Flat battery
in [Car Maintenance]
|
From: Chris Street on 23 Dec 2008 12:30 Dave Baker wrote: > > I have a general aversion to buying anything from a main dealer but I'll be > well tempted to get another one from Ford when it dies if they don't charge > an extortionate amount. I've had cheap batteries in the past and they are > definitely not a good idea. Both my Focus diesels have had Motorcraft batteries that did well over 120k and 8 years of service from new. I replaced my current one this winter not because I thought it would fail but I didnt want the hassle of it dying on me in the Alps. Costco sell Bosch batteries at reasonable prices and they have always given equally excellent service whenever I've used them
From: Conor on 23 Dec 2008 13:15 In article <HIydnfimb6DkiszUnZ2dnUVZ8j-dnZ2d(a)posted.metronet>, Mark says... > My Sierra is exactly like that too. Even with a freshly charged battery, it > can spin engine really fast, but next go its sluggish. Been the same way for > a few years, even though its had a new battery and all connection have been > removed and cleaned, including the engine block neg/earth and the starter > solenoid. I suspect the starter/solenoid too. > FWIW, I'd just change it. Mine cost £35. -- Conor I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
From: Harry Bloomfield on 23 Dec 2008 13:25 Dave Baker used his keyboard to write : > I think Dave knows more than enough about electrickery to measure a battery > voltage properly so the above really isn't a possibility. OK, just thinking of possible reasons for a wrong reading. I would think it reasonable to also discount the idea that 3.5amps from a tiny charger would put enough in the battery to start it (3.5amp hour), especially with such a seriously discharged battery to at the beginning. -- Regards, Harry (M1BYT) (L) http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk
From: Chris Whelan on 23 Dec 2008 13:54 On Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:57:47 +0000, Dave Baker wrote: [...] > I nipped out and had another check on my Focus's Motorcraft battery > today in the light of all this battery talk. The car is 8 years old in > June so about 7.5 years now and the battery is no doubt older than that > dependant on how long the car sat before it was first sold and how long > before the car was assembled the battery was actually made. There's > probably a code on it I could tell the actual date from. Call it close > to eight years though. As I've said previously the battery has a hard > life because the car gets very little mileage and usually only 1/2 mile > trips to the shops so it sits partially discharged for most of the time > which must sulphate it up like crazy. It was well flat last week and > struggled to start the car so I charged it somewhat for an afternoon on > my shagged little 30 year old Halfords charger which has a broken > ammeter now anyway but never went above 3 amps at the best of times. I > doubt if that brought it anywhere near full charge though. > > I was quite surprised to see 12.37 volts a week later and after a couple > of days of non use and in such cold weather. It ain't good but it's not > as bad as I was expecting. I thought it would be closer to 12 volts. I > might treat it to more frequent charges to try and keep it from > sulphating further but I reckon it still has a year or two left in it. > It certainly won't owe me anything when it croaks. It still starts the > car fine even when it's below freezing and in the summer isn't an issue > at all. It's likely with a Focus that the first sign you will get of battery old age will be dashboard reboots at start. (The dash behaves as if you have put it in test mode.) Chris -- Remove prejudice to reply.
From: John Henderson on 23 Dec 2008 13:57
Duncan Wood wrote: > If he'd left the lights on then you can quite often get one to > recover enouigh voltage to start the car by just leaving it > standing for an hour. Agree. Always look for the simplest explanation consistent with all the known facts. Use that as a working assumption until you can disprove it. Something left on is the simplest explanation. John |