[Stuart Bench]

Hi All, first post so please bear with me as I learn the terminology.

I have a 2012 Ampera thats broken down a couple of times now and im not getting many answers from Vauxhall and/or Vauxhall dealerships so I thought i'd share it here to see if anyone else has had the problem.

A couple of times now (along the motorway approx 60mph) as the battery power stops and the engine kicks in the car flashes up a couple of messages instantly - 1) Reduced propulsion and 2) Engine not available - service soon.

Everything operates fine for a few miles and the total loss of propulsion. I come to a stop, turn off and back on again and the car can now move albeit slowly and with the engine performing much greater than normal. Im on the motorway so literal use to crawl off the next junction. During this crawl the engine has picked up and can increase speeds if I wanted, which I dont. The engine noise is much lower than when it first started but still a bit more than in normal operation.

Thankfully in both recent times I have only been a few miles away from a charge point so after it has a bit of battery power added it operates perfectly normally again but with the orange management light. It has been returned to the garage where they have made a "software upgrade" and all ok.

The same has happened again today but I have now left it for a full charge and the orange management light (which was on earlier) has now gone.

Ive got to take it to the garage again but would like to maybe supply some suggestions rather than get another software upgrade. I know they're Pros but they may be missing something that someone here has uncovered.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Geoff]

Hi. Sorry to hear of your problems. It might be worth checking the 12v battery.

 

[hopbackguy]

I agree with Geoff. If the 12v battery is the original one then replace it. There are plenty of threads on this forum concerning the 12v battery wearing out after 3-4 years and the myriad confusing problems that can cause. If you've been dealing with an Ampera service centre (it can't just be any old Vauxhall service centre, you know that, right?) then I would have hoped they'd have mentioned this.

 

[HandyAndy]

It's well worth getting an ELM 327 dongle, eBay £5, and Torque Lite for an Android phone, it's free. It plugs into the socket just below & left of steering wheel, and you can read the Error Log to get some detailed numbers. P1E00 means Some Error and gets you the engine warning light lit. Should be others which we can look up to get much more detailed info. Search for Bosch S5 to get info on a good battery. Cost appx £75 so don't let anyone rip you off for 100s. Swapping is a diy job.

 

[Matei Palimariciuc]

Hello everyone!
The same thing happend to me but with a twist. At a junction while still having 20 km left of battery it suddenly lost all power, propulsion and steering. I came to a stop. Tried to power it of and on again and it woldn't power off. After a while i got service brakes and traction control warning messages and the check engine warning light. After 15 minutes of trying to restart the car I finally got it going again but with the propulsion power reduced message, without the brake and traction control messages. The central diaplay said that i have full battery avaible but 0 range. I drove 15 km to a service, restarted the car and it still had the reduced propulsion power message. I'm hoping it's the 12 volt battery and nothing to serious.
Did you chage the battery Stuart, and if so, did that fixed the problem?

 

[another]

Hello everyone!
The same thing happend to me but with a twist. At a junction while still having 20 km left of battery it suddenly lost all power, propulsion and steering. I came to a stop. Tried to power it of and on again and it woldn't power off. After a while i got service brakes and traction control warning messages and the check engine warning light. After 15 minutes of trying to restart the car I finally got it going again but with the propulsion power reduced message, without the brake and traction control messages. The central diaplay said that i have full battery avaible but 0 range. I drove 15 km to a service, restarted the car and it still had the reduced propulsion power message. I'm hoping it's the 12 volt battery and nothing to serious.
Did you chage the battery Stuart, and if so, did that fixed the problem?

He hasn't been back to the forum since asking his question.

It remains the case that 12v battery issues produce lots of confusing errors and problems on most ev and hybrid cars. For the time and cost it is always worth putting a good new 12v battery in - especially f you are still on the original battery.

 

[Matei Palimariciuc]

Will do! I'm gonna be back once i get news from the service! Thanks!

 

[BlaaaZ]

What was wrong? Im having similar issues. New 12v battery installed 2 months ago and its still doing it.

 

[Spiny]

This is a very old thread, you are best off in the general motors forum Ampera section. Where there a various threads on this.
For example reduced propulsion