Noise on starting

yellowskunkcabbage

yellowskunkcabbage

Member
My car sometimes seems to struggle to start. It is almost as though the battery doesn't have enough power in to start the engine. It doesn't happen every time, but I have notice that when I start it now, there is a whirring noise that occurs for a couple of seconds after the engine has started. The battery is the original one and seems to be holding charge. The magic eye is green and the voltage checks out at over 12.5v when switched off. I have pretty much no idea when it comes to cars so any suggestions welcome. Could it be that a belt needs adjusting and the noise I hear is it slipping slightly?
Thanks in advance.

Mick
 
Possibly glow plugs an issue and certainly a dirty starter pinion (that's the noise after the engine is going). You can strip and clean the starter motor and the noise will go away, but will return after a few months. Mine's been doing it off and on for 2 years now - don't worry about it.

As to the battery, get a new one. If it's the original, then it'll be past its best now and 12.5V is not bad, but not brilliant. Get a Varta Silver, type 110 (bigger than the OE battery, but still fits) and then a scan to see if the glow plugs are needing replacing.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Thanks Mike. I will probably be drawing on your services earlyish in the new year (for service etc if you are still available for such work) so may ask you to perform a full scan then as well.
I have been looking at a Bosch S5 battery as these are available from Costco at pretty reasonable cost. They are available from Costco in 74Ah & 100 Ah. Any reason not to go for the Bosch over the Varta? And would the 100Ah be better than the 74Ah?
Thanks
Mick
 
More cpacity (Ah) is always better and as long as the Bosch physically fits in the space in your A2 and the terminals are the correct shape, size and laid out correctly, then there's no reason not to get the Bosch.

I got the Varta Silver as I've got a trade account with a Varta dealer and the price of the type 110 was stunning.

Just looking through the Bosch catalogue now, and the S5 and S6 seem only to come in 74-77Ah variants with cold cranking power up to around 750 amps (this is the raw power the battery can supply on those cold mornings - again, the higher the better). The Varta Silver beats this hands down at 85Ah and 800 amps cold cranking. Probably why most of our Scaninavian A2 friends choose Varta.

Cheers,

Mike
 
If you do go down the battery route then of course phone around as prices vary wildly.
I recently bought a 72Ah Bosch (BTW not for the A2) for ~£60 on ECP. Quite a decent price I thought.
Halfords would quite possibly charge double that.
 
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