Battery??

Hi All,

Went to start the motor this morning, all dashboard lights came on, turned the key and only got a clicking sound, the dashboard lights then satrted to randomly flash and the temp gauge jumped around....i turned off and back on with the same result, after a couple of minutes i had no dash lights, does this sound like an iffy battery or somthing more inister??

Thanks

Yes mate try jump starting it off another car if that works theres ur answer.or put a volt meter to check the voltage.it should read anywhere between 10-13volts

Hi Dom,

Before you rush off to spend your cash on a new battery consider why this happened.

Did you leave a light on? A door slightly ajar? In this case recharging is all you need.

Fully charge the battery, leave it a couple of hours and then check the voltage - should be around 12.2 - 12.5volts. If 12 or less - battery is truly kaput.

Next check with the engine running - should be 14.2volts. If under 13.5volts then you have a dodgy alternator which has allowed the battery to run down, as it's not putting enough back in.

Lots of folks have bought a new battery only to have it run down and 'fail' within a week when the real culprit was the alternator.

Good luck - hope its possibility #1.

Singvogel.

Thanks for the replies, a friend is coming to jump start me at lunch time, he's a bit more savvy with cars! I'm hoping it is the battery rather than the alternator

Hi All,

I have now got the motor started and taken it on a 20 mile drive, all now seems to be ok, although the central locking is now not working....ive tried the reset transponder to no avail...any ideas??

I've noticed also that the lock/unlock button inside is also not working, i checked the fuse and this all seems in order...mmm

Get yourself a little digital voltmeter - they are 'cheap as chips' and take all the guesswork out of this kind of fault diagnosis.

You need to check the battery voltage with everything off - then with the engine running and thirdly with the headlights on to give a decent load on the system.

S.

Back again,

Right, sorted the central locking, i disconnected the battery for 10 seconds, then reconnected it, the central locking then started working, seems the ccu just needed to be re-set.

With regards to the battery, i have checked the indicator on it and it is showing as green (can these be trusted?) I'll see if it fires in the moring, if not i'll get it checked and a new one bought if needs be

Dom2599 said:

Back again,

Right, sorted the central locking, i disconnected the battery for 10 seconds, then reconnected it, the central locking then started working, seems the ccu just needed to be re-set.

With regards to the battery, i have checked the indicator on it and it is showing as green (can these be trusted?) I'll see if it fires in the moring, if not i'll get it checked and a new one bought if needs be

Click to expand...

Little indicator thingymabob only shows the condition of one cell, so it cannot be trusted 100% as you have 5 others that could be duff

It might not be the battery, I agree to get a basic multi meter, if the charging side isn't working, then it could be the battery is innocent, could be an alternator problem instead!

Battery was flat again this morning, so bought a new one for £78, will see how this goes. The mech down the road said it looks like the original, so about 8 years old so probably duff

8 years is pretty good for a battery. The varta brand ones in my bikes are 10 years old, but live in the house over winter and are top up charged monthly. I have two car batteries that will not give out the huge cranking amps needed to turn over the TD4, one is an ex TD4 BTW but power the 12v lights, tyre inflater and 350w inverter well enough, as I've no mains in the "bike-shed" !