Charging Problem

[92Coop]

Ive been badly neglecting the clubby of late (by not driving him i mean)
Recently he's been running his battery down very quickly, which led me to suspect
there was a bad earth where the battery earth screws into the floor (because
of the think layer of fresh paint) I sanded this back and now there a good connection,
but ive been noticing he still isnt charging the batt very well.

Went down with a fully charged booster pack earlier and he jumped with the first
turn of the key. Took him for a very short spin, and let him run for 10mins and then turned him off.

When I go to turn him on straight away, theres nothing. Not even a click. When I turn on the headlights,
they just about come on, very dimly.

Does this sound like a borked alternator? Or could the battery have had it?

How can I check which is the culprit?

Thanks Guys
maxi

[miniireland]

could be a combination of a few things maxi ,is the alternator belt tight ,is the plug on the alternator fully pressed home , where the cable goes through the floor in the boot there should be a grommet which can fall through causing the cable to rub and chafe on the sharp metal and in turn will run the battery down, also check the earth straps under the bonnet ,also check all connections to the alternator, solenoind ,starter motor ,and the battery clamps themselves ,and last but not least is the battery a sealed unit or can it be topped up ,i presume youre using a peugeot battery in it, if youre stuck you can borrow my battery because my car isnt being used at the moment.....


si.....give me a shout if you want the battery 086-6086-737

[92Coop]

could be a combination of a few things maxi ,is the alternator belt tight ,is the plug on the alternator fully pressed home , where the cable goes through the floor in the boot there should be a grommet which can fall through causing the cable to rub and chafe on the sharp metal and in turn will run the battery down, also check the earth straps under the bonnet ,also check all connections to the alternator, solenoind ,starter motor ,and the battery clamps themselves ,and last but not least is the battery a sealed unit or can it be topped up ,i presume youre using a peugeot battery in it, if youre stuck you can borrow my battery because my car isnt being used at the moment.....


si.....give me a shout if you want the battery 086-6086-737

cheers Si, grommet is ok, battery clamps are ok, straps ok, will check the connections and the plug to the alternator now.
i'll also whip the battery out and check if its a sealed/non sealed.

[miniireland]

another thing to check while youre at it is where the cable runs under the floor make sure the exhaust isnt touching it anywhere melting the outer sheath and causing a short.......

[92Coop]

ok checked everything simon mentioned (as much as i could given my less than perfect mechanical know how )
and everything seems fine. checked all connections, cleaned them, gave them a good tug.

took the battery out and im gonna try charge it up overnight, to eliminate that as the culprit.

[Number 8]

just a note on alternators, they do not actually charge the battery but there job is to maintain the state of charge. with most batteries if they drop below 9 volts they normally damage the plates inside. a trickle charger is the best way off charging it. best of luck.

number 8

[BlackSe7en]

Had the same problem recently, it turned out that my problem was the cable (Earth?) from the engine block to the body. Woody ran a second one from one of the head bolts to one of the bolts on the body. Haven't ran the battery down since.
We only ran the second cable because we couldn't get at both ends of the proper one to clean them.

[woody]

No. we only ran the second cable as a quick tempery fix until you get at the original cable.
The last tempery fix I did for you is still there 2 years later and trust me it will leave you stranded one day.
Maxi ,the best way to cheak is a volt meter.Cheak at the battery and at the engine block, 12volts with the engine off and 14 volts with the engine running.If they don't match then its proberbly a cable connection.

[Mini Ha Ha]

We had this problem with the Paul Smith. We would do a long run and the battery would not restart the car without trickle charging first. Then Ok for another while until it ran down again

After much mullocking we ran an earth strap direct from the Alternator mounting bolt to the body.

Job was oxo

[kona]

took the battery out and im gonna try charge it up overnight, to eliminate that as the culprit.

you could bring it to halfords, they will check it for free or get a multimeter across it

[92Coop]

i'll check him tonight. he's been sitting since monday where i gave him a good trash.

but halfords sounds like a plan too. nice one dude!

[92Coop]

problem seems to have been solved. he started on the button last night.
i had spotted a few areas where there might have been earthing issues,
removed all of them, cleaned connections, even gave the battery terminals
a good going over. also, the main earth connection from the battery to the body
looked a bit like wurzel gummidge, so i re-insulated it with some fetching green and
yellow insulating tape (just temporary till i get a new one) and everythings good
in the hood again