Dead battery?

[EnjyBenjy]

All
What do you reckon this is:

Cannot start the car, just no juice in the battery - voltage reads about 10V on the dash. Can't start from a portable jump start battery. It needs to be connected to a Grand Vitara, revving it's nuts off for about 20 minutes and then it *just* manages to start. After that, the battery is "charging" as the dash voltage reads between 13 and 14 volts. It drives fine.
After 30 minutes driving, I stop on my drive, turn the engine off and then immediately try to start the car again - same as before the jump starting - not even enough power to get the fuel pump going for too long.

Is this a knackered battery or something more sinister?

Help much appreciated!

[T350 Al]

Sounds like a duff battery. Have you tried trickle charging via the anderson connector? Don't know how much of a charge a short drive would give to the battery if it had been sitting for a while.

[EnjyBenjy]

Yep. No amount of charging (apart from that mentioned above) has any effect. Is the battery change something a local garage can perform?

[T350 Al]

Dud battery it is then! It's something you could do yourself if you have a bit of spare time on your hands, a trolley jack and a pair of axle stands. I personally wouldn't want a local garage to do it, but that's just me being a pedant! Check out http://www.varleyhyd.com for a really good guide (with images) of how to change the battery yourself.

I've had the battery out a few times now and it's not too diffcult to be honest.

[EnjyBenjy]

Cheers!

[Espritment]

T350 Al said:

Dud battery it is then! It's something you could do yourself if you have a bit of spare time on your hands, a trolley jack and a pair of axle stands. I personally wouldn't want a local garage to do it, but that's just me being a pedant! Check out http://www.varleyhyd.com for a really good guide (with images) of how to change the battery yourself.

I've had the battery out a few times now and it's not too diffcult to be honest.

I had a similar problem and mentioned it on your forum recently.

Upon replacing the battery, the problem still persisted, and have since placed a charger on a daily one hour timer, and never had problems since.

You may wish to try remove the front left wheel (on a Tamora) to access the battery box and just simply remove one terminal and place the battery itself on charge for a day. Reconnect it the next day and try start the car. If it starts and this solution works, then it may have an explanation for me reading about 40 Amps for about 2 seconds on my car using a DC clamp meter when opening or closing a door. It may be that if the voltage drops below a certain voltage something then draws a high current from the battery to the point that a normal battery charger would not deliver sufficient current to allow it to supply the load and charge the battery. By eliminating such potential load, it is possible that the battery may take charge as normally expected. Please try it and let us all know.

Best regards

[EnjyBenjy]

Hmmm. Interesting. I'll give that a go first, thanks. By the way, where is the jack point?

[T350 Al]

If memory serves, the jacking point is just behind (towards the rear of the car) the anderson connector and is a piece of flat plate welded across two chassis members.

[EnjyBenjy]

Espritment said:

T350 Al said:

Dud battery it is then! It's something you could do yourself if you have a bit of spare time on your hands, a trolley jack and a pair of axle stands. I personally wouldn't want a local garage to do it, but that's just me being a pedant! Check out http://www.varleyhyd.com for a really good guide (with images) of how to change the battery yourself.

I've had the battery out a few times now and it's not too diffcult to be honest.

I had a similar problem and mentioned it on your forum recently.

Upon replacing the battery, the problem still persisted, and have since placed a charger on a daily one hour timer, and never had problems since.

You may wish to try remove the front left wheel (on a Tamora) to access the battery box and just simply remove one terminal and place the battery itself on charge for a day. Reconnect it the next day and try start the car. If it starts and this solution works, then it may have an explanation for me reading about 40 Amps for about 2 seconds on my car using a DC clamp meter when opening or closing a door. It may be that if the voltage drops below a certain voltage something then draws a high current from the battery to the point that a normal battery charger would not deliver sufficient current to allow it to supply the load and charge the battery. By eliminating such potential load, it is possible that the battery may take charge as normally expected. Please try it and let us all know.

Best regards

Do you think this would also prevent any charging from the alternator?

[Espritment]

I have found a lift point that works for me on my Tamora on the chassis on one of the pipes coming towards the side of the car, which seems strong enough. I have always been careful to place some soft wood between the jack and the chassis, and never had any problems or scratches from it.

Depending on the problem, it is possible that a heavy load could prevent the alternator from charging the battery, but unlikely, as it would probably affect all other circuits as well. I think that it may have something to do with the electric motors and their circuits that may cause a problem if the voltage is too low, but your experiment may confirm.

Does anyone know where I can get hold of a technical manual for a Tamora? That may assist in many ways.

Best regards

[shep1001]

EnjyBenjy said:

Hmmm. Interesting. I'll give that a go first, thanks. By the way, where is the jack point?

Jack points are on the bolts as shown in Grahams workshop manual (search pheads for this) to save damage to the trolly jack lifting pad, I use an exaust hanger with the middle cut out so you lift on this not direct on the bolt head.

Also I always use a axel stand or place the wheel under the car incase the Jack fails. It would be a sod to lift if this happened and it might smart a bit if you get a limb trapped!

[EnjyBenjy]

Changed the battery today and had a new Anderson connector made up, the other one was knackered.
Problem sorted

[rolex]

Enjy,Could it be the knackered under-car Anderson connection that was preventing you from fully charging the battery? Mine packed up a year ago. completely corroded even with the plastic cover in place.Since then always use an accumate battery charger through the cig lighter.

[EnjyBenjy]

The battery was tested but was so knackered that the tester couldn't register it. Anyway, problem solved with a new battery. Chances are that the anderson connector shorted the battery out, especially when damp.

[Espritment]

I found that the inverted Anderson connector cover seems to be an ideal place to accumulate water, and short out the terminals, which lie in the water and debris. What I did was drill a hole in the cover to allow any liquid out if it starts accumulating.

[EnjyBenjy]

Nice one. I reckon if the car sits around outside then it's more likely to occur. Another excuse to use it more - GOOD.