years. (There were lots of things wrong with it but it never failed to start)
2008 Citroen C5 diesel - bought 2008 kept for 2 years.
2010 Renault Laguna - bought 2010 kept for 2 years
2012 Skoda Octavia - Petrol (My first automatic and bought auto cars ever after) - bought 2012 kept for 1 year. (Way too thirsty).
2013 Mazda CX-5 diesel bought 2013 and kept for 2 years
2016 Mazda CX-5 diesel bought 2016 and kept for 2 years
2018 Mazda CX-5 diesel bought 2018 and kept for 3 years
2021 Mustang Mach E

The only difference is that all electrical issues will probably be fixed with software updates (eventually). It is booked into the dealer in the New Year. To be honest I'm disappointed as from now in it will be will it/won't it...

 

[MFT]

I had the same problem yesterday. Had to tow my car because a 12V battery boost was not working. After a night in my garage with my car plugged in, it drove off this morning. I don't know what the problem was but now all the interior lights don't turn off even if I turn off the roof switch. I think this is what is draining my battery. I am lost with this. Ideas?

 

[Jonno21]

I had the same problem yesterday. Had to tow my car because a 12V battery boost was not working. After a night in my garage with my car plugged in, it drove off this morning. I don't know what the problem was but now all the interior lights don't turn off even if I turn off the roof switch. I think this is what is draining my battery. I am lost with this. Ideas?

I feel your pain. Try disconnecting the 12v battery , leaving for about 30 seconds and reconnect? To be honest I think that's all that any recovery service would do. Or book in to your dealer at the earliest opportunity who will probably scratch their heads and attempt some software updates.

 

[Shayne]

I had the same problem yesterday. Had to tow my car because a 12V battery boost was not working. After a night in my garage with my car plugged in, it drove off this morning. I don't know what the problem was but now all the interior lights don't turn off even if I turn off the roof switch. I think this is what is draining my battery. I am lost with this. Ideas?

Towed to your place?

When you say plugged in over night and then no problem. Plugged in how?

Do the lights eventually time out and shut down or just stay on for hours? Keep it going and follow up at the dealers after the holiday would be my move.

 

[Crilly]

When in doubt, reboot, disconnect the 12 volt battery for a couple minutes.

 

[louibluey]

I had the same problem yesterday. Had to tow my car because a 12V battery boost was not working. After a night in my garage with my car plugged in, it drove off this morning. I don't know what the problem was but now all the interior lights don't turn off even if I turn off the roof switch. I think this is what is draining my battery. I am lost with this. Ideas?

When was your Mach e built (date on the door jamb sticker, driver's side)? If an early build, it could be the original 12V discharge problem while plugged in, TSB 21-2091 - 12-Volt Battery Becomes Discharged While The Vehicle Is Plugged In During the High Voltage Charging Process , just a software update by the dealer.

Otherwise, something else. Please post what the dealer reports. Good luck!

I have also had problems with the light over the driver, but just a matter of remembering which button to push. I have noticed it stays on if I get the wrong button, but I thought it would eventually go off by time; maybe not.

 

[Mach-Lee]

The service battery soon alert means the 12V battery had to be recharged by DC/DC converter when the car is off because the voltage dropped too low. Normally the battery shouldn't dip low enough for that to occur, hence the reason for the error message. I still think faulty software is at play here that is causing too much of an idle draw. The message could be reworded something like "Advisory: low 12V battery, recharging". I would only expect this message if leaving the car sit for a while, like a week or two. Hopefully there is a TSB or SSM released regarding this issue at some point. Still unknown why some people seem to get the messages regularly but others don't.

I think most of these jump starting failures have to do with using a crappy jump pack that isn't up to the task rather than doing it off a running vehicle. Jump starting should work if done right, no need for a tow truck unless the battery is shorted.

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