Time for a new Battery?

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Ben82
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Time for a new Battery?

Post by Ben82 »

I *thought* most of my strange electrical issues had gone away, but since it's gotten colder again (i.e. below -10C) they seem to have started to surface again...
I'm pretty sure I now know what criteria causes my Service light to come on (semi randomly) when starting: When starting the car I'm in the habit (from many years of diesel driving) of putting the ignition on, and doing other things to let the car do it's thing, before cranking. Usually it's been pitch black when starting the car so don't really see the gauges, but now it's starting to get lighter, I've noticed that when cranking the instrument panel will lose power (the Fuel gauge will drop to empty and reset, rather than staying in position) and the service light will stay on, if I drive for about 15mins, and restart, it'll go away.

Tonight I had the return of my one time issue of No Speed, No Revs, pretty sure that was caused by the short journey I made from the Petrol Station to the Supermarket (about 1-2miles) not really giving the car much chance to charge the battery.

Now I'm in two minds whether to try to get the battery cleaned and charged up (it does have some gunk on the negative as seen in this post) or to bite the bullet and just replace the battery? I did ask the previous owners at the time about when the battery was replaced, they didn't know (it was their late father in law's car), there also does not appear to be a date on the battery either, but it doesn't look recent at least.

Is it likely that cleaning up the -tive connector and charging it overnight will see these random issues disappear, or is it likely the battery is really on it's way out?

BTW: cranking isn't too much of an issue, sometimes it seems a little lethargic at cranking, but generally will only need to crank for a fraction of a second longer.
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Re: Time for a new Battery?

Post by myglaren »

Certainly worth cleaning and recharging the battery before investing in a replacement.
All it will cost you is time.
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Re: Time for a new Battery?

Post by Ben82 »

And a charger :) Looks like I can get a similar spec charger to the lidl one for a bit cheaper. So will have to try doing that this weekend. Was just making sure that trying to charge it wasn't futile, and could help :)
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Re: Time for a new Battery?

Post by oneday »

always worth a try. have you checked you alternator output
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Re: Time for a new Battery?

Post by Ben82 »

oneday wrote:always worth a try. have you checked you alternator output
not since the problems started again, did when I had the service light issue before (about 2 weeks ago) and it was 14.something, will see if I have time to check with the Lexia in the morning.
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Re: Time for a new Battery?

Post by oneday »

that sounds like it will be ok at that
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Re: Time for a new battery?

Post by uhn113x »

oneday wrote:always worth a try. Have you checked your alternator output?
Yes - stick a meter across the battery to check this; also might be worth measuring the current from the battery when all is switched off in case something is draining it - electronic gizmos et al, or leaky diodes in the alternator.

What, you've no meter? :shock: Spend a fiver before spending a bit more for a new battery.
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Re: Time for a new battery?

Post by Ben82 »

uhn113x wrote:
oneday wrote:always worth a try. Have you checked your alternator output?
Yes - stick a meter across the battery to check this; also might be worth measuring the current from the battery when all is switched off in case something is draining it - electronic gizmos et al, or leaky diodes in the alternator.

What, you've no meter? :shock: Spend a fiver before spending a bit more for a new battery.
No such thing as a fiver meter over here :), plus will want to get a proper thing that I can test with, either a load tester one, or a multimeter that has the min/max function.

It seems like it might actually spike first, the fuel gauge seems to almost go up to full and then flips to empty, and then back to normal... like this (excuse the red lighting only light I could find rushing out the door)
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Re: Time for a new Battery?

Post by uhn113x »

Hi Ben,

How much do they cost over there? The cheap ones here from CPC are fine for car things and very accurate and I've one in the boot of each car. I've a couple of ancient Avo 8's but use them mainly for radio restoration things as an analogue meter is better than a digital one for fast moving values.

The fuel gauge looks interesting - seems like there's some electronics there and something like an electrolytic charging?
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Re: Time for a new Battery?

Post by dnsey »

I believe the fuel guage is operated by the BSI, rather than directly by the tank sender, so erratic operation would simpy indicate a glitch there - not surprising given your other symptoms.
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Re: Time for a new Battery?

Post by Ben82 »

Basic ones are about a tenner so not too bad really (just like most things - twice as expensive over here), I have a cigarette lighter one, which uses lights rather than any precise measurement so no good for this really. A basic analogue one will be about £15. Might hold off and get one when I'm in the UK, week after next.

The lidl charger is in store here on Monday, so will have to try using that during the week,see if it makes a difference.

I do notice with the video a lot of the other lights on the dash go out too, so don't think it's specific to the fuel gauge (just the fuel gauge has the most pronounced change). I'm hoping it's just a battery charge issue, and either cleaning & charging the battery or replacing it will mean it goes away.
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Re: Time for a new Battery?

Post by myglaren »

Ben - I bought a digital multimeter very similar to this one for £15 a few years ago and it has been invaluable.
Also have a cheap £5 thing from Wilkinsons the just kicks around.
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Re: Time for a new Battery?

Post by oneday »

maplins have a good selection from 9.99 digital
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Re: Time for a new Battery?

Post by myglaren »

Swedish eBay seems to be particularly rubbish. Had a peek on there and the choice is abysmal and nothing sourced in Sweden at all.
This one is not unreasonable but if you are coming over then you can do better and cheaper.

I looked for Moraknivar and there was bugger all other than German sourced ones at stupid prices. Bought one from a Survival/bushcraft store here for much less but not the one I wanted (the original, cheap as chips model)
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Re: Time for a new Battery?

Post by uhn113x »

£5.53 from CPC.
http://cpc.farnell.com/_/in06139/digita ... dp/IN06139" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ben, where in UK are you going?
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