Hi Folks

I've read every post I can find relating to Fabia electrical problems here on briskoda so I've a rough idea of what could be up. Here's the problem, I replaced my Fabia PD100 battery in December with a Bosch Silver 74AH battery as had to have my car jumped twice in the extreme cold so thought best to change as was an old battery. Car fine until about a month ago when same symptoms occured so had it jumped, drove it for an hour and all seem fine until a couple of days later.. same symptoms, wouldn't start so had it jumped.

Now I'm having to jump the car EVERY time I start it. I admit I only do short 15 min (4 mile) journey to and from work with weekends being used to take the car further (50 mile trips) but this has been the same for 3 years and haven't had a problem before now which makes me think the battery isn't being charged, the battery is faulty or the alternator is duff. However, I've had it in the garage, they say all OK!

I know my load signal wire (blue thing) is broken, always has been whilst I've owned the car (3 years) and if I jump the car and don't rev the engine the battery voltage drops rapidly and the dash lights go crazy within 30 seconds but I've got into a habit of starting and hitting 2.5K revs to kick in. I've checked and the voltage across the battery is around 14V and remains 14v even when car resumes to idle.

I appreciate I could have something draining the battery but I haven't changed anything in the car and all lights seem to go out as they should. Now as I gather the alternator is supplying 14V to the battery, it's working OK but I've since read on here that a diode pack in the alternator could be faulty and this causes the battery to drain. PLUS if the car is jumped regularly, it puts more stress on the alternator bringing the battery back to life that the diode could burn out. So is this/could this be likely?

Finally, I've just done 110 miles (3.5 hour journey) and the battery voltage is reading 12.57. I've seen this on the forums:

12.65v =100%

12.45v =75%

12.24v =50%

12.06v =25%

11.89v =0%

So that suggests the battery is is somewhere between 75-100% charged. I intend checking again in a few hours to see if this has dropped and therefore indicates there is a drain on the battery (electrical equipment or maybe alternator diode failure?) Would my battery (4 months old) be damaged from being jumped a handful of times?

I'm just after thoughts really, especially since the garage said nothing is wrong but to be fair, they probably didn't care and did few tests.

Many thanks to those who can offer their thoughts on this

New battery and fix the load wire, it is essential for the alternator to work properly.

Thanks MoggyTech, I've repaired the load wire and I'll look at replacement battery

Thanks MoggyTech, I've repaired the load wire and I'll look at replacement battery

After fixing the load sensor wire, I'd get that battery checked at the place you bought it - these Silver Bosch/Varta batteries carry a 5 year warranty do they not? So that means that it could have been a duff battery or the wrong "correct capacity" battery for that application - compare what you have with what Bosch suggest from their application list on their website - but keep quiet about the car charging system being faulty for the entire life of this battery.

Hi

No doubt I'm repeating common information here (I dont use this forum except when I'm in difficulty!):

However - my '02 1.9 diesel Fabia 70,000 miles would not restart after a long run. 30 minutes prior to this a couble of warning sensors activated & the speedo went a bit odd. It then recovered ok. Breakdown guy finds no fault - battery seems ok & system is charging.

Fault: alternator clutch intermittent. The battery voltage must have dropped during the drive, which caused the strange readings.

So: good battery, charging ok, but inxeplicable failure to start - check the alternator clutch. I'm getting the drive belt changed too as a general policy of keeping my slightly ageing car 100%.

cheers

Adrian