A few days ago my wife took the Buggy out for a spin. She put it back in the garage, but put the key at the wrong position (one click past start - accessory?) and removed the key. I am guessing that the lights were still on, but she didn't pay it any mind because her Highlander turns the lights off by itself. (I told her, "Sure, the Slingshot turns the lights off by itself too, it just takes a lot longer.") I went out to start it this morning and got nothing, no lights, no warmup purr, no Ride Command, just the red light on the start button. I connected it to the solar panel trickle charger, but we didn't have enough sun in 8 hours to do any good. (Ended up driving to work in my car. Did I mention it rained for part of the trip? Is that irony or just dumb luck?) So, I looked up how to get to the battery (now I know why there are jump-start kits!) and used a battery jumper to get it running.
Two things happened. One, when I got down on the ground to take the panel off, I see this.
The dealer must have put a trickle charger on it when they stored it for the winter because there was no previous owner (2019 SLR, I bought it as a discounted leftover when the 2020 models came out.) It never occurred to me to even look back there when I was asking last winter about a trickle charger. At that time, I didn't even know the battery was back there. Not that it mattered much, I still would have needed the solar panel because there is no power in my garage. Well, at least now I have a different spot to plug in the solar panel when I get those heated seats.
It started right up once I connected the booster, but when I was checking the info panel for the battery voltage, I saw this:
I found an older post here from someone who had this problem, and it ended with replacing a relay. So now my question is, was it caused because the battery was deader than disco for two days, or is a grounded relay what contributed to the battery draining in the first place? I did not remove the battery, I just connected the clamps to each terminal to jump it. (The booster does not have a connector to fit the connector I found, but I will soon remedy that.) The last time I drove it was this past weekend, and there was no error. My wife said she did not see it when she had the SS out three days ago. (But then, she also didn't notice that the lights were still on when she parked it.)
Is the SS safe to drive right now, or is it grounded until I can get a replacement relay? I'm going to check the manual to see if it's something I can get at the local auto parts store or if I have to order one from someplace more Slingshot-centric.
Glenn