arghhh, bloody battery

madmatt · Post by **madmatt** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 11:00 pm

sounds like your day has been as thrilling as mine

i had to remove and replace a recirc flap motor on a passat saloon so it was a dash out - dash carry removed - degass aircon - drain coolant system - pull heater box out swap motor and build back up my hands are cut up and realy sore

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 12:03 pm

fair enough like, just had to be sure

yep several occasions if you like

there were a couple month gaps between each one, just long enough to forget not to make the same mistake

and does "quite a long time" extend to "overnight from when you come in from work through to when you need to set off again in the morning"? 40Ah divided by 20/12A (ie, 20w divided by 12v = however many amps) = how many hours it'd last on sidelights.

hmmm actually looks like it would

but it doesnt need to be utterly drained to not be startable, just so that you cant get a spark, a jolt to the injector, and a satisfactory turn from the starter at the same time.

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 2:58 am

divine karmic retribution for that silly statement - i go and run the bugger flat twice in one week (week before xmas, including 11.50pm xmas eve...) and then again shopping monday morning. damn near stranding me all three times but got very lucky on each (two steepish hills, and a very nice young lady in a 2 week old peugeot).

d'oh ... me & my big fingers!

bet it wouldnt have happened anywhere near so quickly had it been summer, really. (leaving sidelights on for one hour, or jumping it two yards on the starter before giving up on the idea = not able to start?? rare that..)

DanW · Post by **DanW** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 7:24 pm

I'm trying it once more charging it over night and see what comes of it.

The sg meter was readin all but one cells fair but the far left one buggered, like sg of less than 110 or something, i.e. it wont old the charge very well at all.

What's the highest AH's anyone's got on their battery? The one that's charging at the moment is 40AH.

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:25 pm

"sg"?

DanW · Post by **DanW** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:28 pm

specific gravity, the more the cell is charged the more things will float in it.

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:30 pm

like ale, then?

DanW · Post by **DanW** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:34 pm

something like that Tahrey yeah

Karl_CLCoupe · Post by **Karl_CLCoupe** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 4:20 pm

If the cells are buggered, get yaself a new battery. When I got my car in March it had been sat in my Auntie's garage for two months, and two of the cells on the battery became buggered as a consequence. This meant after it was jump started the battery wouldn't hold any charge.

Karl.

DanW · Post by **DanW** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 4:28 pm

Karl_CLCoupe wrote:If the cells are buggered, get yaself a new battery. When I got my car in March it had been sat in my Auntie's garage for two months, and two of the cells on the battery became buggered as a consequence. This meant after it was jump started the battery wouldn't hold any charge.

Karl.

yeah I'll have to see whether this Astra battery will fit in the car, but then again, I wonder how old that battery is too

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 12:20 am

if i'm doing my maths right, the non-calcium types you buy from halfords that (supposedly*) fit a mk2/mk3 are only 29Ah or so??? Yikes.

And the calcium ones aren't much better - something like 33Ah instead...

its all relative i guess

*---it is halfords after all, they of the ignition leads, spark plugs, oil filters & so on that arent actually the correct spec unless you choose them for a different car!

DanW · Post by **DanW** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 10:41 am

Tahrey1043 wrote:if i'm doing my maths right, the non-calcium types you buy from halfords that (supposedly*) fit a mk2/mk3 are only 29Ah or so??? Yikes.

bloody hell! The one that's in the car at the mo is a 40AH batery, and that sometimes used to struggle to get it started, especialy after filling up with petrol?????????

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 12:47 pm

IF i'm adding up right. The numbers i'm using could be totally wrong (reserve amps vs reserve time in minutes, divided by 60)....

i couldnt find an actual raw "Ah" rating anywhere on the battery!

Karl_CLCoupe · Post by **Karl_CLCoupe** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 4:22 pm

I (well my stepdad) resorted to using one of 'frauds high output batteries. Haven't had any trouble starting, but it does become noticeably hesistant in the cold. Will still start first time though.

Karl.

DanW · Post by **DanW** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 4:32 pm

just tried one of Halfruads batteries (nicked it from Grandad's Astra that I'm getting sometime in the near future), and the cranking power on that was crÃ¡p, although it did start hesitantly second time

.

Gunna go and get a new battery for deff monday because my battery was struggelingt to even power the wiper motor with any speed

.

On the upside my car now looks reeeeeeally shiney with Autoglym car shampo, was surprised how good it was, and it's repelling water differently. Gunna give it a wax monday sometime maybe after I've got the battery.
That Autglym stuff maybe realy expensive but is deffenitly worth it!