Engine will not turn

[s.leah]

Slightly OT.... but it's disconcerting how a battery can suddenly just give up.

 

I have a 2005 Renault Clio that has never let me down, battery or otherwise. A couple of years ago I went out in it (to the doctors!) and came back to it half an hour later and had exactly as Webbo described.

It had shown no sign at all of wearing out, the car started quickly and easily two hours previously. After it gave up, I couldn't even jump start the car as the battery was so dead, had to abandon the car to go get a new battery.

In my case it was an eight year old battery, but still the same end result!

[Pete Lewis]

Ive come across this over the years ,can be embarrassing  especially if  its customers car when we did a lot of after hours repairs in my younger days to keep the rats from the door it was quite  common ...drive in ....cant drive out   dead as a Dodo,  if the plates decide to short out  there's no warning and nothing will rejuvenate it. a dead cell is ...........a dead cell.

 

 

youre not on your own..   plenty of tee shirts for this problem 

 

Pete

[shag.e]

Hello matey, just spotted that you're having problems with the starter circuit and, correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that the starter, the solenoid and the battery are all satisfactory when off the car. I wouldn't like to profess to expertise here, but there are a few other things that come immediately to mind. The first is the more obvious of the two, which is to suggest that there is a fault in the wiring or switch from the battery end through the ignition switch to the solenoid, though it strikes me that my second thought on the subject might be more likely; during your rebuild, were you quite liberal with the paintbrush? Especially around earth points? And I refer particularly here to whether you painted the starter, or the block, though any earth point that's been painted might not have full integrity, no matter how tight the connections are. I had this some time ago, and only found the fault when I took a direct load from the live side of the battery direct to the starter with a high-current cable. If there's anybody reading who isn't absolutely au-fait with motor electrics, leave it to an expert, but it sounds to me like an earth that hasn't fully 'made', which would also explain the slowly-climbing meter as the current tries to flow. It might also be an idea to feel carefully about for warm connections as, if this is the case, the resistance presented by the poor connection may well generate heat at the point where the fault lies. It's also possible that there's a fault in the reg box (or, indeed, a poor connection here, too) if you still have a dynamo on the car, or in the alternator regulator if the car has this fitment. Failing all else,....bigger hammer.

I hope that this is helpful to you.

[shag.e]

Me again- didn't see the post that said the knattery was backered. I came back though to add that Haggis' post about the engine earth strap has a lot of validity, just in case it helps someone else.

Best wishes buddy.