Do I Need A New Battery

[Nicoteen]

Hi all

 

For the past couple of months my Dispatch 1.6 has been having starting problems,  it happens in the morning,  I turn the key and it will make an attempt to start but the battery seems to die just before she turns over, On other occasions I get nothing and have to bump start her to get to work, after work she starts just fine,

 

the little inspection glass thingy on the battery is showing green,  So i suspected the battery needed changing  "its 8 years old" As a little test I turned on headlights to full beam and tried to turn it over,  nothing started but the lights stayed as they were... in other words - They didn't die or show any sign of draining the last of the battery power,

 

another time she wouldn't start  I found a wire coming off the battery + that had a spade type fuse that seemed to be only half way in so pushed it home fully and everything worked grand for a couple of weeks.. But now she's playing up again, went out this afternoon to get a new battery but the place was closed,

 

needed to travel to a store yesterday so bump started her and thought - what if she wont start in the store car park, Just before the store I parked on a hill and turned her off for a second Then tried to start her but I got no sign of life so bump started again and took her home, she had been running about 10 minute's before stopping on the hill

 

Any ideas people

[paul.h]

You need to use a meter to check the battery voltage, should be about 12.5 to 12.7 volts before starting the engine and then about 14.4 volts once running. Or if you went to a car accessory shop they could do a battery voltage drop test and then sell you a new battery if you need one. Less than about 12.3 and the battery needs charging or replacing. If you do not get about 14.4 volts once running the alternator or wiring or alternator drive belt may be faulty. At 8 years old though chances are the battery needs replacing but you can check the battery connections as well as the voltage in case they are not tight or clean. If you have a good voltage on the battery then it could be the starter motor that needs replacing or overhauling or there is a wiring problem.

 

The indicator might be showing green if the battery has about 12.5 volts but if the cells in it are in poor condition it may not have much capacity so is unable to turn over the starter motor/engine - another sign of this is if it is charged up off the car and a good voltage is reached quickly instead of over many hours. It might take many minutes or hours for the lights to drain the last bit of the battery so is not a good test - the lights may be around 10 amps whereas the battery will be about 80 Ah so could run the lights for about 8 hours if fully charged.

[Nicoteen]

Again I thank you for the info Paul,

 

A little late but in replying to you again but I dont seem to be getting notified by email when a reply comes in, I just checked and made sure my mail address is up to date,

 

I went and had the battery checked and the chap reckoned it was the battery so stuck a new one in, everything worked fine for a month or so before it started playing up again,

 

Took it for a service and asked the guy to check it out, He got the starter rebuilt and things are going good now,

 

Thanks again for your input which will come in handy in the future  B)  

[paul.h]

A reply is better late than never so we know how a problem was sorted.

[Nicoteen]

Hi Paul

 

A short time after the service it stated to play up again,  First the starting was touch and go, in other words sometime she started and most times I got the weak effort it made before the service,

 

So this time I got underneath to check the wiring...  As you suggested :-)  And sure enough to my delight I seen that a nut had vibrated off leaving the ring thingy at the end of the wire floating on the threads of the bolt... found a suitable nut and stuck it on,

 

Me thinks the mechanic liked my company so much that he decided to leave the nut just lose enough to get me around for a while then when it vibrated off I would have to go see him again lol 

 

everything's good on that side now, 

 

Many thank's to you Paul