Vehicle stopped working

[Mysterio28]

I'd been driving a truck for a good while but it suddenly stopped working for some reason. I was driving it and stopped for a bit and turned it off to loot a house. But when I got back in and tried to start it up, nothing happened. I try to turn it on and it shows the key turning but no sound from the engine. I checked under the hood and, while the truck is a little banged up, nothing is in the red and should still be in working condition. It has a full tank of gas and the battery still has 10% charge in it. The engine condition is around 40% as well. Is there something else that can cause a vehicle to suddenly stop working suddenly?

[Terrak]

I've got the same issue. I've had it happen to four vehicles now and all are in good condition.

It's definitively a bug.

[Terrak]

Originally posted by Cat Supremacist SM:

Originally posted by Terrak:

I've got the same issue. I've had it happen to four vehicles now and all are in good condition.

It's definitively a bug.

No bug, just not enough battery to get the engine to start

Yes, a bug. The battery is 100% in all cars. This is in the span of 24 hours I've had four cars do this to me. It's quite frustrating as I'm running out of cars in my area.

I'm on unstable build.

I turned on debug and loaded up.

The error I'm getting is that I don't have the key, but I do.

[Nerd.Gamer.Dave]

ANYTHING on a vehicle under 30% has a chance of breaking, not working and shutting off. This is not a bug, but how the game is designed.

Just like generators can explode and catch on fire when under either 25% or 30%.

Tires pop at 30%, or go flat.

Car engines at 10% drive maybe 5 feet before cutting out.

A car battery at 10% is more or less a dead battery with around a 10% chance of starting every time you use it. That means 90% of the time, your car simply won't start.

Keep your car batteries maintained or replace them. Keep them above 30% for optimal performance.

[Terrak]

Originally posted by Terrak:

Originally posted by Cat Supremacist SM:

No bug, just not enough battery to get the engine to start

Yes, a bug. The battery is 100% in all cars. This is in the span of 24 hours I've had four cars do this to me. It's quite frustrating as I'm running out of cars in my area.

I'm on unstable build.

I turned on debug and loaded up.

The error I'm getting is that I don't have the key, but I do.

I checked the patch notes and noticed they added a battery charge setting.

I checked the charge of the battery in all the cars that stopped working and they were all under 10%. I replaced battery — problem fixed for me.

[Kal]

If you can find a battery charger, its will recharge your battery and has zero drain on generators if your power is out. Otherwise let it run while your looting once in awhile. May draw a few extra zombies, but is a necessary evil.

[Mysterio28]

Right after I posted that, I went to clean out my inventory and saw in my bag I had found a battery charger somewhere's. I took the battery out of my truck and put it in the charger to charge overnight. Next morning, I put the now 100% battery back into my truck and it runs again! Thanks for the help. I seem to be learning something new everyday.

[Kal]

Funny how things work out. Have fun!

[ImageryGuy]

Replacing the battery or charging up the old one will not fix your 'real' issue, in my opinion. While clearing areas, you may want to adjust your 'clearing' style. What I mean is, while you are moving into new areas to loot zombies, houses, buildings, you may want to consider using a different approach to how you use your vehicle if the battery is drained of power even one time.

How I tend to do it is: when I see a small group of zombies, I leave the vehicle running, get out, kill and clean up the dead bodies, then get back in the vehicle (engine still on). What I mean by clean up dead bodies is loot them, rip all clothing into ripped sheets and thread, and move any bodies off the road into grass; this is also a source of maggots, which can be used for fishing.

Before entering any building, I try to ensure the circumference/outside does not have zombies sitting or within aggro range. Even if I do enter, I may still leave the vehicle engine on, depending on how much space the vehicle has to store loot and how much loot there is or potentially is inside the building. Also, when a house alarm is triggered, you may want a quick escape, so make this decision (to turn off engine or not) after you have cleared the building of zombies and no building alarm.

Also, when there are no other obstacles like buildings or trees to slow movement of zombies, you can circle around the outside of the vehicle while kiting zombies, which will help slow down and separate some of them, potentially making it easier to kill each zombie one-on-one. Push and stomp will eventually be your best friends, but make sure you have a good source of military boots to replace your current boots that will eventually break.

Otherwise, I suggest you carry a screwdriver and a backup vehicle battery in the trunk.