battery? car refuses to start...

[flands]

The car is getting on a bit now (2003) Vrs. But has been reasonably trouble free. Yesterday I was able to jump start it off the Discovery. Today it had a happy 10 mins sat on the jump leads and still refuses to start. Earlier I managed to bump start it took it for a 30min run got home and again it refused to start. I figured I'd take it for a proper drive this afternoon. This time it refused to to bump down the street. I have been getting the PAS light on but figured that was a result of the low voltage. Does this all sound familiar ? Any suggestions what you think it could be? I dont think its a nackered battery but it could well be. But what i dont understand is how its loosing charge as i do a lot of miles. voltage is 12.9 after having it on the jump leads, after try and turn key it drops to 9v. Any help suggestions appreciated.

Cheers

Flands

[gac]

Batteries work using a volatile chemical reaction; over time it gets weaker even if you treat the battery perfectly, and with several starts a day, varying temperatures, etc the conditions are far from perfect. Nearly 9 years out of a battery is pretty good, I changed the one in my 05 vRS over winter when it began being a bit flaky about starting in severe cold so that only lasted 6 years.

[flands]

Ive had the car 2 years now, Not sure how many batteries its gone through thou. Im happy to go and buy a battery but I really don't think it will resolve the problem. I would be pleased if it was just the battery think its going to be a more expensive problem though.

[devonutopia]

Could be flaky starter motor too,

When it refuses to start, does it just crank over, or just go "CLICK" [nothing]....?

[bluecar1]

PAS light, not starting = battery stuffed

check the blue and brown cables by gearbox as well, prob boken at plug on gearbox (common fault that affect battery charging)

[flands]

Im getting click nothing. If its on the jump leads i get a tiny crank/turn over.

Edited 2 June, 2012 by flands

[LB123]

Finding it will not start after a drive means either a totally goosed battery or no charging of the battery by the alternator. Putting the battery on a charger overnight should show if the battery is OK and just not being charged when driving. If an overnight charge fails to give the car an easy start the following day then you buy a new battery on the grounds it can't take or hold a charge. If however it starts after an overnight charge then you can presume 99% there is little or no alternator output. The alternator could be duff or the DF wire fatigued and broken. That's one of the little ones on the alternator and its first stop is a plug on the bellhousing by the gear selector where they are prone to fracture. The final thought is there could be a current drain flattening the battery but it would need to be huge if the battery was still flat after a drive.

[robk1]

I recently changed the battery on my Felly as suspected it was progressively failing. The starting characteristics were getting worse and even the head unit left on stand by for a few hours would kill it. As I did you can pop to any Halfords and they'll check and confirm. However I didn't buy the replacement battery from them as it's relatively easy to source a cheaper unit. If not entirely the problem, the battery doesn't sound great in your case and you may have to bite the bullet as they say. My old one was on the car around 5 years which through winter/summer isn't that bad. Hope you can resolve.

[flands]

well I went on a steady motorway drive - Cardiff to Swansea battery was mid 13s. 5 mins later it was mid 10s. Battery is going to be charged up overnight and see how that goes i guess. Failing that new battery time. Thanks for info folks

Flands

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Exactly the same thing happened to mine, was a broken starter motor wire.

[flands]

Is that then a case of reattaching/replacing the wire?

Flands

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Yeah. I replaced the battery and still nothing, no turning over or anything, but bumped ok and drive ok. Took it to Unit 18 and they found and replaced the wire. It's only short, quite thick though, think its under the battery.

[flands]

I replaced the battery, My air con has decided to woosh when turning the key which it wasn't doing previously. So I don't know if it stopped doing this as the voltage was low or having the battery disconnected for over 24 hours reset ecu or something? The new battery is holding the charge as my concern was that I would replace the battery and it would continue to drain the battery but all appears to be well and battery is holding the charge.