Start/Stop Issues 'vehicle power consumption high'

[Jericho704]

Hey fellow polo owners!

I seem to have an issue, with my 2018 SEL 115ps, with only 1600 miles on it, that has been persisting for at least a month now, where my Start/stop never triggers, and the display shows "Vehicle power consumption high"
No errors are displayed in the mfd or gauge cluster, but the crossed out start-stop symbol always appears when I stop at a light.

I have measured my battery voltage:

Car fully Off: 12.25V (this sound low?)
Car engine on: 13.76V

The air con is off, fans are off, radio is off, nothing is plugged into the 12V, USB sockets, or OBD2 sockets,
Rear demist is off, alongside with headlights and wipers.
Basically, everything that may consume power, I have turned off.

Anyone able to help? Or are suffering from this too? (other VWAG forums seem to show that I may be not alone)

Help a fellow polo owner out, all is appreciated

[monkeyhanger]

Anything else consuming power, like a hardwired dashcams?

Don't forget that battery capacity is lower in the cold.

All those things consuming power - they're off now, but are they usually off? Do you do mainly short (<5 miles) journeys that don't give the battery a chance to recover? Have you left your heated wing mirrors on (easily done) - they should switch themselves off after a while.

We're all using the lights now (unless you have 9am to 3pm job) - Have you swapped your bulbs out for something a bit higher powered?

If it's no to all of that the you might have an underperforming battery or alternator. Has your mpg dropped off a lot lately (It does a bit in winter, but on a petrol doing at least a 10 mile commute,, I wouldn't expect more than a 5% drop).

[Jericho704]

Anything else consuming power, like a hardwired dashcams?

Don't forget that battery capacity is lower in the cold.

All those things consuming power - they're off now, but are they usually off? Do you do mainly short (<5 miles) journeys that don't give the battery a chance to recover? Have you left your heated wing mirrors on (easily done) - they should switch themselves off after a while.

We're all using the lights now (unless you have 9am to 3pm job) - Have you swapped your bulbs out for something a bit higher powered?

If it's no to all of that the you might have an underperforming battery or alternator. Has your mpg dropped off a lot lately (It does a bit in winter, but on a petrol doing at least a 10 mile commute,, I wouldn't expect more than a 5% drop).

Thanks for all the questions!

the things that I normally use, are not normally off, I will try and keep them off long-term sans the lights, obviously.
I do short commutes, I may go for a motorway drive on the weekend to see if that helps.

The thing that does open my eyes, I have switched out my halogens, to aftermarket LEDs, I will change back to the old halogens, and Ill see if that helps.
But, I did have a good couple of weeks with the LEDs, and usb devices all on, with the start stop working fine, but that was during our warm September.

I have only owned this car since september, and I have done 1400 out of the 1600 miles on it, my MPG is relatively poor, sitting at 38MPG average, but my last continuous motorway journey over 15 miles, was over a month and a half ago, and I do like to bury my foot in the carpet, as there are majority A roads during my commute

[monkeyhanger]

Aftermarket LEDs should not be to blame, on the assumption that their output in Watts is less than the original bulbs output.

[Andy Beats]

38MPG if you're burying your foot isn't bad, I'm barely managing that tickling the throttle.

[RUM4MO]

Jericho704, I'm curious to know which halogen bulbs you have swopped for LEDs ?

[Jericho704]

Jericho704, I'm curious to know which halogen bulbs you have swopped for LEDs ?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... UTF8&psc=1 These ones, have been good so far

Update
After taking my car out for a few consecutive motorway runs, the stop/start works, most of the time, must be a recharge issue, as I only do few, but frequent miles regularly.

[vc-10]

I have the same issues with my Fabia- too much city driving and the stop/start just gives up.

[Jericho704]

I have the same issues with my Fabia- too much city driving and the stop/start just gives up.

yeah, ive been scouring other VAG forums, and it dosent seem too uncommon

oh well :/
More life for our starters

[RUM4MO]

oh well :/
More life for our starters

Every cloud etc etc?

[monkeyhanger]

Lower capacity of charge in the Winter, heavier use of heating (wing mirrors, rear screen and maybe heated seats) and lighting all take their toll. It's harder to restart a cold car (not that it's advisable to do so from a wear point of view), so the car's battery will not support stop-start until you've done 4 or 5 miles to get a healthy state of charge back and the engine is warm.

Wait until the Summer when you're hardly using your lights and heating and the battery can support a higher charge capacity due to higher ambient temps.

I never get that message for low battery charge, but my 13 mile commute each way probably supports battery recovery, even from my dashcams being on in park mode. There are times my stop-start won't cut in, usually at the starting 1/3 Of my journey.

If you have a short commute then your battery will always be struggling to maintain charge in the Winter without your alternator working overtime.

[Jericho704]

Lower capacity of charge in the Winter, heavier use of heating (wing mirrors, rear screen and maybe heated seats) and lighting all take their toll. It's harder to restart a cold car (not that it's advisable to do so from a wear point of view), so the car's battery will not support stop-start until you've done 4 or 5 miles to get a healthy state of charge back and the engine is warm.

Wait until the Summer when you're hardly using your lights and heating and the battery can support a higher charge capacity due to higher ambient temps.

I never get that message for low battery charge, but my 13 mile commute each way probably supports battery recovery, even from my dashcams being on in park mode. There are times my stop-start won't cut in, usually at the starting 1/3 Of my journey.

If you have a short commute then your battery will always be struggling to maintain charge in the Winter without your alternator working overtime.

That helps alot, with my daily commute only being 5 miles one way, and the need for heated rear window, mirror and front demist, alongside with full lights, and with the lower battery capacity, this is the perfect storm for my start/stop to cease working.

[Andy Beats]

That helps alot, with my daily commute only being 5 miles one way, and the need for heated rear window, mirror and front demist, alongside with full lights, and with the lower battery capacity, this is the perfect storm for my start/stop to cease working.

My commute is 3 miles, stop/start has always worked so far.
This is with everything you've listed above plus heated seats on.

[Jericho704]

That helps alot, with my daily commute only being 5 miles one way, and the need for heated rear window, mirror and front demist, alongside with full lights, and with the lower battery capacity, this is the perfect storm for my start/stop to cease working.

My commute is 3 miles, stop/start has always worked so far.
This is with everything you've listed above plus heated seats on.

Congratulations.

I have booked an appointment with my local dealer, see if they can help.

[awsm]

That helps alot, with my daily commute only being 5 miles one way, and the need for heated rear window, mirror and front demist, alongside with full lights, and with the lower battery capacity, this is the perfect storm for my start/stop to cease working.

My commute is 3 miles, stop/start has always worked so far.
This is with everything you've listed above plus heated seats on.

Congratulations.

I have booked an appointment with my local dealer, see if they can help.

Sorry for the necro bump, just wondering what came of your trip to the dealers? My car is the same, I do about 10 miles each way and I notice if the cars had a good drive on the weekend start stop kicks in after a few minutes Monday, Tuesday about 10 mins, Wednesday 15 mins and then it'll take a 30-40min+ drive for it to come on again. Considered booking into the dealers but get the feeling they'll just put it on a charger tell me no faults found and hand it back?