hubsandspokes1987

Great I’ll give it a go thanks. This looks very helpful thank you!

Ah I see. I’ll take it out and have a look tomorrow. Thank you in terms of the 10 something volt battery. If that’s the case I’d like to return it as it hasn’t behaved since I bought it two weeks ago. Unless the overriding opinion is the problem with it was caused by being in my car. .!

Yeah I figured I must have slipped. Thanks for confirming. a fuse in the multimeter ?

Ok update. I think I’m still not getting the amp reading quite right. Probably slipping off the terminal( even with an assistant. ) as it reads 0.00 amps throughout and when I put the negative terminal back down the alarm goes off. I guess I’ll have one more go tomorrow. as for the ‘new’ battery I thought I’d do some testing out of the car. I charged it up this morning until the charger read full and read the voltage which was 13.12. Then measured it a few times throughout the day obviously got a quick drop after removing the charger as it settled down. And then by 10 hours later.l it had dropped to 10.68. Is that normally with nothing attached to the battery?

Ah what a numpty I am. Will report back again on attempt two.

Ok thanks. Yea that makes sense. Wasn’t sure it it was when it warmed up or something but thank you for confirming! 👍

Little update. Checked the battery (without the engine running) this morning at it was down slightly at 12.21V. Checked again after work and it was steady at about 12.20. @Wino I tried your parasitic current measurement but not sure I did it right. Locked up the car and locked down the bonnet with a screwdriver and left it for an hour and a half, then read. But the reading when detached was quite hard to work out as it was jumping all over the place. Not sure I did it correctly. It read 0.02mA before disconnection. See attached video! If it looks unsuccessful I'll try again tomorrow for a smoother technique. @KenONeillplugged the new battery into the charger today for half an hour or so - couldn't hear it bubbling or fizzing but perhaps it needs to be on longer for that to happen. Plan to try again tomorrow but was off out tonight and didn't want to leave it plugged in unattended. WhatsApp Video 2021-09-24 at 18.02.51 (1).mp4

Oh that’s good to know! I do see a fair few Fabias around but have never looked too much at the reg. I will have to start keeping more of an eye out. The engine so far (touch wood!) has been very reliable and that seems to be the general consensus on them from most people.

Oh yeah, I bet this vintage is getting pretty rare these days.. 😁

Ok interesting. I haven't noticed anything but I also haven't been especially looking for that - I guess I'm listening for bubbling or other noise..? Now I've removed the battery from the car this will be easier to check so I'll try charging it tomorrow and listen for any sign of boiling cells. Thanks!

Thanks I'll read the current drain 'how to' and try and investigate that over the weekend!

Thanks - I'm loving it already!

OK good shout I'll try again over the weekend to charge the battery properly as I've never got to full charge before. Do you think there's a chance that the 'new' battery is a dud? I'll check the voltage on the old battery tomorrow and report back . In terms of finding a drain I would imagine I'd read the amps from the battery with nothing on (after leaving the car to sit) and take fuses out one and a time and see if the amperage drops? Thanks again for all the help!

Thanks Sepulchrave - I know it's very short. But have used this charger before during this issue and have been leaving the batteries to charge for 8+ hours and it's never given me a 'full' reading so far. I have only stopped charging after this amount of time in this instance because the charger is reading as fully charged. But if you guys thinks it's ok (and advisable) to leave it to keep charging I'm happy to take your advice and leave it longer 👍 no idea why this photo is right in the middle of the comment! Apologies.

Hi Wino! Thanks for the great 'how to' on the amps. Sadly I couldn't get on the forum today (I think it was undergoing maintenance) so I couldn't get to your instructions. I did manage to get some voltage measurements on the battery so I've put these here in case it gives any enlightenment! So yesterday I put it on the 4 amp trickle charger as we mentioned. After around 1.5 hours it was saying fully charged. Did not try to start it (not time last night and I wanted to check voltage at full charge before trying to start it) This evening at around 6pm I read the voltage – read at 10.56 V- this was with the engine off as it wasn't starting at this point. When I plugged it back into the charger it was no longer reading fully charged. Left it to charge again and went back to check and according to the charger it was again fully charged in around 30 minutes. Voltage read 13.10V. The car still would not start. I took the battery out and read the voltage again at 11.49 (after trying and failing to start a couple of times.) For interest I measured the charge on the old battery I still had and it was 12.32. I put it back on charge and after half an hour or so it was reading fully charged. So for interest I put the old battery back in and the car started straight away. Reading across the battery while car was running 14.4v. Turned engine off – waited 5 mins and packed up and checked again and would start…!! So i'm pretty lost. I'll check again in the morning whether the old battery has drained as well. Tomorrow or over the weekend I can try your amp check now I can access the instructions again 🙂

Ok, thanks! I won't chase that thread any further then. 👍 I'll report back on the voltage once the battery is charged. Probably not today with this miniscule charger I have!

Hi both! Just an update. With the key in the first position the battery light does come on and stays on. Can’t test what happens on starting (yet) as I’m having to charge it in order to start it. I had a look at the cables at the alternator end (i think!) see the photo. Seem fine at this point. But not the other end - I guess I need to root around I’m under the engine to check the other end? can I put a multi meter at the alternator end and check the reading? And is there any point if the battery light is on in the dash? Lastly would the battery need to be fully charged for that to be relevant? thanks so much again!

Thanks Wino - that looks like a great starting point! Thanks so much. I'll take a look and report back after work.

Hello! 😀

OK apologies because this is a bit of a saga, I’ve tried to include all the information I can think of. Recently I have been having a sporadic pair of warning lights pop up together for the bulb monitoring (all bulbs are fine) and the immobilizer key (again haven't noticed an issue in this area.) . It happens randomly and they come on together. If it comes on it happens when you depress the brake and after a while it disappears. Have replaced the brake switch – did not solve the problem. Seems to occur less but still occurs Recently the battery was draining and not starting when I came to use it. I don’t use the car much, at most once and week but usually once a fortnight or so. Once the battery was charged (or jumped) it would start and drive but would then be flat again a few days later. So, I decided to replace the battery with a new one assuming it was the problem (haven’t had a new battery in 8 years and the car doesn’t get used much as mentioned so thought that was best) Car started and drove fine and all was fine the first use. A week later I tried to start the car again it and it wouldn’t start. I had been fiddling with some of the inside lights and noticed that two of the car door inside lights were on in the rear. So, I switched them off and charged the battery with a 4 amp trickle charger for about 7 hours. Car started, drove it about 5 miles. Next day I went to drive it again and it wouldn’t start. (at this point we also had a problem with the brakes – there was a tear in one of the servo pipes. This was sealed up (waiting for a replacement pipe) and the brakes are now fine so I think unrelated…but have mentioned just in case) I bump started the car and left the engine running for about 45 mins to an hour. Turned it off and tried to start it straight away – which it would. Then turned the engine off and tried to start again and it would not start. As if totally flat battery again. If anyone has any thoughts I’d appreciated it. I’ve checked all main fuses which seem ok. I have a multimeter so can test the battery (and the old one) but not sure the best way to test. If anyone has any thoughts?! Thanks!

Just saying hello. Owner of a pretty old (2002) Skoda Fabia which is requiring a few more repairs as it ages so thought I'd join up!