Car won't start/won't turn over, ESP & Power Steering Light

[StuartMR]

Hi All,

 

my first post as it's my first real issue in the 40,000 miles since I got the car.

 

As the title, car won't start, no crank. The ESP warning is on the MFD and the dash light is lit. The power steering light is also on (starts red but changes to yellow). I don't know if these were on the first time I tried, I never really noticed, but they are on now.

 

I searched old posts and the general suggestion was a dead battery. This made sense, the last time I had a dying battery I got the ESP warning now and again on switching on the ignition. Checked it with a tester (cheap Amazon one so don't know how reliable they are), said low when tested in the car, medium when removed. Stuck it on to charge overnight, green light on the tester, refitted it but still nothing.

 

Any ideas for what it might or where to look? I thought it might be a fuse. I had been running a compressor as one of the tyres was a bit low and had cranked the ignition while it was still on. I thought that might be a bad idea about a millisecond after I turned the key. Could I have blown something? I checked the fuses in both boxes and they seem fine.

 

Could the battery still be duff even though the tester is showing good? I can't find my multimeter to check the actual voltage. It's about 2 years old now, done about 28k miles on it.

 

Do the error codes need to be cleared before it will start or something like that?

 

Am I missing something obvious? Electrics are a mystery to me.

 

Some background: it's a 2010 VRS diesel estate. Just turned 141k miles. It's been regularly serviced by me and the previous owner by either Skoda dealer or independent VAG specialists. Service light just came on the other week, it's been about 16 months since the last one so probably due. The only other warning light is the check brakes circle on the MFD which I'd assumed was because the front pads need doing and just not got around to it. One thing that was out of the ordinary, tyre pressure warning came on but pressures were all good (I'd just checked them before I'd left home about 5 minutes earlier). Driving is generally short journeys <10 miles during the week with motorway runs at the weekend.

 

All suggestions welcome. Green Flag are on their way and there's a local mobile auto electrician if it comes to that.

 

Thanks,

 

Stuart

[varooom]

First of all welcome Stuart,

 

I appreciate the long post, only suggestion would be to make it in chronological order if possible, to my head the timeline seems to jump around (might be just needing more coffee here mind you)

Hopefully Green Flag might be able to shed some light on things, but might not be fixed as it perhaps is more involved.

 

Meanwhile you can check here for members with diagnostic tools that maybe in your are that might be able to assist with scanning List of VCDS and VAG Can Pro owners

[StuartMR]

5 minutes ago, varooom said:

First of all welcome Stuart,

 

I appreciate the long post, only suggestion would be to make it in chronological order if possible, to my head the timeline seems to jump around (might be just needing more coffee here mind you)

Hopefully Green Flag might be able to shed some light on things, but might not be fixed as it perhaps is more involved.

 

Meanwhile you can check here for members with diagnostic tools that maybe in your are that might be able to assist with scanning List of VCDS and VAG Can Pro owners

Ta. I'll have a check depending on what the Green Flag guy says.

 

In chronological order:

 

- was running a compressor to top up one of the tyres, tried starting the engine while it was running but nothing. No crank, no clicking, nothing. Lights didn't dim, engine didn't seem to make any attempt at starting.

 

- checked the fuses in both boxes and seemed ok

 

- tried again, noticed the ESP warning was on (don't know if this was already on)

 

- this jogged my memory and vaguely remembered reading something about this so did a search and saw the dead battery posts

 

- checked the battery in the car with the tester. Read low. This was on the cable connectors, not direct on the terminals.

 

- cleaned all the connections up with wire brush and tried again. Nothing.

 

- removed the battery. Checked it again when out of the car and the "medium" light was lit on the tester.

 

- charged the battery overnight, tried again this morning, still nothing. Battery tester light says "full".

 

Car has been running fine, no issues other than the erroneous TPMS warning the other day and the "check brakes" symbol which I think is because the front pads need changing.

 

 

[KenONeill]

1 hour ago, StuartMR said:

car won't start, no crank.

Is there a "clunk" sound when you key the starter?

[pikpilot]

You can charge a battery to max volts but it fails when you take a high current from it. Does your battery tester put a load on the battery when testing?

I suspect the battery is the problem. One easy test is to put another battery in parallel with it like you would if jump starting.

 

[KenONeill]

1 minute ago, pikpilot said:

You can charge a battery to max volts but it fails when you take a high current from it

Also @StuartMR - Usually known as a dead short or a dead cell. Also, when you're charging the battery, is there and sign that one cell is gassing (looks like it's boiling)?

[StuartMR]

41 minutes ago, pikpilot said:

You can charge a battery to max volts but it fails when you take a high current from it. Does your battery tester put a load on the battery when testing?

I suspect the battery is the problem. One easy test is to put another battery in parallel with it like you would if jump starting.

 

 

Green Flag guy has just been. He tried it with a booster pack and still nothing.

 

37 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

Also @StuartMR - Usually known as a dead short or a dead cell. Also, when you're charging the battery, is there and sign that one cell is gassing (looks like it's boiling)?

 

Not sure how to check for that, what would I be looking for?

 

 

41 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

Is there a "clunk" sound when you key the starter?

 

Nope, nothing. Turn the key and nothing happens. No noise, dash doesn't dim or flicker. It's like the ignition isn't even connected.

 

The breakdown guy tried a booster battery, tested the fuses and ran a scan. He said there are no error codes showing which sounds strange as the ESP & power steering lights are on. He reckoned it's a stuck starter motor but I'm a bit sceptical of that. I've had that before on other cars and there was at least some reaction when you turn the key. This is literally like the ignition has been disabled completely.

 

He's towed it to a local garage. The guy there didn't really seem convinced it was the starter either and has at least said he will run tests before doing anything.

[Guest]

As previously mentioned, a faulty battery can show good voltage but fail to provide enough current for even headlights, test.

 

Chances are you have a sealed AGM battery so you cannot check individual cells visually.

 

Check the earth connection(s) and starter solenoid.

[KenONeill]

3 hours ago, StuartMR said:

3 hours ago, KenONeill said:

Usually known as a dead short or a dead cell. Also, when you're charging the battery, is there any sign that one cell is gassing (looks like it's boiling)?

 

Not sure how to check for that, what would I be looking for?

As described, or you have a voltage across the battery terminals that's about 10 to 11v.

[StuartMR]

Update from the garage, they've eliminated the starter motor and battery as the issue so they're having an auto-electrician look at it. The mechanic said he managed to start it by powering the starter directly. So will have to wait and see. Fingers crossed it is something simple.