Battery tender causing electrical issues?

[aris21]

Am I crazy to think this? I have a 2011 E92 and for the past 6 months I haven't been driving it as much as I want. I drive it maybe 25 miles per week... So I bought myself a battery tender specifically this one - http://www.batterytender.com/Charger...fficiency.html.

What I've noticed is every time I do a full charge I will get some electrical gremlins come out... some examples are:

1. DSC light will randomly flash (driving normal) and will tell me to slow down and take it to the dealership ASAP. Then go away.

2. After starting (not cold start) my idle creeped its way up to almost 2K and stayed there. Took it to dealership and they couldn't figure it out - they just replace the coolant temp sensor hoping it could be that.

3. DSC light came on and off again yesterday while I was going 65 on the freeway.

Am I crazy to think that a battery tender are causing these small issues???

[Beemdog]

Haven't seen/heard of a full charge causing failures. Just the opposite. Oddly enough, a throttle actuator failure often results in a "DSC Failure!" to be shown among other failures (see threads on throttle actuators).

[dparm]

Technically you should be using the gel-specific Battery Tender, but the only benefit to it is that it should prolong the battery life.

Suggestion: stop using the charger for a few weeks and see if the problems stop.

[chillp]

I've been using a battery tender for the same reason (low miles and more short trips recently). My charger has a switch to go back and forth between regular and gel batteries, but I haven't had any of the issues you described. Actually, it was the opposite. I had a bunch of warning lights when the battery was low and they disappeared after charging the battery.

[New2Roundel]

Do these symptoms happen after driving the car for a little while or soon after you start driving? Have you had the battery and alternator tested? A weak battery can cause all sorts of issues.

[aris21]

Originally Posted by New2Roundel

Do these symptoms happen after driving the car for a little while or soon after you start driving? Have you had the battery and alternator tested? A weak battery can cause all sorts of issues.

The Battery is about 3 months old only so its fairly new. It always happens soon after I start driving the car. For example: The car will be charging overnight and then I will drive it the next morning. As soon as I drive it for about 10 miles or so then thats when these things happen. Then it goes away.

[BPMSport]

Instead of guessing you should read the fault codes and see what they are.

Highly unlikely it's from the tender, there is probably something wrong with the car.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

Instead of guessing you should read the fault codes and see what they are.

Highly unlikely it's from the tender, there is probably something wrong with the car.

Spot on Mike .