I was towing my new GLK 350 and the hybrid died in the middle of nowhere. The unscrupulous dealer thought it was the hybrid battery or should I say insisted it was the battery even after begging it may be the fuel pump. True enough it was the fuel pump but they replaced the hybrid battery anyways. Beware of auffenberg cadillac and GM of Carbondale!

 

Yeah I thought you were the same guy in the Range Rover forum I frequent?

 

evois - thanks for the reply. The 12v battery is brand new...thought it would fix things. The engine did not even attempt to turn over so probably not fuel pump. On trickle charge now so when it gets to dealer the 12v should be OK. This is the first time visit to this dealer in Hazleton, PA. I went up there personally and talked to the mgr and he introduced me to the tech. Pretty cool in my mind. Seems like they've worked on a good number of these so we'll see. All said and done, if it turns out to be the 300v battery I will actually be happy. Means I keep the truck and don't have to spend for a new something else. Thanks. I'll report back with the outcome in a week or so.

 

Just joined the forum. Bought a 2008 about 2 years ago. Wife drives the truck and LOVES it. Been a bit of a challenge, but we're at 125k miles. Has the door lock issues on both driver side doors. Just noticed the crack in the dashboard a couple of weeks ago. About 3 months ago, had issue with #7 cylinder. Cost to fix was almost equal to new engine, so opted for new engine (we'd like to keep the truck for another 4 years). Gas mileage has been a consistent 20 mpg. We live in Texas, so summertime doesn't see a ton of auto stop due to a/c working overtime, nor when driving under 30 mph.

Over the weekend, truck just stops (cold weather just arrived as well). Dealer has had the truck for several days and cannot find any issues and truck running well. The dealer told us they ran a check on the main battery and it was showing a low charge, so they charged the battery. This begs many many questions which the service coordinator could not begin to answer. Can anyone provide help?

How can we tell the current status of the main battery?
What life is left with the battery?
Is there a particular tool which will give us this information?
How do we know the charge status?
How do we know if the battery charging is working?
What are the best practices associated with charging the battery?
Is there a way to plug in or occasionally manually charge the battery?
Are/Is there any particular quirks to look for that will give an indication of battery status (ie, auto stop does not immediately activate at a light)?
Will the truck run with a non existent main battery?
If so, how could we correlate a stall/stop with a "low" battery?
If the battery still has life, how long should a manual charge last?

My wife does small stop/go trips in the truck. Do we need to mix in some highway driving? Driving with a lot of braking?

Inquiring minds want to know... Any and all help appreciated.

 

You won't be able to charge the HV battery with "normal" equipment, nor should you try. The battery should be maintained completely by the hybrid system.

When the dealer said it was "low charge" what data did they provide? State Of Charge SOC? Voltage?

A ScanGage can read the SOC and HV voltage. The voltage should run above 290 and below 390 depending on (SOC and temperature), (Electric Driving or Re-Generative braking)

Auto Stop needs the engine warmed up above 150F, trans above 80F, HV battery above 52F (that is for 70F outside temp) Colder outside air means some of these need to be warmer.

Too hot and no Auto Stop. The HV battery is air cooled and with your miles you should check the pack inlet air grille for lint and fuzzies built up. It is on driver's side under the middle seat. The plastic carpeted trim pops up to inspect.

A Hv battery too hot >110F severely shortens life.

In general, if you are comfortable so is the battery.

FYI... the engine does NOT need to be zero rpm to be in "hybrid" mode. Watch V8-V4 indicator and instantaneous fuel economy on slight down hills with very little accelerator pedal. Once you get good at it you can try to stay V4 99 mpg while LIGHTLY increasing accelerator pedal on one of those events.

 

Hillbilly_Hybrid,

Many Many Thanks for the details.

Dealer indicated they produced a readout and will share with me today. Hopefully I can pull some of the details from the reading. Dealer also indicated main battery read 65% charged and said they let the truck idle at 2,500 for 15 mins to recharge the battery. They indicated all stop/start short trips may be the reason for the low charge. I have a long drive to work, mostly highway, so taking the truck a couple of times a month should help keep the battery at full strength. Or at a minimum, let the truck operate at normal temperatures for longer than 5 mins a trip.

I'll check the air inlet for lint and clean in prep for next summer.

 

65% SOC is near the high end of "normal". At 65% there is NO reason to charge it.

In fact the system is programmed to target SOC very close to that. Going above 70% significantly increases operating temperatures in Ni Mh chemistry and shortens life. Getting to 70% in normal operation is difficult and not good for it.

Panasonic makes that battery and they recomend to OEMs to target 60% + - 6% for longest life. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It's chemistry based not vehicle.

At 2500 rpm a 40% SOC will go up to near 65% in a few minutes.

Right now the best thing you can do is to make sure that the battery cooling inlet and outlet are clear for best flow.

 

Updated mileage and just added a few more!

 

61,000 to go and you made it to the Moon.

 

does it mean I am on my second trip to the moon? first 200+k miles was with my 1988 mitsubishi galant sigma and the return trip was by my 2003 honda pilot. but I think the hybrid will make the return trip with no problems.