Electrical (faulty Battery?) problem

Anonymous · November 21, 2005, 09:52

Morning all,

A fortnight ago I, being the classy individual I am, I sat eating my KFC in my roadster. 5/10 mins later I went to start it and just got a 'clicking' sound on ignition turn - it didnt (to my untrained here) sound like the starter motor was actually trying to turn the engine. I thought it might be alarm related (e.g. the alarm had immobilised the engine somehow). I went thru' the unlock procedure via the key and still no joy. Randomly, a few minutes later I tried again and it came to life... weird.

The following week, no brain left the interior light on [I blame the girlfriend who dropped something in the cabin which i then turned the light on to find... s;-) ;-) s;-) ] and, no surprise, on the monday morning in near freezing temp the battery was not happy. The AA kickstarted it and last week all was well, until last night, when, after leaving the car standing for two days, it refused to start.

The long-winded question is, am I safe to assume this is a result of a dodgy battery, or is it possible that the alarm (or something else) is causeing the root problem?

Apologies for the waffle and thanks for any advice!

p.s. Any battery recomendations?

?

Cheers, dan

Ernie Ball · November 21, 2005, 10:06

Well, first, you should have a look at the Battery Woes topic and several others (do a search on "battery").

Many of us have had this problem, though I'm not sure there's a solution.

Basically, your battery needs at least a full recharge. If that doesn't work, it needs replacement. Even that might not permanently solve the problem if there's something draining your battery.

I've just replaced mine with the Toyota Optifit (OEM) from Mr T. Still too early to know whether that's the solution, tho.

Anonymous · November 21, 2005, 11:27

thanks...

have been reading the 'battery woes' post with interest (although slightly bemused as to my next step...) -- might try and charge my battery and give it another go...

dan

Anonymous · November 21, 2005, 12:33

Small world,

Couple of weeks ago i left my radio on whilst sat in the car for about 20 mins, drained the battery. And last night left the interior light on, drained the battery.

Not long after i had the car i left it whilst on holiday and it drained the battery. i dont think it has a problem just a very lightweight battery. I bought myself a trickle charger and if i'm away i just pop it on charge. I did notice that after battery was completey drained it took a few good motorway trips before it felt happy on starting. So after draining it this morning i will leave it on charge every night for a week just to be sure.

Anonymous · November 21, 2005, 12:33

Duplicate post

Anonymous · November 21, 2005, 17:36

Quote from: "dt_matthews"Randomly, a few minutes later I tried again and it came to life... weird.

Hi dan, just a thought - and I hate to worry you - but I get the impression something could be mildly wrong with your starter motor, for example it could be sticking and drawing an excessive current when you turn the key.

Maybe its something which has only cropped up when your battery is no longer in such good condition as its not able to provide the same power it usually does?

This could perhaps be why it didnt start the first time but it decided to start the second time.

Anyway, just a thought and it probably isn't the case at all - somebody on here should be able to give you a better idea if this is plausible or not.

Richie

Anonymous · November 21, 2005, 18:28

thanks for the thought Richie... I'm going to give my battery a full charge overnight and see what happens then...

cheers,
dan

Jap GT300 · November 22, 2005, 08:07

I don't think its a problem with the starter motor. Often when you try and start a car it draws a lot of amps. If it doesn't start and you then leave it for 5 mins and try again it can somatimes provide enough power for sufficent turnover.

Anonymous · November 22, 2005, 09:22

after a charge it started ok this morning but I suspect the battery is knackered and that when left for more than a day or so the alarm is draining it beyond the point at which it has enough juice to turn the engine...

sound reasonable??

kanujunkie · November 22, 2005, 09:27

sounds a reasonable assumption, i'll bring my gear home from work and take a reading of the current draw by the alarm

Ernie Ball · November 22, 2005, 09:28

Quote from: "dt_matthews"after a charge it started ok this morning but I suspect the battery is knackered and that when left for more than a day or so the alarm is draining it beyond the point at which it has enough juice to turn the engine...

sound reasonable??

Sounds like exactly what happened to my battery.

Initial problem happened when I went on holiday for 2 weeks and left something plugged into the cigarette lighter (although not attached to anything on the other end). Car wouldn't start when I got home.

After a recharge, things were fine. Until I left it for 3 days (with nothing that would drain the battery) and couldn't start it.

After that it just kept getting worse and worse. So I replaced the battery and so far so good.

Anonymous · November 22, 2005, 10:01

Quote from: "Ernie Ball"
Quote from: "dt_matthews"after a charge it started ok this morning but I suspect the battery is knackered and that when left for more than a day or so the alarm is draining it beyond the point at which it has enough juice to turn the engine...

sound reasonable??

Sounds like exactly what happened to my battery.

Initial problem happened when I went on holiday for 2 weeks and left something plugged into the cigarette lighter (although not attached to anything on the other end). Car wouldn't start when I got home.

After a recharge, things were fine. Until I left it for 3 days (with nothing that would drain the battery) and couldn't start it.

After that it just kept getting worse and worse. So I replaced the battery and so far so good.

thanks Ernie, makesd me more confident of just replacing the battery...

Ernie Ball · November 22, 2005, 10:06

Oh and my car doesn't have an alarm and the (4-year-old) battery still died.

Anonymous · November 22, 2005, 10:20

can anyone recommend a cheap battery (and how much/where?)

cheers,
dan[/b]

Chris · November 22, 2005, 23:07

Having just had to replace my battery, I can tell you that halfords don't do one as the roadster has 'a manufacturer specific' battery that can apparently only be bought from the dealers, according to the woman i spoke to...

Now how true this is i didn't have time or inclination to find out, so just got a new battery from mr t at about £41, not too bad...

Anonymous · November 23, 2005, 10:59

Quote from: "Chris"Having just had to replace my battery, I can tell you that halfords don't do one as the roadster has 'a manufacturer specific' battery that can apparently only be bought from the dealers, according to the woman i spoke to...

Now how true this is i didn't have time or inclination to find out, so just got a new battery from mr t at about £41, not too bad...

ta for the info Chris...

Chris · November 30, 2005, 13:50

just a quick follow up: my problems may not be battery related after all, as after a few days being ok on the new battery, my problems have returned again...