Limited Telematics

[brainf18]

I got the Limited Telematics service advisory light today. The car had been sitting for about 10 days due to really bad weather. I spoke with my dealer service rep and he explained that the telematics system has a battery in addition to the car's battery. I'm told the battery responsible for telematics connectivity can not be charged through the trickle charger and only gets re-charged as the car is driven. He explained, "Drive the car and the advisory goes away." After about an hour I stopped for gas, and on start up the telematics advisory did go away. However this is REALLY annoying.

Two part question for the group...

1. Can the Telematics battery be replaced and if so has anyone done this? Where is the battery located and what type of battery is it?

2. Can the Telematics system be completely disabled by removing a fuse or coding the ECU?

 

[Bimmernate]

I used to have the same error, same symptoms. Mine also started after the car had sat unused for about a month. Charging battery in trunk does not help. Basically the error came on during start up after the car had sat overnight. Once you'd drive the car around, the error would go away. I recently got my car back from the dealer and it appears to be fixed. They said it was a software update. I read the service sheet which states "CEM needed update 170101tt."

 

[brainf18]

OK! I pretty sure I've found a solution to charge the Telematics battery without driving the car.

Step 1. Put the car on a Battery tender / charger. I used the Lotus branded on that came with the car
Step 2. Put the car into Ignition Mode II (See owners manual insert below)
Step 3. Turn off all non essential electrical components such as the fan, lights etc.

This activates Telematics system and allows for a 12v charge from the charger vice the car's system. I did this for about 2 hours and the telematics caution went away and did not come back after several engine start / stop cycles.

My dealer tells me there might be a software reflash coming to fix the problem permanently for North American cars but nothing has been confirmed yet and apparently the telematics battery is hard wired into the control module so its can't just be swapped out. So in the mean time this is the best option to keep the telematics dash advisory light off.

 

[Bimmernate]

OK! I pretty sure I've found a solution to charge the Telematics battery without driving the car.

Step 1. Put the car on a Battery tender / charger. I used the Lotus branded on that came with the car
Step 2. Put the car into Ignition Mode II (See owners manual insert below)
Step 3. Turn off all non essential electrical components such as the fan, lights etc.

This activates Telematics system and allows for a 12v charge from the charger vice the car's system. I did this for about 2 hours and the telematics caution went away and did not come back after several engine start / stop cycles.

View attachment 58042

My dealer tells me there might be a software reflash coming to fix the problem permanently for North American cars but nothing has been confirmed yet and apparently the telematics battery is hard wired into the control module so its can't just be swapped out. So in the mean time this is the best option to keep the telematics dash advisory light off.

I tried “charging the battery” that way several times back when I used to have the error; the light would still come back on the next day. I also find it hard to believe that nearly new lithium batteries on these telematics modules have actually gone bad. I think it really is just software related and/or fluctuations in voltage that trigger it, but obviously not sure. Let us know if your light stays off after 2 days of the car sitting and you charging it

 

[brainf18]

I tried “charging the battery” that way several times back when I used to have the error; the light would still come back on the next day. I also find it hard to believe that nearly new lithium batteries on these telematics modules have actually gone bad. I think it really is just software related and/or fluctuations in voltage that trigger it, but obviously not sure. Let us know if your light stays off after 2 days of the car sitting and you charging it

Will do...Its off the charger now. I'll let it sit overnight and see what happens tomorrow when I start it up. But what I can say for sure is the telematics like was on 100% of the time until I tried charging with the ignition switch in II-Active. After that it went away. More to follow

 

[Rupes]

Ironically, this same message appeared on my Mazda Cx-90 (but not my Emira). The solution? Disconnect the battery for an hour and see if it fixes the error. It did.

These new cars are too complicated.