Zero electricity in the Clio Willy??

[Frimley111R]

I left my Clio Williams for a couple of weeks and then it failed to start. It seemed like the battery was totally dead. As its quite new I connected it to a charger but the charger indicated the battery was perfectly fine and charged. I put the battery back in the car and its still totally dead, nothing works at all. I didn't even get a little spark as I connected the second terminal. I am a bit confused. Any ideas??

[anonymous-user]

if nothing at all works, not even the clock, and the battery measures at least 12v on a multimeter, then you have some other issue with the wiring. Generally a "flat" lead acid automotive battery will hold enough voltage to drive the dash lights and the clock, but not to start the engine or run headlamps etc.


You have of course, connected the terminals the correct way around haven't you??

[andyiley]

You say "the charger indicated the battery was perfectly fine and charged."

Please can you explain how the charger does this?

I may be being pedantic, but I know of no charger that can do what you say.

Dis it simply show no charging current, or did it show a good healthy voltage etc.

[Frimley111R]

The charger has lights. Red for 'flat', yellow for partial charge and green for fully charged. Oddly it showed green. I checked the battery with the multimeter and it's totally dead. So, problem solved, but I am not sure why the charger indicated that it was fine.

[anonymous-user]

Frimley111R said:

but I am not sure why the charger indicated that it was fine.

Because your charger is pretty dumb. When a Lead Acid battery fails, it generally fails to "high impedance". Hence, after applying a charging voltage, it pretty much immediately results in no current flow, and hence your charge thinks it is "charged" (because high volts = no current is also the charged state)

[Frimley111R]

Thanks, thought there might be an explanation along those lines. New battery just bought. Lets hope for a quick resurrection!

[S0 What]

If the new battery doesn'r work check the earth under the battery tray to the gearbox, these shear off and cause all sorts of problems on the clio.

[dom9]

Mine was completely dead in the Willy, matey!

Trip to Halfords for a Yuasa 480 with the 5yr warranty sorted it!

We should get together and compare death traps soon (off to London this weekend).

[Frimley111R]

Thanks guys. Question: my old battery had holes in the top of the terminals which then had screws in them, screwing the leads in place. My new one doesn't so do I just drill the tops and tap?

[andyiley]

They are probably of the self tapping variety so just require drilling, if not then yes, just make sure you only just go deep enough for the screw length though..... Obviously.

[Frimley111R]

andyiley said:

They are probably of the self tapping variety so just require drilling, if not then yes, just make sure you only just go deep enough for the screw length though..... Obviously.

Thanks