Is this a dead battery symptom?

Pinkythelabrat

A2OC Donor
I had noticed that my car has been hesitant to start and wondered if my starter motor Earth was on the way out or I’d maybe bumped the cable.

It would feel like it wasn’t going to start and everything would dim then it would catch. Now it feels like it’s getting extreme - when it happens the lights on the DIS go out. The MPG measure resets to zero and the radio says SAFE for a second.

The battery was drained a couple of months back to really low levels. Are these perhaps symptoms of an exhausted battery or is the earth on the starter still possible?

Thanks

A





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I had noticed that my car has been hesitant to start and wondered if my starter motor Earth was on the way out or I’d maybe bumped the cable.

It would feel like it wasn’t going to start and everything would dim then it would catch. Now it feels like it’s getting extreme - when it happens the lights on the DIS go out. The MPG measure resets to zero and the radio says SAFE for a second.

The battery was drained a couple of months back to really low levels. Are these perhaps symptoms of an exhausted battery or is the earth on the starter still possible?

Thanks

A




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They are not the symptoms of the earth point problem on the starter motor, they are the symptoms of a flat or almost flat battery.

Check the battery connections first, but I suspect that something is draining the battery.

Steve B
 
As steve said yes it looks and sounds like the battery---i recommend the varta silver f18 -best price i found was next day delivered from ebay £94. They are a really big battery. cheers mike
 
Thanks people. I appreciate the advice. I kind of thought that when everything went blank for a minute!
I do have a lithium jump starter (and RAC relay) but it was FREEZING and properly rural so I did have a small heart flutter!
I’ve gone for the pretty varta - the BIG one. Thanks for the advice.
Ps I hope it’s easy to fit. I’m a mechanical numpty.


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It also didn’t seem to matter if the car was warm or cold. It had a hesitant start a few hours after a 40 mile motorway drive and almost died after finishing the 40 back.
Hopefully it’s just a dead battery in the brink rather than something electrically wrong.


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It also didn’t seem to matter if the car was warm or cold. It had a hesitant start a few hours after a 40 mile motorway drive and almost died after finishing the 40 back.
Hopefully it’s just a dead battery in the brink rather than something electrically wrong.


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It would be worth having the alternator checked, just in case.

A bad battery can run down easily or not hold a charge, a bad alternator doesn't charge the battery properly and so the both give the same symptoms.

Can you pop to a Halfords or similar and get them to check the battery and alternator before you spend any money?

Steve B
 
I've bought the battery. The alternator was replaced in Summer. How does one check it? The voltage goes up when the engine is running to above 12.4v - that's working right?


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I've bought the battery. The alternator was replaced in Summer. How does one check it? The voltage goes up when the engine is running to above 12.4v - that's working right?


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It will vary depending on how much charge the battery needs, I am no expert when it comes to alternator voltages but I would think that is low if the alternator is charging.

Can someone help here so that I don't give duff info?

Steve B
 
Thanks all. See - 'above' 12.4. died battery seems even more likely then. I'll maybe try taking it off and desulphating it for a few days. It can power my shed lights.


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Fitted one of the 85mah varta 110 silver this week and showing 12.7 ish on ignition and 15 after a journey.

In hindsight I needed it. Car still taking a few turns to start in the cold but the car feels like it will manage it now!

Will check out the earth points on existing starter on my case and I had bought a new one but returned to euro car parts this morning.
 
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