I'm fed up with my car
Discussion
So far this year I have spent in excess of £2k on the car, C Service, Geo, Coil Packs, Brakes, Battery, Tyres, Fault finding etc etc...
This morning it would not start, so charged the battery for a couple of hours, car started ok then I left it to run for a while and it started again ok.
Finished off putting up some gates to keep the little beastie safe, walked the dog. Then went out for chinese, thought only a short journey so take other car and its battery is also flat
, oh well take the Lotus, came back and tried to put car away and it keeps cutting out as soon as you dip the clutch. If you restart the engine it runs ok until you put in to gear move a couple of yards and dip the clutch it then cuts out again.
Is this due to the battery not been back upto full condition or am I going to have to get my wallet out again?
ETA The wife is now saying it's got to go
she can go as well if that happens.
This morning it would not start, so charged the battery for a couple of hours, car started ok then I left it to run for a while and it started again ok.
Finished off putting up some gates to keep the little beastie safe, walked the dog. Then went out for chinese, thought only a short journey so take other car and its battery is also flat
, oh well take the Lotus, came back and tried to put car away and it keeps cutting out as soon as you dip the clutch. If you restart the engine it runs ok until you put in to gear move a couple of yards and dip the clutch it then cuts out again.Is this due to the battery not been back upto full condition or am I going to have to get my wallet out again?
ETA The wife is now saying it's got to go
she can go as well if that happens.Edited by Pied Piper on Wednesday 8th August 21:03
jondude said:
How old is the battery? May be time for a new one. Every time they get close to discharge, it is killing them, and eventually they go from fully charged behaviour to dead behaviour ( and back ) in minutes.
Only another £30-£50!
New battery in March.Only another £30-£50!
It seemed a bit strange that both of my cars suffer discharged batteries on the same day. Going to get up early tomorrow and stick the run about on charge, then rack some miles around Kent's finest roads and see how the car is then.
If no improvement will post on SELOC and see if anyone their has a clue.
Just moaning about the costs as the car cost me nothing in the first 12 months, just it's getting to 6 year old now and don't want it to turn into a money pit before the engine conversion next year.
Maybe a current leak somewhere?? Try putting a multimeter in-line with the battery (in series) and see how many milliamps it's using when the cars doing nothing.
The amount consumed should be v.small (little bit for the memory on the radio and a little bit for the alarm etc). If the car is stalling then the battery has been near to completely discharged and the strain on the alternator trying to pull the voltage back up literally will create a big resistance!!
If the battery HAS been flattened then do not drive the car as there is a quite high likelyhood that the alternator may be damaged by this (as mine was). Probably best to charge on a battery charger first to bring the voltage back up and THEN go for a drive!!
P.S. Just a thought...you haven't left the interior light on have you???!!!
The amount consumed should be v.small (little bit for the memory on the radio and a little bit for the alarm etc). If the car is stalling then the battery has been near to completely discharged and the strain on the alternator trying to pull the voltage back up literally will create a big resistance!!
If the battery HAS been flattened then do not drive the car as there is a quite high likelyhood that the alternator may be damaged by this (as mine was). Probably best to charge on a battery charger first to bring the voltage back up and THEN go for a drive!!
P.S. Just a thought...you haven't left the interior light on have you???!!!
dosent seem that much in 9 months..but again it depends on how much use youve got out of it...If Id done 2K miles at weekends Id be pissed...but if its used every day and done 8K this year then it would be cheap...to be honest, all the stuff you mention is pretty normal...a C service is required at certain intervals regardless of use so dosent really count etc
its not a Ford Focus...and just entry level in performance car world in running costs...in the big scheme of things, and Elise is the cheapest pukka sportscar there is ....
its not a Ford Focus...and just entry level in performance car world in running costs...in the big scheme of things, and Elise is the cheapest pukka sportscar there is ....
Maybe the cutting out is something to do with the immobiliser seeing as you have disconneced the battery recently.
Get the alternator checked out as it may not be charging, or it could be overcharging - this happenned to me once and completely fried my battery - it looked like a balloon by the time I took the battery out (not in the lotus though).
Silly question also, but have you checked the alternator belt for tension? A friend of mine once had a problem with the car starting and I found the belt wasn't there at all!
Get the alternator checked out as it may not be charging, or it could be overcharging - this happenned to me once and completely fried my battery - it looked like a balloon by the time I took the battery out (not in the lotus though).
Silly question also, but have you checked the alternator belt for tension? A friend of mine once had a problem with the car starting and I found the belt wasn't there at all!
Pied Piper said:
Just moaning about the costs as the car cost me nothing in the first 12 months, just it's getting to 6 year old now and don't want it to turn into a money pit before the engine conversion next year.
Unfortunately you're just at a point where the car is going to cost you a bit. Fact of life that at a certain point, there will be a bunch of untimely bills that just need sorting. Bite the bullet, get it all sorted, and get ready to enjoy another good few years of lower bills (unless, like me, you can't stop upgrading this that and the other!). 
Alternator is a good call.
My Porsche 996 Turbo had a failed alternator just this week. Symptoms much as you describe - battery always draining & going flat, no obvious sign of it draining elsewhere (ie from an electrical fault) because the alternator was not charging it, it just drained. I assumed a few weeks ago it was just the battery, changed it (£130 ouch) and still the problem persisted and was diagnosed as alternator (£730 fitted - double ouch!)
My Porsche 996 Turbo had a failed alternator just this week. Symptoms much as you describe - battery always draining & going flat, no obvious sign of it draining elsewhere (ie from an electrical fault) because the alternator was not charging it, it just drained. I assumed a few weeks ago it was just the battery, changed it (£130 ouch) and still the problem persisted and was diagnosed as alternator (£730 fitted - double ouch!)
bogie said:
its not a Ford Focus...and just entry level in performance car world in running costs...in the big scheme of things, and Elise is the cheapest pukka sportscar there is ....
I know it's not a Focus, it just seems a lot to pay out out in a short amount of time, I was just having a general moan, I've owned TVR's in the past and am well aware of sports car running costs, the Elise was supposed to be the cheaper option.I will not let the car go, I've had a lot of fun in the car and expect to have a lot more in the future, pounds per fun I think it's unbeatable. It's even better when you watch my old TVR mates filling their cars up on a hoon, and me having to wait for them at every other garage. The pounds I've saved on fuel alone have probably paid for all the work on the car.
ptp170 said:
Pied Piper said:
kambites said:
Aliens discharging your batteries perhaps?
Flying saucer jump starting from an Elise, now I would like to see that.
The good news is after a blast round some of Kents finest roads this morning the car is running superb.
Still can't work out why the battery went flat, might of knocked the lights on getting out but no significant drain found on battery.
Maybe the wee beastie was scared after I shouted at it.
For which I did apologise this morning.
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