HI

Strange fault occured today with my Octavia, I was driving to work and i had to stop t get some money from the machine, so i stopped and left the keys in the ignition ( my wife was in the car ! ) i came back to the car and it was dead, No displays or lights, would nt lock unlock from inside, I got out of the car and tried locking unlocking the car and it worked fine, So i got in and drove to work fine. I did have to reset the clock.

Mid morning i thought i would try the car again, It fired straight up then died immediately, the car was dead again no display etc, I left it till lunchtime till i could look at it properly. At lunchtime i took the battery cover off and checked the battery with a meter, all seemed well, so i checked the terminal and found the negative quite loose, not falling off loose but moved around easily on the post of the battery, I tighterned the battery terminal up and the car came back to life and started fine it has driven home fine tonight all seems well. I tested the battery with the car running and i think the alternator is fine.funnily the clock was 2 hours slow !

At the weekend i gave the engine a service changing filters & oil, I wonder if when i took the battery cover off and hinged the air filter lid back to change the air filter maybe i knocked the earth cable slightly from its original position. ???

Any thought greatfully recieved

Could have been loose for years but never disturbed until now so didn't cause any problems,

Earth leads can cause all sorts of problems, g/f's dads van wouldn't start other day and that was down to corroded earth lead

Looks Like my electrical fault is still there , I was driving back home tonight and it started with a light flicker then the dash went out completely then came back on, Then i was going down a lane lights full on and they started dimming, The lights come up on the dash its starts beeping, I bring the lights back to normal and all seems ok. Then i get home and stop the car and its dead i have checked the battery terminals and they are tight, I move the little fuse box thingy about put the battery cover back on and the car comes back to life, The dash has reset so i need to set the clock etc again.

In the morning i will check the contacts of the bolts in the little fuse box on the battery but if thats fine has anyone any ides ?

I am worried as i am towing with the car on wednesday and dont want it dieing on me .

Edited 23 March, 201313 yr by imperial21

Those fuse boxes are quiet common for melting as wires corrode in terminals, mostly round alternator feed wire I believe

Whats best remove each connection and check ?

Hi

I have been outside and checked the small fuse box, Firstly i found the main red wire feed to the battery very loose ( i should have checked that last time :think: ) also the centre wires the nuts have darkened and the thickest wire of the 2 is quite hard but both look in good condition and have no signs of melting or burning, nor does under the fuse box.

Could i be lucky and i have just had loose connections causing my problems ? As i was driving last with my lights, heater etc on so would be needing plenty of amps and it all went mad when i put the light s on high beam to see down a lane.

Is it common for the battery connections to work loose ?

Edited 24 March, 201313 yr by imperial21

It's not uncommon. Especially if it wasn't seated all the way down to start with, and tightened with a gap.

The crimp connectors are been known to loose their "crimp" on the cable, and thus introduce a resistance into the system and then ultimately start to melt. Might not be the issue in this instance, but worth keeping in mind.