Hi everyone, 

I've a annoying fault that occours on my daily commute which is a 20 mile run along motorway and dual carriageway. 

I do this journey early in the morning after the car has been sat on the drive overnight. 

Approximately 15-20 mins into the journey whilst I'm driving at between 60-70mph an 'engine malfunction' message appears on the dash display along with a yellow letter 'i' light.  

Often but not always the yellow 'skidding car' light is lit as well. 

Once or twice 'transmission failure' has also appeared. 

The car then starts to struggle and accelleration is reduced to a weak juddering sensation and speed gradually decreases.

I took it into my usual mechanic who looked at the error codes and was only able to come to the conclusion that it was likely an electrical fault. 

He suggested that it could possibly be the battery i.e. it is not efficient and needs replacing or maybe a wiring issue and the battery is not being charged properly due to a faulty connection or wiring, or the alternator itself. 

He suggested I tried charging the battery at home the night before I drive it to work, which I did once. The following two mornings (and return trips in the afternoons) were fault free.

After a few days off I've done my usual morning commute today and the fault has returned. 

I've been given the number of a local auto electrician who can check the state of the wiring and connections but have we missed anything which is worth a try before I spend any money?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer 🙂

If you don't know when the battery was last changed, or, if you know it's over 6 years old, change the battery before you do anything else.

Fully charge the new battery before fitting

And ensure the car is informed of any new battery fitting, let us know if that helps or become a OPW? 😉