Ghost in the Car

[Boomer54]

Really weird happenings in the car yesterday.

Due to inactivity and a couple of frosts overnight my Battery was low. Got some charge back from a run on Saturday out to Heysham and back, but thought I would turn it over daily for a couple of days to preserve it. Yesterday I took a book out with me to sit in the car whilst it was idling on my driveway. Over the course of 50 minutes my CD player came to life spontaneously. First time I nearly headbutted the roof I was so surprised. Each time I faithfully turned it of just to have it repeat a total of 3 times.

Obviously I will be monitoring this. For context I have not had this problem before during my ownership of the last couple of months. Moreover yesterday the winds here were very strong and just sat in the car I could feel the car rock periodically from the gusts.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Clearly I am wondering about the effects of the wind and I will be watching now as the weather returns to normal. Still, it seems an unusual occurrence. 

[GMB]

Was it playing the police CD  Ghost in the machine?

[Malc1]

suggest when wind is breaking to have the roof open, secondly, did the music play " rock " ?

Malc

[Boomer54]

R Dean Taylor has a lot to answer for.

Comedians are out in force this morning. Now trying to work out if having the 'roof open' was a real fix ,or a joke I didn't understand.

[RONNIE W HODGEKINSON]

Best Check Your 12v Battery.........Could need replacing...!!!!

[Boomer54]

Certainly starting to get the idea I am having to charge up too often. Stew did tell me he wasn't sure how much life would be left in this Battery so it is not coming as a surprise if it does need swapping out.

[Nigel Coleman]

If the Battery charge/voltage is too low it will cause crazy things to happen with the electricals.

"Spirits in the Material World".   🙂

[Boomer54]

So, if I said money was no object for a really proven top line product what Battery would people recommend ?

No, Malc ,whatever it is that is permeating inside your head, resist . 😉

[GMB]

I recommend one of them big black 12v things

[GMB]

Sorry about the facetious reply😝

I have found that any quality manufacturer will do. I currently have Bosch.

One thing to check is the number of people that have had nasty issues after replacing the Battery. Check the forum.

For that reason I would pay the penalty and get Lexus to do it so that if they break something they have to fix it.

[Boomer54]

Yes, I had thought there would be more to it than the simple Battery swap of old.

Not sure Lexus would do it though unless I detach my current charging setup. They seem a bit pernickity about anything that is not original source from them.

[Boomer54]

3 hours ago, Boomer54 said:

Yes, I had thought there would be more to it than the simple battery swap of old.

Not sure Lexus would do it though unless I detach my current charging setup. They seem a bit pernickity about anything that is not original source from them.

Finding a suitable Battery will be easy enough , but I was surprised not to find tech spec data for it in the manual. Is that normal?

[GMB]

it's just a Battery it does nothing but give volts amps and watts, oh, and maybe a bit of heat while it is at it. There's nowt clever about a Battery. I should know because there's nowt clever about me either. My wife told me so.

First it has to fit in the space then it has to be a decent make and give as many amps as you can get. A Battery only gives whatever is demanded from it.

All that is from memory. I might be talking a load of bol  sorry - rubbish.

[Nigel Coleman]

Stephen, you could always buy and use a "memory saver" for when you change the Battery if you are worried.

Draper 22231 EOBD Memory Saver, Blue : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive

However - today I changed the Battery on my Mercedes CLK without using anything and all setting were retained. I think that the ECU retains a little power and takes some time to fully discharge and lose setting?

It took me about 5 minutes to change the Battery and every thing was fine.

[Nigel Coleman]

I did also did the old "switch the ignition on and off 3 times without starting the car" procedure afterwards.

[GMB]

Not worth the risk on a dodgy Lexus. They bite. Let the dealer do it and take responsibility and pay his awful fee.

Read the horror stories.

[dutchie01]

Sitting in the car for 50mins with the engine idling whilst reading a book?  Maybe time to call a helpline? 

[Boomer54]

7 minutes ago, GMB said:

Not worth the risk on a dodgy Lexus. They bite. Let the dealer do it and take responsibility and pay his awful fee.

Read the horror stories.

Sacre Dieu !

The heathens are amongst us.

[Boomer54]

2 minutes ago, dutchie01 said:

Sitting in the car for 50mins with the engine idling whilst reading a book?  Maybe time to call a helpline? 

It is a good book if that helps !

[GMB]

What was the book? Anyone got any suggestions?

I think I saw it on eBay recently

idle times: a poetry collection by K a Davis (Paperback, 2020)

£11 ! Do you think I am made of money!!

[dutchie01]

4 minutes ago, Boomer54 said:

It is a good book if that helps !

Come to think of it its quite tempting. Once a week i drive off to clean the car and i call it an hour for myself. Nobody giving me orders or complaining about whatever..... I might give it a try!

[GMB]

Please let us know how you get on with the Battery change. I hope it goes well. It would be good for others to have some confidence.  As a confirmed registered chicken I would pay the insurance in having Lexus take the risk but then you're a better man than I am Bungdit In.    Sorry I can't get that "Carry on" film scene out of my mind.

[GMB]

Just checked to make sure I got this right. One person said that the audio system packed in but he might have done something stupid - who knows...

Any people out there who have successfully changed their Battery with no problems?

 

This guide looks at common problems preventing a Lexus from starting after replacing or disconnecting the Battery.

Symptoms

• Lexus won’t start after changing the Battery.
• Lexus won’t start after disconnecting the Battery.
• The security light comes on but won’t turn off.
• The engine won’t turn over.
• The alarm goes off when connecting the Battery.

[Linas.P]

Just small note here - idling car to charge it is not the most ideal, especially when you have to run 4.3L V8 to do it. Battery would charge faster when driving + it consume negligible fuel compared to running the car (~2000-3000RPM is where alternator makes it's maximum amps, so as you can imagine 700-800rpm isn't optimal). My point - find your new favourite road and drive the beast more!

As for radio coming on I really don't know, but I have one idea - there is function for road alerts, so for example if you listening for CD or using Aux, it may turn it to radio when driving and I remember begin really irritated about this when going trough Link-House tunnel. They had maybe faulty transmitter there for emergencies, and every time entering the tunnel it would switch to FM and I could see little warning appearing "emergency reported" (or something along those lines). 

So perhaps it could turn on the radio even when it is off, if it could switch from CD to FM, then why not turn the radio on? Thinking about it now - I am not sure you can even switch it off...

[Boomer54]

• "Lexus won’t start after disconnecting the Battery." ...how very strange😉