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Electrical Problems
Furyous - 12/1/13 at 10:28 AM

I'm having trouble with my engine. Sometimes it starts up ok but sometimes when I turn the key to start I get a couple of loud clicks from the starter solenoid, then everything completely dies. I turn the kill switch off and on, but still no power to anything. No fuses have blown and I can't see any wiring out of place. After a few minutes the power comes back and I can try again. But again, sometimes it starts and sometimes it just cuts out.

I've tried tapping the starter solenoid cable directly on the battery through a fuse and nothing happens. When I get power back, doing that makes the starter spin up. I seem to have a good ground on a few different points.

Is the battery knackered? It's probably as old as the car, for all know.

Can anyone suggest some troubleshooting?


Edit: The battery is reading 12.7v and after charging it for a day last week it didn't get to the last light on the charger.

[Edited on 12/1/13 by Furyous]

adithorp - 12/1/13 at 10:38 AM

Knackered battery!

There's loads of test I could (and others will) suggest but at the end of the day... it'll still be the battery.

Furyous - 12/1/13 at 10:41 AM

Bum. At least it's a simple fix. The car's going on a shipping container on Monday so I really don't have time to fiddle with complicated problems.

The current battery is 440A. What's the lowest I could get away with for a Duratec? If I'm going to spend money on a battery I'd like to get something smaller and lighter.

[Edited on 12/1/13 by Furyous]

adithorp - 12/1/13 at 11:15 AM

You could probably manage with something like an 063 battery (380cca/45Ah). It'd only be a problem in extremes, like very cold weather or repeated start/stop use. The saving isn't much though over an 075 (550cca/60Ah).

For a real saving in weight and size though you'd be better getting a battery from someone like PowerVamp or Odessey but that might not be possible given your time frame. Where's it going in the container?

MakeEverything - 12/1/13 at 11:56 AM

Check the earth (ground) terminal on the battery for a secure and clean connection. A nackered battery isnt normally intermittent.

sdh2903 - 12/1/13 at 12:03 PM

quote:
Originally posted by MakeEverything
Check the earth (ground) terminal on the battery for a secure and clean connection. A nackered battery isnt normally intermittent.


This is a good shout, I had this a couple of weeks ago on my R1 battery, turns out there was a very slight bit of corrosion starting between the negative terminal and the earth strap. Loud click then it was dead. Cleaned everything up and it was fine. Now covered in copper slip to prevent it happening again.

Furyous - 12/1/13 at 12:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by MakeEverything
Check the earth (ground) terminal on the battery for a secure and clean connection. A nackered battery isnt normally intermittent.


Yeah, while I was waiting for a car to become available to go buy a new battery, I checked all the connections again. Turns out everything was tight except the negative battery terminal. I tightened it up and now I don't seem to have any problems.

"Stoopid boy!"

MakeEverything - 12/1/13 at 02:18 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Furyous
quote:
Originally posted by MakeEverything
Check the earth (ground) terminal on the battery for a secure and clean connection. A nackered battery isnt normally intermittent.


Yeah, while I was waiting for a car to become available to go buy a new battery, I checked all the connections again. Turns out everything was tight except the negative battery terminal. I tightened it up and now I don't seem to have any problems.

"Stoopid boy!"




£££ Saved.

Furyous - 12/1/13 at 02:23 PM

Funnily enough, replacing the battery would have fixed the problem because I would have refitted the terminals.