my wifes daily driver has decided to play up, seat alhambra 1.9tdi S-Reg, never had a problem in nearly 3 years.
tried to start and all i got was starter trying almost as if battery was flat, no switches left on so no reason to be flat, tried jumping to no avail, the jump leads i have arent great so took battery off charged over night, tried again and nothing, doesnt even try to turn over
i can hear the relays clicking so is it my starter thats goosed, have put in gear and rocked thought maybe starter had locked, that didnt help , have i missed something
please help
chris

if the headlights are still bright when left on for about 10 seconds and don't start to dim then try tapping the starter solenoid a few times then see if it starts. Rocking the car only works if the starter is still engaged in the flywheel. If it’s not then a tap will usually make it retract.




[Edited on 7/10/08 by Mr Whippy]

not got one at home was going to take a look at weekend when i have chance to get to unit where all my tools are, will battery just die like that as it has never once caused a problem in 3 yrs

sometimes they do just fail if a connection inside breaks, not really all that bad life out a battery, especially if the cars been used for short journeys.

Headlamps make just as good battery gauges

this might be a handy link -

linky

[Edited on 7/10/08 by Mr Whippy]

Sounds very much Battery is knackered -- tends to be the way they die these days no warning -- with modern batteries once flattened you have a 1 in 4 chance they will take a re-charge and then only with one of the new generation chargers.

Fit new battery and check the charging voltage and also check for back current through the alternator diodes.

It could be some dead cells in the battery. I had one like that, it would work just fine, but then all of a sudden it would just go completely flat.

Also, if it is used for short journeys, the battery could of just worn out.

Cheers

Scott

Just before you start lobbing out on a new battery, check the earths are making a good contact, plus clean both terminals on the battery. Ray

ok thanks ppl for all your thoughts, i did the lights check and they were fine, i didnt think it was the battery, so with the rain dripping from all over i took the starter out not easy as there is no room at all.
once out i could see that the small lead that goes from the solenoid to the motor was non existant completely perished, as im at work tomorrow i called my dad who will take it to the unit and replaced said lead hopefully solving the problem

cheers
everyone
chris