Hi guys, 

 

So bit of background info... my car was sat for a month and the battery went flat. Jummped it and it was fine, took it for a full service and the garage said the battery had failed so they stuck it on a overnight charge. All was good. 

 

Was driving it around with no dramas for a few weeks then I had to leave it sitting again for a week. The battery was flat and it wouldn't jump start either. 

 

Fitted a new battery today, the interior lights work, headlights work and so does the heating. The radio says SAFE but no dash lights and the car struggles to start and when it does turn over and starts it just stops after a few seconds.

 

I'm confused as it has just been serviced so it shouldn't be anything mechanical, could it be the ecu ? Or immobilizer ? I don't have the spare key atm but will try that tomorrow if I can. 

 

Any thoughts 

You say that the car struggles to turn over.

 

Two possibilities

- the new battery is low charge

- the terminals are dirty or not tight

 

The safe on the radio plus cutting out implies an immobiliser issue.

 

Totally disconnect the new battery and get it charged. If you can't borrow a charger take the battery off the car then back to the supplier to charge overnight then test - it could be faulty.

 

Once the battery charged refit, positive terminal first. The combination of a fully charged battery and the car totally disconnected for several hours may solve the issue.

 

There are posts on the 'net for VAG group cars detailing a reset sequence after connecting the battery but I've no idea if relevant to the Fabia 2 but equally unlikely to make things worse.

Be very careful with Jump Starting it, best not to.

Be aware the fuel pump primes when the drivers door opens and you want the battery with a good charge when doing that.

 

So a full battery, be sure there is fuel in. and see how things go.

I looked at the battery again today and it indicates a full charge. However I have noticed that it is a 440A battery and the original one which was replaced was a 480A would that make a difference 

Bump. Still not sorted 

Best fill in the story.

 

So is it a 2013 (CTHE) vRS?     

 

How many miles?

 Was it OK before being parked up?     

 What was done at the service by the Dealers?   

Who supplied and fitted the battery? 

Yeah 2013 VRS 

low mileage, don't know exactly but no more than 30,000. 

 

It's never had any issues before, always ran like a dream.

 

Service was done by a vag authorised garage. But not a skoda dealer.

 

In got the battery from Halfords and fitted it myself with the help from a mate. 

Is it not starting and running still?

I have no idea about the battery you have fitted.

 

What was done at the service, what did you pay for?

 

Once you get this starting issue are you getting the Spark Plugs replaced, and is the air filter changed?

Fuel filter as well at 5 years old might be a good idea.

 

Watch at 5 years for the water pump / supercharger clutch playing up.  

I was wondering if you have an issue with corrosion at the connector, this can cause problems.

 

 

 

 

As far as I'm aware it was a full service, so new filters etc. 

 

It was running fine after the service for a good couple of weeks. It was just when I left it sitting for a week the battery had ran flat  

Have you got that second key yet,  see if an immobiliser issue.     With services assume nothing,  there are no real major services unless they are doing all filters and spark plugs.  It's is oil and filters maybe and look see.  Brake fluid needs changed,  brakes need cleaning, greased etc. 

Yeah got the spare key. Tested it and still nothing. It's the as the main key. 

 

Do you think the difference in battery power could be affecting it

Right here's a update. 

 

Been and disconnected the battery, cleaned connections and checked all the fuses. Retired the battery and the car started. Took it for a drive, but the dash cluster came on then died, but the lights , heating, radio and wipers all worked fine. Drove for around 40 mins to try charge the battery. Came home turned it off and tried again and it started fine but still no instrument cluster. Turned it off and tried again and it wouldn't start... ffs.  

 

So I am now thinking the battery either hasn't enough charge or isn't powerful enough for the car. 

Sounds like you may have an issue with the instrument cluster or maybe just the connection to it.

 

Might be worth checking the connector on the back of it maybe.

 

Do you have a multimeter you can check the battery voltage with to confirm the battery is good and that the car is charging?

I don't unfortunately, I'm taking the battery to get tested and charged tomorrow to make sure it's working ok and then I'll reassess from there. 

 

I read that a low or flat battery can cause the cluster to not work so here's hoping that's the case

Clearly the battery has died in the past - they do especially when cold first hits and if left for a while...........

 

Now a new battery fitted it's first worth checking what has been disturbed. Have the battery terminals been fitted correctly (probably) and check the leads as they can fail especially where the earth is attached to the body. You need to pull on each of the thick wires as the crimped connections can fail.  Another simple thing to try is a jump lead between the battery earth and a metal part on the engine.

 

The car struggling to start is a clue.

 

Bad earths cause all sorts of problems although this could also be on the +ve side of things. 

 

Why after the battery change - you've disturbed the heavy duty cables.. Look at what has been changed if all was well before.

 

 

 

Edited 22 November, 20187 yr by bigjohn

Battery is fully charged and all seems o ok 

7 minutes ago, tomhill92 said:

Battery is fully charged and all seems o ok 

 

Have you checked the instrument cluster yet?

Yup, it seems to be working fine. I'm gonna go and try again in a few hours to make sure there isn't a drain on the battery .

If its cranking fine but not starting the battery is probably fine and you have another issue, have you scanned it for fault codes?

 

When you said in your first post about it starting and then cutting straight out it makes me think you have an immobiliser issue as this is eactly what happens if you try to start the car without the correct transponder in the key, all of the imobiliser programming is in the cluster, add this to the other issues you have had with the cluster dying whilst driving makes me think that there is some kind of issue in that area.

Edited 23 November, 20187 yr by SuperbTWM

5 hours ago, SuperbTWM said:

If its cranking fine but not starting the battery is probably fine and you have another issue, have you scanned it for fault codes?

 

When you said in your first post about it starting and then cutting straight out it makes me think you have an immobiliser issue as this is eactly what happens if you try to start the car without the correct transponder in the key, all of the imobiliser programming is in the cluster, add this to the other issues you have had with the cluster dying whilst driving makes me think that there is some kind of issue in that area.

 

It seems to be ok now. 

Check your battery voltage now with engine before and after engine running to ensure charging circuit ok

On 19/11/2018 at 23:56, Offski said:

Be very careful with Jump Starting it, best not to.

Be aware the fuel pump primes when the drivers door opens and you want the battery with a good charge when doing that.

 

So a full battery, be sure there is fuel in. and see how things go.

 

As the good Samaritan rather than the one in trouble I learnt this the hard way.

 

Soon after I found my car would only just start as the was battery low. The battery was fairly new. A quick check showed that while running the ignition / charge light went out but the charging voltage was only about 12.5V rather than than 14.5 - 14.8V. The alternator was only giving partial output. Of course possibly co-incidental but more likely directly or indirectly from giving the jump start.

 

If a really desperate situation all I would do now is disconnect the battery from the problem car then connect to mine for at least 15 minutes.

On 20/11/2018 at 13:17, tomhill92 said:

I looked at the battery again today and it indicates a full charge. However I have noticed that it is a 440A battery and the original one which was replaced was a 480A would that make a difference 

 

The slightly lower rating ought not to be significant so long as charged. You just have less in reserve when really cold, leave lights on or do several short trips.

 

You need to be sure the alternator is giving full output to keep the battery fully charged - see my post above.

 

The slow cranking indicates a fault somewhere. A bad earth e.g. loose fixing bolt, rusty / corroded connection or a broken / missing earth cable are possibilities that could also affect charging.

Similarly as the immobiliser now clears and instrument cluster all works sometimes hopefully just a poor, intermittent or missing connection. I wonder if the dash has ever been out e.g. a heater fan problem ?

 

Going right back to the start when the battery went flat I don't know if with a fully charged good battery it would be reasonable to expect the car to start after standing for a month or not but regardless is something draining the battery ?

 

Finally still do not presume the new battery is good. Years ago my father had a new battery that always seemed to turn the starter slowly then after a couple of months totally died.

 

I had a brand new Bosch replacement battery, under warranty a short while ago. (The old one failed after 4 years but had a 5 year warranty). 

 

When I got it home, I checked the charge and it was at or around 60% so DONT assume a new one is fully charged, check and charge it, if necessary! 

 

The old one took a charge but was weak and was only giving out about half or so of its original full power so this is not enough to keep the car running, particularly in colder climes or where you do not drive enough to allow the alternator to recoup the charge lost on starting and running components!