PROBLEM!!

[Eljacko]

Ive had a problem recently, my car does not seem to hold any charge in the battery.

ive been out an bought a new battery, but after a week or so i have to jump start it every time i want to go any where, the alternator has been tested by some idiot in halfords who says it's fine and weve also checked for if there is any current being drawn whilst the car is off.

everything we have looked at seems to be fine. does anybody have a clue what it might be?

[boycie101]

am assuming you have checked the obviouse + checked to see if fan belt is loose or worn at all ?

[Eljacko]

yeh checked that and that seems to be fine,

what it is that it usually looses its charge over a few hours!

[boycie101]

assuming red light not coming on saying battery not charging then, had a similar prob yrs ago where radio draining it down over night. could be anything though

[ljonez]

Jan 31, 2010 16:02:31 GMT 1 Eljacko said:

weve also checked for if there is any current being drawn whilst the car is off.

how did you check this?


the easiest way is to disconnect the battery make sure every thing is off then slowly put the earth back on to the battery terminal is there's any arcing there is something drawing a current.

its also worth cleaning up the battery clamps and the plug on the alternator

[exuptoy]

A good way to check for a big drain is to solder a pair of wires on to 2 ends of a glass fuse and connect a spot light or a lamp across the wires and place the fuse in each fuse way one at a time with everything switched off and if there is a big drain on that circuit, the lamp will light as the circuit goes down to earth. If there is no draw on a circuit the lamp will not light. This should be used to find a short to earth but should still find a big draw on a circuit.

I had a fault years ago on a fiesta and as soon as the fuse was replaced, it would blow again before I had chance to find the draw. When I fused the circuit with a lamp, the filament acted like a large fuse wire and lit up. It turned out to be a chaff in the rear loom where it entered the hatch.

[Eljacko]

so tested the battery and that keeps its charge on its own,
my dad sugested maybe the starter motor because it takes a while to start even when jumping it, but im not sure if that would drain the power on its own???

i think if i cant sort it out will just take it to an electrican???

[braceuself]

i had this problem.battery seemed flat and would not start car.pulled all connections off solenoid cleaned it up and that sorted it out.starts first time every time now.

[timsmini]

clean all of you earth connections going from the engine to the body of the car, I've also put an extra earth lead from clutch casing to inner wing