Bloody Electrics!

[Daston]

Hi guys

I appear to be having some fun with either my battery or alternator or earth....

I have a 2 pin connector spliced into my cig lighter for my solar battry condensor. This is showing 11.8v, I have just plugged my mains charger in (at 16v) to get the battery back up to full charge. Is this going to work through the cig lighters wiring?

Also the other day I checked the battery terminals they said 12.4v however I got the "Warning 8.4v Error" display on startup and she struggled to fire. Got the same warning today but just couldnt get it started at all.

Any ideas?

[x 7usc]

i would take the battery out and check the electrolite levels, my old battery used to seem fine and the display indicated a decent voltage, but when the car was hot it turned over very slow, turned out to be a knackerd battery due to the electrolite being boiled by the manifolds (only one cell had the correct amount of fluid the rest were below the plates)
1 new battery later and problem sorted, if your voltage is reading low your amps will be in short supply too, and as starting uses a hell of a lot of amps i guess the ECU is not recieving enough to function correctly
my money is on battery

eta you could also check the earth strap at the same time then

Edited by x 7usc on Saturday 19th December 16:50

Edited by x 7usc on Saturday 19th December 16:56

[Basil Brush]

Worth checking the 100 amp fuse attached to the back of the starter motor too. It can crack causing fun and games with the charging system.

[grumbledoak]

'solar battery condensor'? Isn't that a capacitor? Did you mean 'charger'?

As you hint at knowing, 11.8V is unlikely to fully charge a 12V battery, though it should be enough to start the car. The cig lighter's wiring should cope with a trickle charger, but not e.g. jump-starting as the current is far higher.

The voltage will drop as you try to start the car, but 8.4V does sound like your battery isn't up to the job. Once 'dead' they don't recover; you probably will be buying yourself an extra Xmas pressie.

[Daston]

thanks for the pointers guys.

Battery is just over 12 months old. Going to take it out to day and check the cells. How do I know if there is not enough water in them? And how much do I put in? (sorry for stupid question)

Also where abouts is the starter motor? is it under the air box behind the alternator?

[NCE 61]

Daston said:

thanks for the pointers guys.

Battery is just over 12 months old. Going to take it out to day and check the cells. How do I know if there is not enough water in them? And how much do I put in? (sorry for stupid question)

Also where abouts is the starter motor? is it under the air box behind the alternator?

If you have a maintainable battery i.e. with screw caps on the cells, with the cap's removed you should be able to see the top of the plates. The electrolyte level should be just above the top of the plates. A lot of batteries these days are maintenance free and once they go flat can no longer maintain their charge/capacity.

The starter motor is under the airbox.

Does sound like an earth related problem though, with the different voltage levels you are reading.

[Daston]

NCE 61 said:

Daston said:

thanks for the pointers guys.

Battery is just over 12 months old. Going to take it out to day and check the cells. How do I know if there is not enough water in them? And how much do I put in? (sorry for stupid question)

Also where abouts is the starter motor? is it under the air box behind the alternator?

If you have a maintainable battery i.e. with screw caps on the cells, with the cap's removed you should be able to see the top of the plates. The electrolyte level should be just above the top of the plates. A lot of batteries these days are maintenance free and once they go flat can no longer maintain their charge/capacity.

The starter motor is under the airbox.

Does sound like an earth related problem though, with the different voltage levels you are reading.

Got battery out and checked the cells they all seem fine and battery was at 12.45v got it on charge and it now sits at 12.9v. Will leave it overnight and all of tormorrow to see if its loosing its charge.

[grumbledoak]

Daston said:

Got battery out and checked the cells they all seem fine and battery was at 12.45v got it on charge and it now sits at 12.9v. Will leave it overnight and all of tormorrow to see if its loosing its charge.

I don't think that will work very well- a buggered battery will still appear to hold it's charge while disconnected. It is the chemical reaction that is restricted, and the apparent voltage is a 'front' without backup. i.e. she still won't start the car.

Anyway, best of luck. If it is the battery, at least the fix is easy.

Edited by grumbledoak on Monday 21st December 00:00

[Daston]

grumbledoak said:

Daston said:

Got battery out and checked the cells they all seem fine and battery was at 12.45v got it on charge and it now sits at 12.9v. Will leave it overnight and all of tormorrow to see if its loosing its charge.

I don't think that will work very well- a buggered battery will still appear to hold it's charge while disconnected. It is the chemical reaction that is restricted, and the apparent voltage is a 'front' without backup. i.e. she still won't start the car.

Anyway, best of luck. If it is the battery, at least the fix is easy.

Edited by grumbledoak on Monday 21st December 00:00

Good point.

I take it the only way to find out if it is the battery is to put a voltmeter across it whilst the engine is cranked?

Will be pretty peeved if it is the battry as I only got it in January.

[Daston]

right after going through a lot of posts on starting problems it seems it might be the battery

Is there anyway I can check the amps of a battery using a multimeter?

[Chequred Demon]

Typically multi-meters do not record the kind of amps required.

If it is a new battery it is probably not the fault.

I would check the earth, Run a heavy duty battery jumper cable from the exhaust manifold to the negative terminal on the battery and see if that imporves things. You can do it without removing the battery and it won't short out. it can take a few cranks of the engine for it to work.

[Daston]

Chequred Demon said:

Typically multi-meters do not record the kind of amps required.

If it is a new battery it is probably not the fault.

I would check the earth, Run a heavy duty battery jumper cable from the exhaust manifold to the negative terminal on the battery and see if that imporves things. You can do it without removing the battery and it won't short out. it can take a few cranks of the engine for it to work.

Thanks will give that a try. If it is a bad earth where can I find it?

[Daston]

Sorted it

Turned out the battery charging terminal I have wired into the cig lighter dosnt seem to be effecting the battery one little bit lol. So after a few days on charge in the house the battery went in today. Fired up only for the throttle to be stuck open lol. Managed to sort that and fired it up again, didnt need any blip of throttal at all went straight to 700rpm and stayed solid

Just hope I dont meet a tree on my way to my mums tomorrow lol.