markhansen1983 Posted February 8, 2010 Report Posted February 8, 2010 Hi guys, I've owned this KE70 1983 wagon for a few weeks and yesterday I went out to start it and the engine didn't bugger all. Not much sound, no kick or anything. Just dead. I got a guy with jumped leads to start it up, and there was no worries. I started it a few times (including this morning) no worries, and then this afternoon- same thing happened. Just dead. Only now it's parked at work :) Just wondering what the problem could be- battery (it's new...?), starter motor etc...i don't know much about this stuff, but it's almost like something is draining the battery, even though there's no stereo, and the lights were all off... Cheers Mark Quote
ke70dave Posted February 8, 2010 Report Posted February 8, 2010 alternator? get it started again (with your mates jumper leads), and measure the voltage across the battery when its RUNNING. should be 13-14V or so. if you thinking something might be draining it, then put an ammeter between the battery positive and the positive lead (ie take off the positive lead, and put your ammeter inline with it and the battery) should be zero when the car is off. you don't have the light in the boot on? i remember some dude had left it on and his battery kept going flat on him. Quote
markhansen1983 Posted February 8, 2010 Author Report Posted February 8, 2010 Cheers mate...will try...don't believe I have a boot light... ? How much is an alternator fitted? Quote
markhansen1983 Posted February 8, 2010 Author Report Posted February 8, 2010 Also, we have a batteryworld in hervey bay- when I get it started, should I just go straight there. Can they test and fix basically all of these problems- alternator, starter, battery etc? Quote
Kriso Posted February 8, 2010 Report Posted February 8, 2010 Also, we have a batteryworld in hervey bay- when I get it started, should I just go straight there. Can they test and fix basically all of these problems- alternator, starter, battery etc? ke70dave is on the right track if your mechanical ability isn't up to the task I reckon take it to a autoelectrician rather then battery world Quote
markhansen1983 Posted February 8, 2010 Author Report Posted February 8, 2010 ke70dave is on the right track if your mechanical ability isn't up to the task I reckon take it to a autoelectrician rather then battery world well the good news is that it's home. The jumper leads started it no worries, and it has since been stopped and started here a few times- no worries. The battery is new, so don't think that it's the problem. I discovered the radio was on (light was on, but i've never noticed as I don't have any speakers and thus no stereo. Maybe that was slowly draining the battery....? Also, the rear windscreen I notice has 4 settling- right up (which operates the wiper and from which the switch doesn't stay). second from up, third from up, and finally off (from which it doesn't stay either)....which of the 2 middle settings should this rear windscreen switch be on? As high up as it goes, or as low as it goes (towards off....) Hope that makes some sense- i just thought maybe the rear windscreen in a way was still getting charge to it.. I can't think of anything else that could be slowly draining the battery... I also cleaned all terminals and sanded them back and wd40ed them Quote
markhansen1983 Posted February 8, 2010 Author Report Posted February 8, 2010 Also was talking to a mate about it, who suggested I check the fluid level in the batteries. I have done this before on older cars, but this car appears to have a very new battery and not the standard 6 little screw caps that are on the old batteries. haven't had a good look, but regardless: * is it possible to check the fluid level on all batteries? Or are some properly sealed and thus don't need water? Cheers Mark Quote
jono1986 Posted February 9, 2010 Report Posted February 9, 2010 (edited) Take it to battery world and they can do a test on it to see if the alternator is charging, yes a voltmeter will show 13-14v but it can still fail under load. They will run a load test and all that, another thing is the battery in my car was doing strange things, it would start easy and at the end of the day i wouldn't be able to start it, even after 3 minutes of driving it wouldn't restart. batteries can be very weird, do you know how old the battery is, if a battery has been drained then charged then drained and then charged again a few times it will damage it and you'dd have to replace it. If you take it to battery world and they say its the alternator, rebuild it yourself, cost me 25 bucks or something to do mine by getting the parts from an auto electrical workshop. After you've fixed it i suggest changing the main earth lead over to a new one, charges better, starts better and charges better. Hope this helps Oh and another test is to test the voltage at the battery, then at the alternator if there is anything more than 0.5V difference between the two, replace the wiring from the alternator to the battery Edited February 9, 2010 by jono1986 Quote
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