Hi guys,

I have been reading the forum passionately for years but the latest series of events, led me to also become and active member from now onwards.

I would like to start with apologies for taking up your time but I really had no other good source of information. I am in Greece with my UK car and the dealer closed down and have been trying to find a local repairman ever since.

My car is a 30 June 2008 DB9 Facelift (470bhp) with 37500 miles on the meter.

I will give you the series of events that lead to this first:
- My car battery is around 7.5 years old and the previous owner must have replaced it with a simple Varta EFB and not AGM (judging from the price he paid at around 122 pounds beginning of 2017).
- The battery died and I jump started the car
- The car went into "Accident mode" with cabin lights on all the time, even with doors closed, but with everything else working well.
- After driving 20 miles or so, the car went back to "normal", cabin lights went off etc

Now, the last point says "normal" for a reason. I had noticed a little hesitant acceleration when driving those 20 miles, especially between 1500-2000 RPM and gears 4-6 and I was not sure but I thought I noticed a lump at idle too.

Fast forward 4 weeks after summer vacation, battery dead again. I fire up the car with a booster and take it to a shop for a charge. Left it a good 6 hours on the charger. Now, after the charge:

- The car has a check engine light on and clearly audible misfire
- The hesitation when accelerating comes at gears 3-6 1200-2200 RPM

Could this all be the symptoms of a battery just failing to run the car properly? I am very alarmed as the mileage and everything could indicate a coil pack/spark plug job and I am desperate as I do not know what to do in Greece other than take it to Italy to the dealer.

Thank you loads for taking the time to read and apologies for taking up your precious time.

Best regards,
John

 

That's about the mileage when my 2006 DB9 needed new ignition coils. I think that's pretty typical.

If your battery died, then you probably lost your misfire corrections and that might make the misfires more noticeable. You could try relearning the misfire corrections to see if it makes things "less bad".

 

It went from zero to 100 in no time at all and we are talking Engine light on and a lot of misfiring, that is why I suspect the battery has something to do with all this. I read online that a weak battery can cause misfires due to the fuel pump working a little slower and the voltages not being the proper ones.

However the age and mileage also make me suspect it might be the coil packs but wondering what to do now since no dealer in Greece.

 

Depending on your DIY skills you might be able to do it yourself, or find a garage to do it for you, with the help of these videos: https://aston1936.com/2016/08/08/how-to-change-the-coil-packs-and-spark-plugs-in-an-aston-martin-db9/

 

If you did not already replace your 7.5 year old battery, Get a new Battery for sure. Make sure it's the proper size and specifications. Go through the relearn process.
Invest in a OBD scanner- based on your situation the tool will be of value to you and your independent mechanic. There are several out there. Get one for your Model year.
Coils, plugs most likely due to be changed with your mileage UNLESS you have records of them being changed prior.
Running it with issues as described could cause problems' with 02 sensors.
Start a log to keep note of what steps you are taking. Battery and scanner would be my first steps. There must be more than 1 (your) Aston in Greece, find out where they are having service done.

 

Right on. I will be ditching the old Varta this weekend for a new AGM battery. Most likely the coil packs won't be avoided but a friend told me that it was very usual for Land Rovers to develop misfires from a weak battery when he was working for them so sounds like a possible first step. The ODB I guess is a must too and I have been pointed to the direction of the ThinkDiag but not sure which one exactly is the best (Mini, 1 or 2?) and how the subscription works.

I found a repair shop with pictures of DB9s on their Facebook page and I guess that is my safest bed in order to avoid a trip back to London or to Izmir.

 

Nikos Tsakinnen is your man - he was the (Master?) technician at AM Athens before they closed down. He still runs the workshop as far as I know. An extremely helpful guy.

 

Now that is USEFUL information! I do remember this guy! I added him on Facebook but do we have any further contact details perhaps?

 

No, I only know him through the V8/V12 Vantage Owners Facebook group.

But as there cannot be many independent Aston workshops in Greece, I would have assumed that it is possibly him who runs the workshop you have already detected? No?

 

Probably they got him in there. Remains to be seen. I have texted Nikos and awaiting his response.