Looking for some thoughts.
Just come back from driving #308 around France (Caen to the Pyrenees & back) & had a few electrical glitches enroute.
First one was on the second day. Went to get petrol in the morning then parked up at a supermarket went to lock the car & the key seemed dead. Put key back in ignition, dash lights came on & car started then when I went to lock the car again everything locked fine.
No other problems until we were on the way back.
This Monday we stopped in the morning after about 1 1/2 hour drive. Walked around for about an hour then when I tried to start the car absolutely nothing happened, no lights at all on the dash. The battery is only a couple of years old & we were only running a sat nav & dashcam.
Tried disconnecting the battery leaving for 5 mins then reconnecting, still no power. Starting to think the alternator has gone but also had no signs of battery problems.
Phoned for breakdown assistance & while we were waiting for an update from them (about 30 mins) I thought why don't I just try the spare key that I carry when we go to France, not expecting to get a result. Car started immediately with the second key (phew), so it was like the car had not recognised the key I had been using all week. Drove to our B&B & then tried the key that had not worked earlier only to find it was working Ok now.
On Tuesday after a 2 1/2 hour drive on a very hot afternoon got to our hotel & whilst parking the power steering warning light kept coming on & the power steering turning off while I was parking. I think this was probably heat related as the next day we drove an hour to Ouistreham & then from Portsmouth to home 1 1/2 hours with no power steering problems or fault lights but much cooler conditions.
Has anybody had anything like this before, specifically a key not being recognised by the car but then later being Ok again. Or could the key problem & the power steering problem be due to the onboard computer starting to malfunction?
thanks in advance for any input
Just come back from driving #308 around France (Caen to the Pyrenees & back) & had a few electrical glitches enroute.
First one was on the second day. Went to get petrol in the morning then parked up at a supermarket went to lock the car & the key seemed dead. Put key back in ignition, dash lights came on & car started then when I went to lock the car again everything locked fine.
No other problems until we were on the way back.
This Monday we stopped in the morning after about 1 1/2 hour drive. Walked around for about an hour then when I tried to start the car absolutely nothing happened, no lights at all on the dash. The battery is only a couple of years old & we were only running a sat nav & dashcam.
Tried disconnecting the battery leaving for 5 mins then reconnecting, still no power. Starting to think the alternator has gone but also had no signs of battery problems.
Phoned for breakdown assistance & while we were waiting for an update from them (about 30 mins) I thought why don't I just try the spare key that I carry when we go to France, not expecting to get a result. Car started immediately with the second key (phew), so it was like the car had not recognised the key I had been using all week. Drove to our B&B & then tried the key that had not worked earlier only to find it was working Ok now.
On Tuesday after a 2 1/2 hour drive on a very hot afternoon got to our hotel & whilst parking the power steering warning light kept coming on & the power steering turning off while I was parking. I think this was probably heat related as the next day we drove an hour to Ouistreham & then from Portsmouth to home 1 1/2 hours with no power steering problems or fault lights but much cooler conditions.
Has anybody had anything like this before, specifically a key not being recognised by the car but then later being Ok again. Or could the key problem & the power steering problem be due to the onboard computer starting to malfunction?
thanks in advance for any input