6 replies to this topic

[Tomcat]

Hi All,

Ive been struggling with starting my car / flat batteries recently.

About 3 - 4 weeks ago, my car wouldnt start, but lights etc would work. It made noises from a very slow turn over, once and then fast ticking noises... I swapped the battery and all was well, however last night, it did the same and required a bumb start and today completely failed at started, again with a slow turn over noise...

I called the AA out, and the man checked the battery which was good, alternator which was also good. He checked to see if anything was draining the battery, which told us that nothing was. Howver he mentioned that there is a volt going missing from the alternator to the battery.

We left the car off for 10 mins, started her up and checked the levelks again, the battery levels had dropped, however alternator still strong. The battery light has not come on on the dashboard...

He said that he was completely at a loss of what it could be, and said that unless i get it into a garage for a days check over, the AA wouldnt assist with a similar problem again.

Has anybody experienced similar problems at all?

Thanks, Tom.

[charliedurrant]

Hi,

What year is the engine / car. I assume by what he said that there was a volt missing he meant the alternator was not outputting approx 14v but then he said the alternator was okay?

Either way it sounds like the starter motor is not turning and the clicking noise is the solenoid - easy to check - but we will need to know the year of the car. Listen for where the ticking noise is coming from and that will help the diagnosis...

Charlie

[2lrminivan]

if the battery has not been charged since you had the first problem you need to put it on charge for about 24 hours then go from there.
when charged up check the charging at the alternator and then at the battery. it should measure between 13v-14.4 max. there might be a slight difference between the battery and the alternator.
tif there is a big difference check the engine earth and the battery earth.
when you check the voltahge on the battery check the terminal on the battery then the terminal clamp as you can have a bad connection between them.
hope this helps

Andy

[ANON]

AA...

Has anybody experienced similar problems at all?

if you mean with the AA/RAC being incompetent then yes

[Tomcat]

Its a 1993 Rover Mini Sprite...

He said that its measuring 13.6 at the battery but 14.6 at the alternator and said there is a missing volt?

[ANON]

check the main battery lead around the front subframe and make sure it isn't shorting out.

[dklawson]

if you mean with the AA/RAC being incompetent then yes

Yuck, yuck, yuck. Many are the times people post on this board that the AA man told them"..." and it turns out to be utter nonsense. In this case the guy may be right but he sure sounds rude to say "fix it or else". I would remind him that you are paying for his services.

How did the AA man measure the voltage at the alternator? If he really did find 14V+ at the alternator and 13V at the battery, there is something wrong. Buy or borrow a multimeter and measure between the BIG brown cable on the alternator and a good earthing point on the engine block (with the engine running). With the engine still running make a voltage measurement across the battery terminals. See if you get the same results as the AA man.

If you do, the obvious things to start with are to clean the battery terminals themselves both on the battery and the battery cables. The earth cable will connect to the boot floor. Disconnect it and clean both the boot floor and the cable end. BEFORE putting it back, wrap the disconnected cable in a towel so it is not touching earth, then go to the front of the car. Locate the end of the positive battery cable on the starter solenoid. Disconnect it and clean the cable end and solenoid terminal as you cleaned the terminals in the boot. Apply some dielectric grease or Vaseline to the cable terminal and re-attach it to the solenoid. Now return to the boot and do the same with the earth cable (including the dielectric grease). Return to the front of the car and find the earth cable between the car body and the engine. As before, disconnect both ends of the cable, clean all to bare metal, apply dielectric grease and refit the cable. That may sound like a bit of work but it won't take long and is just simple housecleaning.

You said the charge warning light was out. Does it come on "normally" when you put the key in the ignition and turn it to the run position? Have you observed any other weird electrical behavior (lights that burn out quickly, lights that get bright then dim, etc.)?