Is my battery dead or what?
Discussion
Hi all - any advice on this appreciated:
My battery hasn't been holding its charge lately, if I didn't run the car for a couple of days it won't start.
Last night I drove home for an hour with lights and heater on, and noticed that when I stopped at a junction and the engine returned to idle the headlights (HIDs) would go out and the radio would die too.
Driving again all came back on.
I left the Accumate on the battery all night, but in the morning it still said the battery was empty. I now have the battery out and both Accumate and a standard charger say the battery is charging, but it never seems to become fully charged.
But funnily enough a local garage put their battery tester across it and said it was OK!
Any ideas please? Big fuse is OK.
Thanks,
Andy.
My battery hasn't been holding its charge lately, if I didn't run the car for a couple of days it won't start.
Last night I drove home for an hour with lights and heater on, and noticed that when I stopped at a junction and the engine returned to idle the headlights (HIDs) would go out and the radio would die too.
Driving again all came back on.
I left the Accumate on the battery all night, but in the morning it still said the battery was empty. I now have the battery out and both Accumate and a standard charger say the battery is charging, but it never seems to become fully charged.
But funnily enough a local garage put their battery tester across it and said it was OK!
Any ideas please? Big fuse is OK.
Thanks,
Andy.
Sounds like it's time to change the battery especially if it is not fully recharging, and also not holding it's charge. You'll probably find that the battery you have is slightly under-specced for the Cerb.
I had one of the Halfords 072 batteries and after coming back from my holiday recently found it to have enough juice to try to start up, but just not enough to allow the engine to fire into life, after a couple of tries I gave up the ghost and jumped started it and it fired up straight away. I gave the car a good run out, but after sitting in the garage again for two more days it again struggled to start, I couldn't be bothered to jump it again so I removed it and returned it for the second time (only fitted it in Feb) to Halfords.
Whilst at Halfords they tested it and it recorded 380amps but it is rated at 590 and I would say that the battery needs somewhere over 550 to fire the Cerb up. Whilst there we had a look at all of the other batteries to see if there was one of the same dimensions and terminal arrangement but with a higher rating........but there wasn't one. So they gave me another new 072 which they tested for good measure at 584amps. Fitted it and it started straight away.
If I was keeping the Cerb then I would have searched for a smaller or similar dimension battery but of a higher rating. Time dictated that I couldn't do that on this occassion, but as long as the new owner keeps the receipt then Halfords will honour it. So far since Feb 04 it has had three 072 batteries for the price of one!
Jules.
I had one of the Halfords 072 batteries and after coming back from my holiday recently found it to have enough juice to try to start up, but just not enough to allow the engine to fire into life, after a couple of tries I gave up the ghost and jumped started it and it fired up straight away. I gave the car a good run out, but after sitting in the garage again for two more days it again struggled to start, I couldn't be bothered to jump it again so I removed it and returned it for the second time (only fitted it in Feb) to Halfords.
Whilst at Halfords they tested it and it recorded 380amps but it is rated at 590 and I would say that the battery needs somewhere over 550 to fire the Cerb up. Whilst there we had a look at all of the other batteries to see if there was one of the same dimensions and terminal arrangement but with a higher rating........but there wasn't one. So they gave me another new 072 which they tested for good measure at 584amps. Fitted it and it started straight away.
If I was keeping the Cerb then I would have searched for a smaller or similar dimension battery but of a higher rating. Time dictated that I couldn't do that on this occassion, but as long as the new owner keeps the receipt then Halfords will honour it. So far since Feb 04 it has had three 072 batteries for the price of one!
Jules.
Certainly sounds like time for a new battery to me. When they fail it seems to happen quite suddenly, I've had this experience on other cars. I got Jools to squeeze the biggest one possible under the wing.
At least it didn't fail while boarding on Eurotunnel like mine did. There were a lot of jump starts in that holiday, starting with getting off the train...
At least it didn't fail while boarding on Eurotunnel like mine did. There were a lot of jump starts in that holiday, starting with getting off the train...
I just put a type 073 (that's what the AA man said to get...) from Halfords. Terminals are handily on the wrong side, but you can get round that. Also it's got a 4 year guarantee to I shan't be shelling out for a new one ever again...
Seems the bloke who desiged the battery compartment finished his design first, 'cos the rest of the team seem to have built the engine round the battery! had to get the airbox off to get the bugger out.
Seems the bloke who desiged the battery compartment finished his design first, 'cos the rest of the team seem to have built the engine round the battery! had to get the airbox off to get the bugger out.
Ratten said:
I just put a type 073 (that's what the AA man said to get...) from Halfords. Terminals are handily on the wrong side, but you can get round that. Also it's got a 4 year guarantee to I shan't be shelling out for a new one ever again...
Seems the bloke who desiged the battery compartment finished his design first, 'cos the rest of the team seem to have built the engine round the battery! had to get the airbox off to get the bugger out.
Seems the bloke who desiged the battery compartment finished his design first, 'cos the rest of the team seem to have built the engine round the battery! had to get the airbox off to get the bugger out.
Tom,
You are right and the 073 is the better battery, the only problem was that the terminals are the opposite way around, which is not a problem if you have the time to re-route the cables.
Removing and fitting is a bit time consuming but is not as bad as most people used to make out, I posted this up a couple of weeks ago - www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=334394&r=4483357&hm=27881#4483357 - you will always need to removed the airbox on the passenger side to remove the battery.
Jules.
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