I would be most thankful if anyone can help...

Two recent faults:

1. Drove car for 2 hours and then pulled over and kept it running for another hour, with an internal light on, the radio and the fan on 1. When I then reversed, the power steering failed, so I stopped the car and tried to restart but the battery was dead. Breakdown assistance jumped it easily and said that the battery and alternator seemed fine.

2. The car has on numerous occasions failed to start after being parked for anything down to 36 hours. I ensure everything is turned off, wait for the glow plug light to go out, and then turn the key. I can hear the starter turning, but nothing catches. By the third attempt the starter just makes a grinding noise or two before failing and the writing (mileage etc) on the dashboard starts to fade and the battery is empty. The garage tested the alternator and drop tested the battery - both were fine. As this was happening during a particularly cold spell, they suspected and changed the glow plugs. The problem disappeared for about a week (although the starter seemed to take longer than usual) and has now returned.

These are probably connected, but may not be. My thoughts - starter motor? leads from battery to the starter? wiring problem drawing power away when the car is off?

Tom

Definitely sounds like a battery on it's way out - regardless of what the breakdown guy said...

One check you could do is to disconnect the battery when you are not using the car and see if the problem goes away.

If it doesn't then it's the battery.

Had exact same problems last year during extreme cold spell. Brand new Bosch battery, garages tested said was done and I highly doubted it either. After exhausting everything finally managed to get a swap on the battery and everything fine since.

Again my symptoms were identical to yours in terms of cranking, failing to start, battery exhaustion and power steering loss.

Sorry using mobile. Garages said battery was fine not done*

Thanks for the replies. I may try the disconnection trick, once I've got it working again... Neighbour getting a bit fed up with the routine jumping off his car...

Took it to the garage, they could find nothing wrong but suggested that a new battery could make the difference - it hasn't. Have now changed glow plugs and battery unnecessarily. Help!

The distinctive symptom, which has just become clearer with the battery eliminated, is that if the car has been parked for half a day or so, the engine judders and chugs when I turn the key for a while. This even happened when I bump started it and when I jump started it. The time to catch has raised from a couple of seconds to about 15 seconds (when jumping the car). Sometimes it catches, sometimes it drains the battery. Could it be a fuel line problem?

Any ideas...?

Loosen one of the fuel lines at the injector and wrap a rag around it.

When you crank, do you get fuel straight away?

Does it start more quickly?

Any fault codes? Not sure if you have had it scanned at all? Its a PD engine, so shouldn't require any fuelling checks. I'm not sure if camshaft sensor or crankshaft sensor play a part in this or not?

To RWBaldwin - the injector was replaced in October, so there could be problems there. What would it prove if loosening the fuel line helps and is it easy to get to? I'm don't know the engine layout well and usually get a garage to do necessary work - they fitted the injector, but I'm getting bored of taking it back to them for another failed solution!

Devonutopia, they told me there were no fault codes, but I'm not convinced that they scanned it. I don't think my engine is PD - 2001 Y reg?

Many thanks for your advice.

The distinctive symptom, which has just become clearer with the battery eliminated, is that if the car has been parked for half a day or so, the engine judders and chugs when I turn the key for a while. This even happened when I bump started it and when I jump started it. The time to catch has raised from a couple of seconds to about 15 seconds (when jumping the car).

Any ideas...?

Your original starting and power sreering problems are very similar to what my son's 2006 vRS was doing about 12 months ago. The car was under warranty at the time but the local Skoda dealer could not put there finger on what was causing the problem.

I decided that rather than keep on paying the dealer £70 a visit to do a fault code check that I'd change the battery to a higher output Bosch S5, and "cut out" the infamous alternator plug and socket......but still the problems persisted.

Then I tested the resistance of every earth lead and earth connection I could find from the engine to the battery and thats when I discovered the cause of the problem.

The short earth lead from the battery to the inner wing looked to be as good as new but in fact when tested it had a high resistance which would get even higher the warmer it got when an electrical load was flowing through it.

The lead was replaced 11 months and the electrical problems all went the same day.

Bill

PS.....be very careful "bump starting" your engine, if you exceed the starter motors "engine acceleration rate" ie: from zero engine rev's to full starter cranking speed, its possible to strip the teeth off the cam belt, cause it to stretch or snap altogether.