Hi all,

Been reading through various posts concerning battery/starting problems....why?

because last night my previously well behaved furby 1.4 16v wouldn't start. All dashboard lights came on when I turned the ignition on but only a very poor effort from the starter motor.......mileage reading and all the lcd stuff were scrambled. It just wouldn't start.

I had to call out the trusty RAC man , luckily I have home start!, and he quickly diagnosed a flat battery . However there was a drain on the battery with everything turned off. The boot light isn't working so he plumped for the glove box light. Sure enough when he disconnected that - no drain!. Anyways he 'got me going' and off I went to work. This morning it wouldn't start again :( however I got a bump start and made it back home.

Now this is a car that has given me little 'real' problems in the three years I have had it (its 6 years old) and leads me to question why the glove box light problem should suddenly arise.

I got up this afternoon and placed the battery on charge and will see how it goes tomorrow.....I'm tempted to go straight to a new battery being unsure as I am of the age of this one. Its never given me any sign that its on its way out though! always started first time and no dashboard lights to say it wasn't charging or anything.

Anyones input gratefully received, but beware, I'm a rank beginner when it comes to electrics i.e. testing with ohmeters etc

Many thanks

Paul:thumbup:

Just popped out to check my battery and its three quarters charged.......think I'll leave it charging over night and then see how it goes

I don't know if this will be any help, im not great with cars...but my old 206 had similar problems with its battery not keeping its charge, the car was 6 years old. Whacked a new one in and all was perfect. Definately worth a try.

Cheers richieboy,

yes it looks like getting the plastic out for a new one, it'll always break down just when I need it if I don't get one . It's terrible not knowing whether its going to start or not everytime you leave it for a while.....'specially if there are no hills:rofl:

fitting a new battery still won't stop the glovebox lamp from draining it , you gonna have to find out why thats occuring unless you're leaving it off , 6 years for a battery doesn't sound to bad , but from experience batteries are either ok or dead especially the later lead calcium types , i'd get a new one tomorrow

Well, I checked the charger this morning and the battery was only three quarters charged. I've been down to the filling station in it, collected the sunday papers and put it back on charge and its only showing half charge.

Yes,ric04vrs, exactly what I'm thinking........I'll leave the glovebox light disconnected for a while and try and find out why its draining the battery. I'm off up to Halfrauds as soon as they open

Might well be worth checking the charge rate also.

Hi again,

Well, Did the Halfrauds thing and replaced the battery with a spiffin' new calcium type........parked it in me garage and went to start it this am and bingo! would'nt start so it looks like a visit to the stealers either in Chichester or Fareham. I've still got the glovebox light disabled and I disabled the boot light just in case this morning . Battery is on charge- I have to go to work tonight and I don't want to call the RAC out again

Don't you just hate electrical probs:mad:

find the fuse for the glovebox lamp if you can and pull it out , maybe there is something else on draining the battery on that circuit , do you know anybody with a multimeter ? if you do you can do a test on the battery circuit by disconnecting the battery earth and connecting the multimeter between the battery terminal and the lead clamp , then you can see how many amp/milliamps are being used with the ignition off , if there is a large current draw you could pull out a fuse at a time (then refit if no fault so not to mix up fuse positions)to isolate which circuit the draw is on , then you could leave that fuse out until you need the car ,then refit when using it just so you wont have a flat battery ,just an idea until you get it to the stealers

Cheers for that ric04vrs,

my son has a multimeter but is still asleep (heavy night last night....some concert in London he went to . I've got the damn thing on charge at the mo ready for tonight, but I'll try and pursuade him to have a look at it tomorrow...

Thanks

Ok then guys,

Just been out with lad and multi meter been thru fuses until we came to :-

number 43 central control unit,selector lever lock for automatic gearbox

removed this fuse and the problem disappears put it back again and its drawing as much as the headlights when they are on!

Now I haven't got an automatic gearbox so what happens if I drive with this fuse out? obviously its there for a reason but is it safe to drive until I can get the car to the stealers. which will prolly be next week sometime

ta

Paul

do you know if anything doesn't work when this fuse is pulled out , what i would do is drive the car with the fuse in ,then park up at work , pull fuse out , then put back in to go home ,do this until you go the stealers, hopefully a skoda mech on forum will point you in the direction of what the central control unit is , it maybe like the GEM module on a ford which is like a big timer relay , therefore there could be a relay stuck on somewhere

good advice ric04vrs thanks....always good to have another persons input!

I garage it at work and at home so I will just pull the fuse whenever I'm at either place. I did start it up when the fuse was pulled and everything seemed ok, no warning lights or anything.

I'll book it in to the stealers tomorrow now that I have a better idea of the problem:thumbup:

L8r,

Paul