Lights disabled by starter
Discussion
RogerDodger said:
Penelope Stopit said:
Deleted a post here
Thought some were suggesting a faulty battery could read as 13 volts when fully charged and cold
I was. I have had LA batteries die and they "charge" from flat in an instant to around 14.8v. disconnect the charger and they read over 13v and stay that way. Put a load on them and they plummet to 5 or 6v instantly.Thought some were suggesting a faulty battery could read as 13 volts when fully charged and cold
Over 13 Volts when not on charge and hot is as you know to be expected
"Stay that way" is the interesting part (after leaving to cool down for a day?)
Never ever experienced this
Suppose if someone poured some concentrated acid in a cell it could happen
Doubt anyone would be able to make a cell bigger
Very interesting
Auntieroll said:
Did you actually try earthing the engine block direct to the battery earth terminal as suggested by a couple of posters.?
The meter may read a believable voltage under no load conditions but if the conductor cross sectional area is inadequate under load then exactly these symptoms will occur.
Again ,as mentioned by other posters ,your new battery may be faulty.
Your knowledge is obviously lacking in automotive matters hence your post, there is a wealth of practical experience on here ,my advice would be to take advantage of it and perform the checks EXACTLY as described ,then report back.
The fault finding procedure is simple ,if you follow it.
Yeah I tried that pretty early on, the earthing point from the negative battery terminal is to a bracket that connected to the engine block but I connected a jump lead to the back of the block near the starter anyway, no change. I checked the battery earlier today, still at 12.6 volts, and switched it into my parents car, it started that up fine and plugging in a bluetooth OBD reader, the car (a Vauxhall Zafira) didn't come back with any fault codes (one would probably come up if it was dead, some extra load on the alternator etc). As I said it started up the engine in the Celica a few days ago so I don't think the fault is the battery, instead it feels like something in the wiring, possibly the load shedding relay being jammed open. The meter may read a believable voltage under no load conditions but if the conductor cross sectional area is inadequate under load then exactly these symptoms will occur.
Again ,as mentioned by other posters ,your new battery may be faulty.
Your knowledge is obviously lacking in automotive matters hence your post, there is a wealth of practical experience on here ,my advice would be to take advantage of it and perform the checks EXACTLY as described ,then report back.
The fault finding procedure is simple ,if you follow it.
I also tried testing the battery meter, it measured 12.6 volts on the Zafiras battery as well, and testing on some lower voltage AA batteries and some button cells it measured the same as said on the packets. My das got a model train controller that puts out a variable voltage so I tested it on that and it read the same as on the LCD on the controller so I'm fairly sceptical the meter is off.
In a roundabout way you have been told by several people including myself to check PROPERLY all high current connections in the starting/charging circuits, but as yet I still can't see that you have done this except that you tried to bypass the battery/engine earth with a jump lead.
Have you had every connection as above off, cleaned it, checked it & replaced them all tightened correctly yet?
Have you had every connection as above off, cleaned it, checked it & replaced them all tightened correctly yet?
E-bmw said:
In a roundabout way you have been told by several people including myself to check PROPERLY all high current connections in the starting/charging circuits, but as yet I still can't see that you have done this except that you tried to bypass the battery/engine earth with a jump lead.
Have you had every connection as above off, cleaned it, checked it & replaced them all tightened correctly yet?
Right, so I checked the negative battery terminal first, that came off completely, all of the battery clamp was removed, cleaned and put back together and tested. The positive terminal is less accessible as it goes into the loom but the battery clamp was removed and cleaned and screwed back together. The positive terminal on the starter was cleaned and refitted and the earth for it was cleaned up (the flange where the body of the case bolts to the rear engine plate). Have you had every connection as above off, cleaned it, checked it & replaced them all tightened correctly yet?
I did mention the fusebox was kinda damp on one morning after it had rained, my next move will be to pull the connectors and clean the terminals on all of them
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