Fuel Pump, battery, what next...?

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Classicdriver

Classicdriver

New Member
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Location
Berkshire
After parting with rather a lot of money last week to have a few bits sorted by my local specialist, I am now losing patience with my '94 'Softdash' V8, which suddenly doesn't want to start. It has always started well in all weathers in the 3 years I have had her, but on Monday it was turning over but just wouldn't quite start. The battery is new, so no issues there. After a bit of faffing, I got the RAC out who diagnosed a fault with the fuel pump, which wasn't quite kicking in?? A bit of tinkering got it going though and the car ran nicely after that. Then I got in it yesterday and the battery was completely dead... barely had enough life in it to light the dash. I got her going with jump leads eventually and she ran fine, although nearly stalled later on when I was reversing at low speed into the drive - could this be a sign of anything?

Any suggestions as to what the issue could be would be greatly appreciated. Are the fuel pump issue followed by the dead battery linked, perhaps?

Cheers
 
Check that the alternator is working correctly.
If possible check that the levels in the battery are correct.
Fully recharge the battery with a battery charger - after your fuel pump episode if you just churned the engine over for a long period you will have gone a long way towards flattening the battery.
After that, use a multimeter to check you haven't got a parasitic battery drain.
Don't assume that just because a battery is new that its isn't faulty.
 
Quite often new batteries have had a fair bit of sitting on the shelf slowly discharging anyways, always worth giving even a new battery a good charge unless you are straight off on a long run.
 
Classicdriver said:
After parting with rather a lot of money last week to have a few bits sorted by my local specialist, I am now losing patience with my '94 'Softdash' V8, which suddenly doesn't want to start. It has always started well in all weathers in the 3 years I have had her, but on Monday it was turning over but just wouldn't quite start. The battery is new, so no issues there. After a bit of faffing, I got the RAC out who diagnosed a fault with the fuel pump, which wasn't quite kicking in?? A bit of tinkering got it going though and the car ran nicely after that. Then I got in it yesterday and the battery was completely dead... barely had enough life in it to light the dash. I got her going with jump leads eventually and she ran fine, although nearly stalled later on when I was reversing at low speed into the drive - could this be a sign of anything?

Any suggestions as to what the issue could be would be greatly appreciated. Are the fuel pump issue followed by the dead battery linked, perhaps?

Cheers
Click to expand...
If you have a volt meter, check you have 14.2 volts (13.8 absolute minimum) at the battery with 2K rpm. If less your alternator is probably stuffed. However as you almost flatened the battery cranking, as others have said it probably just needs a good charge. The alternator will never fully charge a flat battery.
 
Thanks for the replies, gents. I will get it hooked up on a charger and see how it goes from there.

SmileySteve said:
Quite often new batteries have had a fair bit of sitting on the shelf slowly discharging anyways, always worth giving even a new battery a good charge unless you are straight off on a long run.
Click to expand...

I should have clarified, by 'new' battery I meant a couple of months old. I've done a good few thousand miles since it was put in.

Datatek said:
If you have a volt meter, check you have 14.2 volts (13.8 absolute minimum) at the battery with 2K rpm. If less your alternator is probably stuffed. However as you almost flatened the battery cranking, as others have said it probably just needs a good charge. The alternator will never fully charge a flat battery.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, I will get the volt meter on it (assuming the battery charge works) and see what voltage it is producing. Aside from this, are there any other signs that the alternator is on its way out? Anyone else had any recent experience of replacing one of these in a 3.9 V8? I think I am one more big Rangie bill away from being divorced!
 
Thinking on this a bit further, could a dodgy alternator also be the cause of the random cut outs (especially when reversing at low speed) and occasionally erratic idling?
 
Get the battery checked.

I checked a brand new battery straight from our supplier (for an outside breakdown at work), it had never been fitted to a vehicle and it had 2 dead cells in it. Quality control is awful these days.
 
Classicdriver said:
Aside from this, are there any other signs that the alternator is on its way out? Anyone else had any recent experience of replacing one of these in a 3.9 V8? I think I am one more big Rangie bill away from being divorced!
Click to expand...

I have had a misfire produced by a dying alternator and weak battery. Turn on heated rear screeen, heater fan on max, put on main beam and driving lights then find a steep hill and gas it - if it misfires chances are the alternator is on it's way.

Do you know which alternator you have? If it is an A133/80 you might be hard pushed to find a "new" replacement. These can be rebuilt for very reasonable cost. My advice would be take it to a local auto electrician - there are plenty of places that will rebuild alternators and starter motors. First ask them to test it.

Worst case will be you'll need a new armature, but in any event I would recommend new voltage regulator, brushes, slip rings and maybe bearings. This will be cheaper than a new alternator unless you buy iffy replacement off fleabay. HTH.
 
classic kev said:
I have had a misfire produced by a dying alternator and weak battery. Turn on heated rear screeen, heater fan on max, put on main beam and driving lights then find a steep hill and gas it - if it misfires chances are the alternator is on it's way.

Do you know which alternator you have? If it is an A133/80 you might be hard pushed to find a "new" replacement. These can be rebuilt for very reasonable cost. My advice would be take it to a local auto electrician - there are plenty of places that will rebuild alternators and starter motors. First ask them to test it.

Worst case will be you'll need a new armature, but in any event I would recommend new voltage regulator, brushes, slip rings and maybe bearings. This will be cheaper than a new alternator unless you buy iffy replacement off fleabay. HTH.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, Kev.

I got the battery charged up to full on Saturday and she fired up perfectly. I checked the alternator with the multimeter and she was producing a steady 14v at about 2k rpm, so I don't think the alternator is the problem. I then drove her around for much of the afternoon and she was driving nicely and re-starting perfectly when I stopped off a couple of times. THEN I went to start her on Sunday morning and all I could hear was the solenoid clicking away but it wouldn't turn over. I have been busy since so have not had a chance to test the battery to see if it drained overnight or if I just have a loose connection. So I guess I am looking at... a knackered battery? Dodgy connection? knackered starter motor? Parasitic drain?? I just want the bloody thing to work!

Ironically I then spent the rest of sunday driving around in a 45 year old car that didn't miss a beat.
 
The cause of the depleting battery was a 5A+ draw (!!) on it, which turned out to be the circuit that has the rear wiper, air con and sunroof. For now, I have pulled the fuse and that has put a stop to the problem and reduced the draw to less than .50A. Excuse my ignorance on electrical matters, but is simply removing the fuse a safe solution or am I potentially creating more issues by doing this?

Obviously in the longer term, I want my rear wiper, sunroof and aircon working again but where the heck do I start to identify the source of the problem and how do I narrow it down to the problematic one of these three components? I am trying to learn basic motor electrics and get my head around the circuit diagrams, but right now it is not making a great deal of sense. I knew I should have spent less time pi$$ing about during physics lessons at school....
 
Classicdriver said:
The cause of the depleting battery was a 5A+ draw (!!) on it, which turned out to be the circuit that has the rear wiper, air con and sunroof. For now, I have pulled the fuse and that has put a stop to the problem and reduced the draw to less than .50A. Excuse my ignorance on electrical matters, but is simply removing the fuse a safe solution or am I potentially creating more issues by doing this?

Obviously in the longer term, I want my rear wiper, sunroof and aircon working again but where the heck do I start to identify the source of the problem and how do I narrow it down to the problematic one of these three components? I am trying to learn basic motor electrics and get my head around the circuit diagrams, but right now it is not making a great deal of sense. I knew I should have spent less time pi$$ing about during physics lessons at school....
Click to expand...
Rear wiper motor failing to park is a possible reason, Just unplug one item at a time to see which is causing the drain. You will not cause any problems leaving the fuse out.
 
Thank you Datatek. Yesterday I found the connector for the rear wiper motor underneath the headlining at the very back of the car, but will look for the air con and sunroof connectors tonight. I imagine they might be a bit harder to access?
 
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