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Battery running down?
coozer - 6/12/10 at 02:59 PM

Obviously the cold weather is highlighting this problem.

This morning the Shogun refused, second time its happened. What I noticed was the starter has been getting slower the last few days and today I found the negative clamp is loose.

Full 15V on the gauge when its running, will the loose clamp stop it from being fully charged all the time?

Steve

Daddylonglegs - 6/12/10 at 03:00 PM

Definitely. All electrical connections should always be clean and tight, especally the battery and starting circuits. Also check your starter motor connections are clean and tight.

HTH

Bluemoon - 6/12/10 at 03:33 PM

You will find out soon enough! If you have a battery booster/AA card/Jump leads now is the time to keep them in the car....

Dan

trextr7monkey - 6/12/10 at 03:53 PM

Battery on the X trail died yesterday after 5 years, wife needed car for work this morning so nipped down to Halfrauds with the famous trade card, battery priced at £124 became £84!
Oh the joys
atb
mike

britishtrident - 6/12/10 at 03:57 PM

The amount of charge a battery can store goes down over time also every time a battery is deeply discharged (flattened) and recharged it reduces the charge capacity of the battery, no amount of recharging will recover it.

Battery performance (voltage) is also greatly reduced in low temperatures.

In this case I suspect it might be a dead cell in the battery.

To test for a dead cell do a Cold Cranking Load Voltage Test
(1) Make sure the battery has a decent charge.
(2) Leave it resting for a few hours ideally over night then do the test.
(3) Before the test the battery should show over 12.5 volts.
(4) When the starter is operated if the battery voltage drops very rapidly to 6 volts it points to a definite dead cell sometimes called a gassing cell.
(5) If on the other hand the voltage starts low then slowly falls it indicates the battery needs charged.

adithorp - 6/12/10 at 04:08 PM

Loose connectors won't help. This weather you're using more electrical power (lights, heater, rear screen, etc) and that loads the charging system more. Also the lower the temp then the less efficient the battery is so it supplies less amps just when the engine needs more omph to start.

britishtrident - 6/12/10 at 05:56 PM

quote:
Originally posted by trextr7monkey
Battery on the X trail died yesterday after 5 years, wife needed car for work this morning so nipped down to Halfrauds with the famous trade card, battery priced at £124 became £84!
Oh the joys
atb
mike


Ouch they know how to charge

All Xtrail use a Type 096 battery
Big name 3 year warranty 096 batteries range from £52 to about £65 inc vat
4 year warranty batteries start at £69 inc vat

PSpirine - 6/12/10 at 07:26 PM

Ah but there's always a time and a place for Halfords.

The time is usually a Sunday afternoon when you realise you forgot something that stops you putting your daily driver back together; and the place is within walking/cycling/bus distance from your house.

l0rd - 7/12/10 at 11:00 AM

I think in my Laguna i still have the Renault Battery that came from new something like 10years ago.

Moorron - 9/12/10 at 06:38 PM

Darn it, my 096 battery atleast 2 years old got me today. Has been fine over the cold period and started fine this morning, went to the gym came out to find a click on the starter and then no power even the dash lights struggled to show life. After messing with it for 10 minutes thinking it might be a loose cable i gave up and walked home to pick a spare battery i have in the garage + jump leads and cycle back. Not fun as i just cancelled my AA membership after not using it for 10 years = £900.

Got a new one for £51+vat which did the trick.