Ok so my battery seems to be dying.
Basically when i leave the car for a while the starter will spin slowly and the interior lights will be a bit dim. The obvious problem is the battery, but a few times now ive spent money on a new part and its turned out that the problem lies elsewhere. So i just wanted to check that the likely cause is a problematic battery before i go and buy an absolute beast of a new one :D
thanks team :wiggle
dying or not charging..?
faulty alt..?
no it charges. Its just when i leave the car for while, like for a couple of hours or over night, the starter will crank really slow. Its fine if the cars been running for a while and i turn it off then turn it back on straight away
dodgy wiring..?
my batt died once due to:
i installed HID, popped the lights up then closed them and it got caught on a wire n wouldnt pop back up. not sure why as when i manually cranked the lights up it didnt stick or catch.
neways.. it was the following day when i hand cranked the light up n the batt had died.
so maybe sth is not fully closing (in my case the light) and power kept going to the motor as it was constantly trying to close it hence dead batt.
jus a thought :)
interior lights?
Hmm nothing seems to be staying on inside light wise. I\'ll have a look at the head lights though they look fine. They are a bit indecisive though :P
come to think about it. If i disconnect the battery when i turn off the car then connected it again when it starts. That will tell me if the problem is with the battery or somewhere else. Sorted :D
you could always check to see how much power is being used when its all switched off and if yo have a high reading just pul fuses one by one to see which cuircit is needing looked at
sorry for the bad spelling
ok disconnected my battery last night and it was even more dead this morning.
Looks like i\'ll be buying another. Anyone got any recommendations for a decent battery?
you say it charges, do you reach 13,5-14V?
anything less will NOT charge the battery enough...
if you get a new batt, get a gell based battery like Ultima.
costs about twice as much as a normal battery, but will last a lot longer and gives strong starting power
Ok the battery got so dead i couldn\'t start the car. So had to call the AA man, as i dnot have jump cables, or a car to jump off at uni. He tested the battery and it was pretty shocking even when fully charged. They supplied a new one with 3 years guarrentee. Apparrently it should crank at constant speed for 10 seconds without dropping at all. My battery couldn\'t make 2 seconds when full charged lol
did you leave the battery on a concrete floor when charging if so this will kill your battery.
are any of the cells cloudy? if so and its less than 2 years old you could get it exchanged for a new one.
your battery will need to be 12.4v I think to turn the car over properly any less and it could have problems and run your battery down further when you try to start it.
Quote from: dthebuk;608231ok disconnected my battery last night and it was even more dead this morning.
Looks like i\'ll be buying another. Anyone got any recommendations for a decent battery?
I see you\'re sorted now but for anyone else who might be interested in batteries lasting a long time, my Halfords HB005 went on the FB on 9th September 2001. I have always put an occasional trickle charge into it in the bad months of winter though.
Quote from: ghostjd;609941did you leave the battery on a concrete floor when charging if so this will kill your battery.
are any of the cells cloudy? if so and its less than 2 years old you could get it exchanged for a new one.
your battery will need to be 12.4v I think to turn the car over properly any less and it could have problems and run your battery down further when you try to start it.
No i left it in the car and just disconnected it. It was clearly already dead by this point, thanks anyway.
2001? thats ages ago! You can\'t use your car as a daily, surely?!
Quote from: dthebuk;6100212001? thats ages ago! You can\'t use your car as a daily, surely?!
Well yes, up to late 2004 it was out all weathers, all year, doing mainly short trips with an occasional longer trip in the dry (each week or so), just to keep it charged up and the car dried out. From 2004 I admit it\'s only gone out a couple of times a week, mainly in good weather.
Still I\'m amazed that the battery is still sound. If is does fail I\'ll be straight to Halfords for another of the same.