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Thread: Battery Flat after thermo change?

  1. #1
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    Default Battery Flat after thermo change?

    Morning All,

    First post on here, and sadly its a help one but.. i have been a browser for a few weeks!

    Right basically yesterday we changed the thermostat on my 1.9 ctdi (150) facelift, we removed battery and battery tray to make it easier to access a few bolts and clips on the way. Lost a bit of coolant from removing of pipes etc. We replaced everything as we should of done, all was working great and it started first time no issues what so ever.

    As we then had the bonnet up we decided to fix a fog light beam issue we had so undid the adjusters a bit to make the fog lights position better on the road. We did this by ignition on 2, but engine not on!, sidelights on and fog lights on.. for roughly no more then 4-5 minutes max!

    Anyway went to move the car off the drive and... click click click.... no starting. The radio, dash lights and everything works fine, can hear the high pitched noise in the engine bay of it being primed to start i imagine but no actual firing.

    Jumped the car off my mates diesel, started first time. Went on 20 mile drive of up and down hills, turned car off and.... you guessed it.... click click click...

    Why? This is where i need help! Cannot understand, the car starts fine off another car via jump leads.. so starting motor etc all ruled out.. alternator? But the car started first time after we did thermo and only wouldn't start after we had the fog lights on. (But would that be because it had charge in the battery and we used what was left starting it first time)

    Before we did thermostat car had been starting fine, no issues at all.

    Any help appreciated..
    Last edited by unknownbullet; 12th February 2013 at 11:34.

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    North West - Assistant RO Woody's Avatar
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    Sounds like a loose connection between the battery and the actual leads clamped to the terminals. When you jump the battery, you are making a direct connection to the leads, so there is no problem, but after that the car is dependant on the battery connections being nice, clean, and tight.

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    Regular Member chrisvectra's Avatar
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    sounds like a loose connection or the battery is goosed have u a multi meter fella

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    Sounds like the battery to me too. But it is worth removing the terminals again, throughly cleaning them, greasing them (use a conductive grease, like graphite grease or battery terminal grease) and reconnecting the terminals. Make sure the terminals are clean too. If still no joy, most likely the battery has expired. That's cheaper than an alternator anyway. Does the alternator make any discernible noise? If not and if the battery light on the dashboard goes out quickly on start up, then it's probably fine. Paul

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    Okay thanks so far for your replies.

    I removed the battery last night and trickle charged it. Came down this morning for a multimeter reading of 12.69v which i think it pretty much perfect..

    Attached it to the car and it then read 12.2v, put the key in ignition.. all lights on, turned to position 2 and all lights off (including display on dash and radio) bar engine mangment light, went to crank and click..... when postion in 2 it read 8.9v... when key is out again it read 12.2v (so going down)

    Did all connections up tight, shall i get a picture to show current condition?
    Last edited by unknownbullet; 12th February 2013 at 15:39.

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    Regular Member GSiFan's Avatar
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    How old is the battery? It sounds like it's had its day to me. The voltage of 12.69 volts sounds ok but dropping to 12.2 volts when connected sounds suspicious. Voltage drop like that could be due to high resistance internal to the battery - plate damage, insufficient electrolyte or something else. Can you borrow another to try - from a mate's or wife's car? Paul

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    Not exactly sure on age of the battery. It is a GM one though as it says so on top, so it could be the same one that came from the factory but i don't know.

    I only got the car about 5 weeks ago, but before that the only issue has been the thermo.. it feels strange though that it would suddenly go only after we had removed the part concerned. Would tilting the battery cause damage to it as can't be sure we kept it flat etc?

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    Mangaged to quickly get some pictures of the terminal connections and the battery in question. The multi meter reading is from when the battery has been connected for an hour and tried to start maybe 3 times (please note this is without key in ignition)... It has gone up since the 12.2v i saw earlier for some reason.

    DSC_0050.jpg
    DSC_0051.jpg
    DSC_0052.jpg
    DSC_0053.jpg

  9. #9
    Regular Member GSiFan's Avatar
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    That looks like the original battery to me - or a GM replacement, perhaps. Are you able to borrow one? If a borrowed battery starts the car and yours won't, the chances are your battery is deceased. There is a small chance that the battery may be dead owing to a current drain in the electrical system. For what it's worth, my own view is that it is coincidence that this problem manifested itself at the same time as you replaced your thermostat. And this is merely my opinion. Paul

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    Got a new battery for some serious money £77 and all working fine now. Must of been a coinsidence as said.

    Thanks all for the help!

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