Car problem! Please advice

[Osiris]

Have a 1.8 Diesel Corsa... Battery ran flat last night, so bumbed started it today then took it home. Tried to start engine again, but battery flat again. So, jumps leads were assigned, for a while, then took for a long long drive. Got back to house, switched engine off, switched back on again, battery flat! Do i need a new battery and alternator or what the hell is going on?

Can't believe my luck with this bloody thing!:cry:

Jamie :roll:

[Yarak1]

Have a 1.8 Diesel Corsa... Battery ran flat last night, so bumbed started it today then took it home. Tried to start engine again, but battery flat again. So, jumps leads were assigned, for a while, then took for a long long drive. Got back to house, switched engine off, switched back on again, battery flat! Do i need a new battery and alternator or what the hell is going on?

Can't believe my luck with this bloody thing!:cry:

Jamie :roll:

Best get the alternator checked first to see if it is pushing out the power........if it is then it is the battery.......

[Harris]

is the battery light on, on the dash?

Have you been having any other probs with the battery or is this the first time, when was the last time you drove it, ie was it parked up for a while prior to it going dead?

[HawkMan]

Sounds like your alternator m8 ,id check your wires first as they could of worked loose m8 .
Also check your battery hasnt leaked and lost battery acid have you got a battery charger ,if the battery low top it up with deionised water halfords may do it ?
Aint you in the RAC ??
£32 a year ill send you some info .
Happy easter
Hm

[Osiris]

is the battery light on, on the dash?

Have you been having any other probs with the battery or is this the first time, when was the last time you drove it, ie was it parked up for a while prior to it going dead?

Ran flat once or twice before, but would be ok after bumping it. just today! Drive the car a lot so god knows!

Battery light aint on the dash, just turn the ignition on, but **** all happens!

Don't think battery has lost/leacked any acid. Not with RAC. Don't know who am with, mum deals with it! lol

Used to have a lot of bother with the fan belt. Its fine just now tho.

Might just take it to garage on bloody tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[HawkMan]

Has anyone robbed the engine m8 check under the bonnet first .
Hm

[Kevin Massey]

get to Helfords:lol:

they do free battery and alternator checks

[Harris]

get to Helfords:lol:

they do free battery and alternator checks

I would try Halfords personaly hehe :yawinkle:

[Osiris]

Has anyone robbed the engine m8 check under the bonnet first .
Hm

been for a drive this morning, so if the engine wasn't there then must be magic! :D

after the drive, switched off then tried to switch back on again, but nope it aint playing

[Osiris]

I would try Halfords personaly hehe :yawinkle:

How am i supposed to get there???? :D

Jump it again and drive there, stop then jump it again after the free check?

[Kevin Massey]

jump it off.....get there keep it running...get a chap to check it for ya....plus they have propper jump start booser pack thingies ( and yes i think that is the technical name for them ;-) )

[TheZuffler]

Battery off, charge overnight, try to start. If it starts its prob alternator not charging battery (check for battery light on dash while engine running). If it don't its the battery. :wink:

[Osiris]

jump it off.....get there keep it running...get a chap to check it for ya....plus they have propper jump start booser pack thingies ( and yes i think that is the technical name for them ;-) )

Halfords near me, just phoned them, they only do the free battery check.... not the alternator...

[HawkMan]

Its easter dont loose heart m8 .
We need to ask the lord for a miracle for you m8 .
Have you a bike as you could take the battery down in a bag .
Hope this helps dont loose faith
Hm

[Kevin Massey]

how about kwik-fit?

[Osiris]

Its easter dont loose heart m8 .
We need to ask the lord for a miracle for you m8 .
Have you a bike as you could take the battery down in a bag .
Hope this helps dont loose faith
Hm

No bike, plus i dont want to bike miles upon miles to halfords!! lol

[Osiris]

how about kwik-fit?

no kwik-fit in my area in my knowledge...

[Harris]

I should just point out thats its Bank holiday weekend, so their all closed anyway!

[Osiris]

I should just point out thats its Bank holiday weekend, so their all closed anyway!

Halfords aint closed ;-)

I am in scotland, bank holiday doesn't apply to most stores up here! :D

[AndyYounger]

if there is no alternator light on the dash then it is probaly the batt. i have to replace loads of them at this time of year.

[Harris]

If it will jump start and run without the jump leads then the Altenator has to be fine, chances are the battery is low on water, and if its that dead you have probably buckled the plates inside and its kn*****d, so its just a case of a new Battery in my opinion!

[Johnny Abbott]

Have a 1.8 Diesel Corsa... Battery ran flat last night, so bumbed started it today then took it home. Tried to start engine again, but battery flat again. So, jumps leads were assigned, for a while, then took for a long long drive. Got back to house, switched engine off, switched back on again, battery flat! Do i need a new battery and alternator or what the hell is going on?

Can't believe my luck with this bloody thing!:cry:

Jamie :roll:mate the best way to check if your alternator is working or not is wait until it gets dark and face ur car at a wall with the headlights on look at the beam on the wall while ur car is ticking over and then rev up ur car if ur alternator is working the lights will get brighter if no difference then 99 per cent of the time the alternator is us

[Red-Devil]

mate the best way to check if your alternator is working or not is wait until it gets dark and face ur car at a wall with the headlights on look at the beam on the wall while ur car is ticking over and then rev up ur car if ur alternator is working the lights will get brighter if no difference then 99 per cent of the time the alternator is us
SPOT ON

[Johnny Abbott]

if there is no alternator light on the dash then it is probaly the batt. i have to replace loads of them at this time of year.how many cars have alternator llights on the dash board you will have a battery light that will come on if your battery isnt charging but that could be for a number of reasons

[Johnny Abbott]

If it will jump start and run without the jump leads then the Altenator has to be fine, chances are the battery is low on water, and if its that dead you have probably buckled the plates inside and its kn*****d, so its just a case of a new Battery in my opinion!simon a car will run with a knackered alternator

[Harris]

simon a car will run with a knackered alternator

Yes but it has to be putting out some power if the battery has no charge surely, or you get no HT?

[HawkMan]

I think its the foo foo valve stop this bickering the man only needs help .
Happy easter m8
Go the pub and sort it out 2moro ,pmsl
Hm

[Johnny Abbott]

Yes but it has to be putting out some power if the battery has no charge surely, or you get no HT?only on petrol not deisel

[Johnny Abbott]

I think its the foo foo valve stop this bickering the man only needs help .
Happy easter m8
Go the pub and sort it out 2moro ,pmsl
Hmthe man is receiving all the info he needs can u tell him the problem

[Harris]

only on petrol not deisel

Oh s**t forgot it was diesel hehe :oops:

[Harris]

I think its the foo foo valve stop this bickering the man only needs help .
Happy easter m8
Go the pub and sort it out 2moro ,pmsl
Hm

besides this ain't me and JA bickering!! :yawinkle:

[Osiris]

Cheers for the info guys.

HM - thanks for the info and happy easter to u to mate. Gonna get wasted i reckon. Sort the stupid thing out tomorrow!! ****

Cheers folks, will take it to the garage whenever its open, get them to do watever! Time for a new car soon me thinks!

[Jeremiah Johnson]

You Charge battery it starts and runs ok ??

but after been parked it is flat again?

If i have read correct ( and i only skimmed over thread)

sounds like you may have a discharge or batt no holding charge (check batt water )

dissconnect a fully charged battery after starting ... reconnect sometime later (next day better) If it starts you have a discharge if it dont start you a knackered battery (u need to think why knackered)

most likely culprit for discharge is starter motor try discon that first the red wire ... reconn next day and see if it starts

if not that look at disconnecting alternator

if not that...., well good luck........!

[Lurcer]

if the battery light is not on, and yet the battery is running flat, then i would recomend checking the batery light bulb, as believe it or not, in some vehcles it is a vital part of the charging system, the alternator on some vehicles will not operate if it isnt recieving a current through 1 certain wire, which is quite often the one which the battery light is connected on to, so check the bulb mate..... make sure the garage doesnt skank u with a alternator and battery when all the needed to do is chage a 30p bulb!!!!
stu

[Andy_G]

Best way to check alternator is:
start car get a volt meter on ur battery terminals see what the reading is normally 14+volts, switch every thing u can on ie:lights heater flashers etc etc then look at voltmeter again if it is still about 12.5/13 volts it is ok if it drops below 12 / 11's id be a bit sus on the alternator mate.

[The Late Lord Lucan]

Ok, here's my two pence worth, hope you can get something useful out of it.

First thing you must do is fully charge the battery..... you CAN NOT accurately test a battery unless it has been recently fully charged.
Do not rely on the alternator for charging the battery for these tests. An alternator running at peak performance will only ever manage to charge the battery to approx 80%..... You could drive the car all the way around the planet, and you will never attain more than that.

Remove the battery for charging, make sure it is as clean as possible & scrub the posts with a wire brush until they shine, dirty batteries & connections do not hold a charge for long.
Before you reconnect the battery, make sure all the leads that connect to it are also scrubbed until they shine.
The correct order for disconnecting & reconnecting is DISCONNECT POSITIVE FIRST, RECONNECT POSITIVE LAST, that way, you shouldn't get any sparks. A recently charged battery gives off a lot of gas, if you get a spark or you are smoking, you risk an explosion. I have witnessed a battery explode in somebodies face for this same reason, its not pretty.

The Volt meter across the battery in the last post is a fairly accurate way of checking that your alternator is charging, check the voltage while the car is not running, you should get approx 12 to 13 volts. Check again when the car is running, you should get a rise of approx 1 volt.

To test the battery, you need to perform a 'Drop test', most garages etc will be able to do this for you. If the battery has not been fully charged, it will probably fail this test, even if there is nothing wrong with it.

A diesel car draws a massive amount of power for starting compared to a petrol one, make sure you have the correct battery fitted.

Going back to the cleaning side, dirty batteries and terminals are the biggest cause of cars not starting due to what on first inspection seems to be a flat battery.
I personally would make sure that everything terminal wise is scrubbed with a wire brush or emery cloth until it shines, another good one to check is where the leads connect to the starter motor, make sure they are removed and scrubbed back to bare metal before reconnecting.

DO NOT GREASE or use VASELINE on the terminals when you have finished, this is an old wives tale. You just cannot beat CLEAN & DRY.

I have seen more batteries and starter motors replaced because of dirty connections than I care to remember, when the new ones were put on, they showed the same symptoms either immediately or within a couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, an electrical drain is not so easy to sort out, however, most drains are caused by the above reasons, sort them out first and you will be off to a good start.

Regards,
Lucky.

[ShortWing]

whats this got to do with falconry,? I thought I joined a falconry forum not the R.A.C

[The Late Lord Lucan]

whats this got to do with falconry,? I thought I joined a falconry forum not the R.A.C

Your correct, this is a falconry forum, not the RAC.
But does it hurt to help someone out with a problem elsewhere?
Whilst this area of the forum is for help advice etc on vehicles that may be used by falconers, does it really matter?
There are plenty of other departments that will keep your requirement of 'falconry only' satisfied I'm sure.
You might want to keep clear of the area that is entitled 'NON FALCONRY', and maybe even the 'PHOTOGRAPHY & ARTWORK' area, that ones really scary, its got pictures as well! :)

Regards,
LLL.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

We are all here fixing his car and I think he's gone to the pub.....:rolleyes:

Right lads down tools....:twisted:

[Osiris]

We are all here fixing his car and I think he's gone to the pub.....:rolleyes:

Right lads down tools....:twisted:

never went to the pub actually:butthead:

Alternator has blown! - mechanic friend came up and had a good look. now need new alternator! god sake.

[GregMik]

whats this got to do with falconry,? I thought I joined a falconry forum not the R.A.C

If you look at the section it is in....Falconry Vehicles & Other Transport, it is in it's proper place. If you don't want to read about things like this.....then don't. That is why we have different sections of the forum.:roll:

Greg

[GregMik]

never went to the pub actually:butthead:

Alternator has blown! - mechanic friend came up and had a good look. now need new alternator! god sake.

Glad you got it sorted Osiris. Now you have some work to do....:lol:

Greg

[Osiris]

Glad you got it sorted Osiris. Now you have some work to do....:lol:

Greg

no no no - good friend is putting the alternator in for me!! All i have to do is run down an alternator and buy it! Cheers folks!

[Osiris]

Found alternator! Quite cheep too! Yes!

[North East Harris Hawker]

First thing you must do is fully charge the battery.....
Remove the battery for charging, make sure it is as clean as possible & scrub the posts with a wire brush until they shine, dirty batteries & connections do not hold a charge for long.
Before you reconnect the battery, make sure all the leads that connect to it are also scrubbed until they shine.
The correct order for disconnecting & reconnecting is DISCONNECT POSITIVE FIRST, RECONNECT POSITIVE LAST, that way, you shouldn't get any sparks. A recently charged battery gives off a lot of gas, if you get a spark or you are smoking, you risk an explosion. I have witnessed a battery explode in somebodies face for this same reason, its not pretty.

The Volt meter across the battery in the last post is a fairly accurate way of checking that your alternator is charging, check the voltage while the car is not running, you should get approx 12 to 13 volts. Check again when the car is running, you should get a rise of approx 1 volt.

To test the battery, you need to perform a 'Drop test', most garages etc will be able to do this for you. If the battery has not been fully charged, it will probably fail this test, even if there is nothing wrong with it.

A diesel car draws a massive amount of power for starting compared to a petrol one, make sure you have the correct battery fitted.

Going back to the cleaning side, dirty batteries and terminals are the biggest cause of cars not starting due to what on first inspection seems to be a flat battery.
I personally would make sure that everything terminal wise is scrubbed with a wire brush or emery cloth until it shines, another good one to check is where the leads connect to the starter motor, make sure they are removed and scrubbed back to bare metal before reconnecting.

DO NOT GREASE or use VASELINE on the terminals when you have finished, this is an old wives tale. You just cannot beat CLEAN & DRY.

I have seen more batteries and starter motors replaced because of dirty connections than I care to remember, when the new ones were put on, they showed the same symptoms either immediately or within a couple of weeks.

Regards,
Lucky.

some good advice here from lucky, another common fault is poor earthing between the negative terminal and the chassis, check this too. i prefer the use of multimeters to measure voltage and current. interior lights left on/boot lights etc will run your battery down overnight. a good way to check there is nothing putting a load on your battery is to disconnect the negative connection on the battery and place a meter set to amps between the battery post and the earth shorting strap. if the car has a clock running expect to see a small amount of current being drawn whilst the ignition is off, from here its easy to pin down a faulty circuit by simply removing fuses and re-measuring drawn current.

[Superfly]

I feel your pain. ;)
Had an alternator go t*ts up on me a few weeks ago, but this thing was over-charging the battery, cooked the darn thing, so I needed a battery and an alternator.
Thank the gods it was a skoda so it were cheap to fix. :P

[Yorkshire Flyer]

These car manufactures are all going backwards what use is a red light on the dash?:evil: sorry lads but you just cant beet a good old fashoned am- meter Ie +1 -1 that would of saved all the hasle of these type of prob id be guessing theyd only be a few quid:supz:

[North East Harris Hawker]

i prefer the use of multimeters to measure voltage and current.

very true...keep it simple i say