Its a non starter

[anonymous-user]

Left the Cerb tucked up in the garage for nearly 2 weeks and now it won't start.

Symtomns
- Starter turns over once or twice (slowly and at great effort), car doesn't start.
- Try again, and the starter motor just clicks
- Try again and the radio came on and starter motor just clicks
- Try again and this time the alarm goes off.
- Get out the car (deaf) and turn alarm off and shut door - window doesn't rise.

Obvious issue is flat battery, but when i connect the battery charger, it seems to indicate that the battery is fully charged.
I trickle charge for 1 hour anyway and try again... exactly the same as last time except this time I get a loud misfire (bang) from the exhausts.

I tried to jump start the car from my runaround but again, I get exactly the same set of results as above.

Any ideas - could it still be the battery , or maybe the starter motor (although that was changed less than a year ago)?

Cheers buddies... i want to go for a drive !

[Extra 300 Driver]

Can you jump it from another car? I would suggest you check the terminals to the battery, clean if required, and try again. It could also be the main earth.

Really I would take the battery out, put on a low long slow charge, cheching the water leverls. Clean the battery terminals and earths and try again in a few days.

[FarmyardPants]

Almost certainly your battery is FUBAR. I highly recommend investing in an accumate to keep the one you are about to buy in good nick. Plug it into the cig lighter and it will look after your new lead-filled friend for months on end. Pays for itself in a few years.

[anonymous-user]

Extra 300 Driver said:

Can you jump it from another car? I would suggest you check the terminals to the battery, clean if required, and try again. It could also be the main earth.

Really I would take the battery out, put on a low long slow charge, cheching the water leverls. Clean the battery terminals and earths and try again in a few days.

Tried jumping from another car.... didn't work and had same issues

[mike.williams]

A trickle charge for an hour wouldn't put back in much more than a starts worth of charge...
If your battery is fubar, as suggested above, try disconnecting it and using only your runabouts battery to start it. That should tell you if you need to look elsewhere or not.

[FUBAR]

FarmyardPants said:

Almost certainly your battery is FUBAR.

Oi!

[FarmyardPants]

FUBAR said:

FarmyardPants said:

Almost certainly your battery is FUBAR.

Oi!

Sorry Nick but there are some similarities - squat, heavy and good for nothing

[JensenA]

The battery on my Saab has just died. I connected it to the charger, and the charger indicated that the battery was already charged. I think if a battery is totally fecked, the charger thinks it's OK.

[Steve_T]

Yep, ability to store charge has gone as the plates are knacked.

[anonymous-user]

Looks like a consensous then. I'll get the battery out and swapped over.
(Trying to jump start just from my runarounds battery before i purchase a new one).

Thanks for the advice all.

[bobbins]

Hope the runaround has a beefy enough battery. If it's a little one litre job you might be struggling.

[Mr M]

Just to add, same symptoms here so I'm off to buy a battery tomorrow.

[al 350i]

the only other way to check if it's the battery or starter would be to bump start it!!! although i've never tried bumping a cerb before in theory it shouldn't be any different to a normal car, if anything it should be lighter than most if it goes on a bump then i would suspect the starter. although i think i would go for the "try another battery option" first

[mikeinsheffield]

I had similar issues with my battery recently, even though I thought that it was charging from the Halfrauds heavy duty charger, and the little light on the charger indicated it was connected. One period of about 3 weeks unuse meant that I had to jump start the Cerb. I then had to fill 'er up with the engine running, as the short drive to the petrol station would never be enough to get sufficient charge in to restart it again (thank f for pay at pump, eh), then went on an hour and a half drive to parents-in-laws thinking this would put enough charge back in.

Nope.

Jump started off father-in-laws car and drove home again. Picked up a mate who hadn't seen the car before to take for a spin (he's come up to stay for the weekend), arranged to meet Jonny in his Tuscan to go for joint run, and then got distracted / chatting / blah blah and managed to bloody stall it when attempting to pull out behind Jonny's Tuscan. F

Of course, this has to be on a busy Saturday afternoon on Ecclesall Road in Sheffield - basically packed with people. Tried jumping with Jonny's leads attached to mine - no go Joe. Then had to flag down passing traffic until one kind soul in an Audi TT let me jump the Cerb of his car (one set of leads gave enough current to do this) whilst holding up the traffic what a great public advert for TVR infamous reliability, eh?

Meanwhile my mate is taking photo's of my car with bonnet up on his bloody mobile and emailing to our other mate, seeth!
Never mind - once we got started again and out into Derbyshire, he went for the phantom brake pedal in the passenger footwell a few times, then I asked him if he wanted me to bimble back?

Thankfully got the battery replaced under warranty, and now have got a proper Optimate charger, with the lead attached to the battery so all I need to do is pop the connector on and I know it's charging properly.......

Edited by mikeinsheffield on Friday 11th December 13:21

[cerbieboy]

mikeinsheffield said:

Of course, this has to be on a busy Saturday afternoon on Ecclesall Road in Sheffield - basically packed with people. Tried jumping with Jonny's leads attached to mine - no go Joe. Then had to flag down passing traffic until one kind soul in an Audi TT let me jump the Cerb of his car (one set of leads gave enough current to do this) whilst holding up the traffic what a great public advert for TVR infamous reliability, eh?

bet there was loads of totty watching on eccy road too?

[anonymous-user]

Mr M said:

Just to add, same symptoms here so I'm off to buy a battery tomorrow.

What battery did you end up buying?

I've just spent (don't laugh) 3 hours getting the battery out.
I had a rusty bolt that was stuck fast holding the battery in place and ended up having to purchase a new ratchet set to get it out.

Anyway, its done now...just got to find the right battery.

One website suggests a battery that is 278mm long as apposed to the 265mm I have now (all other dimensions/layout are OK), but there was so little room to spare where the battery sits that I'm worried it won't fit.

Anyone else got any good battery tips?

[mikeinsheffield]

cerbieboy said:

mikeinsheffield said:

Of course, this has to be on a busy Saturday afternoon on Ecclesall Road in Sheffield - basically packed with people. Tried jumping with Jonny's leads attached to mine - no go Joe. Then had to flag down passing traffic until one kind soul in an Audi TT let me jump the Cerb of his car (one set of leads gave enough current to do this) whilst holding up the traffic what a great public advert for TVR infamous reliability, eh?

bet there was loads of totty watching on eccy road too?

I dunno - never noticed before

[JensenA]

Bandit said:

Mr M said:

Just to add, same symptoms here so I'm off to buy a battery tomorrow.

What battery did you end up buying?

I've just spent (don't laugh) 3 hours getting the battery out.
I had a rusty bolt that was stuck fast holding the battery in place and ended up having to purchase a new ratchet set to get it out.

Anyway, its done now...just got to find the right battery.

One website suggests a battery that is 278mm long as apposed to the 265mm I have now (all other dimensions/layout are OK), but there was so little room to spare where the battery sits that I'm worried it won't fit.

Anyone else got any good battery tips?

Most would reccomend the Optima Red Top. But the OEM Spec is for a type 072 battery, you can get these for about £70. Halfords do a Type 072, but they recently changed the design and the Negative terminal is 3mm higher than the old design so it wont fit. The height of that Negative terminal is the crucial measurement, other measurements can have a bit of Leeway. Best bet is to go to Halfords armed with a Tape measure and measure the height (accurately) of the battery from Base to top of Negative terminal, knock of 3mm and then you have the max height you need to start checking against other batteries.

[Gazzab]

cerbieboy said:

mikeinsheffield said:

Of course, this has to be on a busy Saturday afternoon on Ecclesall Road in Sheffield - basically packed with people. Tried jumping with Jonny's leads attached to mine - no go Joe. Then had to flag down passing traffic until one kind soul in an Audi TT let me jump the Cerb of his car (one set of leads gave enough current to do this) whilst holding up the traffic what a great public advert for TVR infamous reliability, eh?

bet there was loads of totty watching on eccy road too?

Totty in Sheffield....really?

[rockwarrior25]

Optima Red Top all the way - Mine was the R.S 4.2 (off the top of my head?)- £143 off ebay - Never looked back!