death!

[pbottomley]

bloody shitenobile died this morning "ford TDI escort MK5"cranked it over in the cold failed to fire, so let the glow plugs warm it up a bit more now all it does is click?Tried to see if starter was jammed by rolling it a bit nothing stuckIts almost like the starter is tripping out on some sort of relay ?anyone any ideas?

[pogweasel]

Is it smelly?- had a diesel van exhibit identical symptoms a couple of weeks back, alternator was visibly molten, no previous problems, warning lights etc.

[Richard]

It sounds like either your starter's buggered or there isn't enough power getting to it.The most obvious thing is to try jump starting the car. Check the battery connections and follow the cables to make sure the other end is secure. Make sure the engine to body earth strap is secure and that the starter bolts haven't worked loose. The starters on these are shit though, the only car I've had the starter fail on for no reason.

[Father Ted]

Are you sure its not the battery?

 

Dizzles can operate the warning lights and so on but the starter requres a PHENOMINAL amount of OOMFF to turn over the donkey and whilst the battery can appear to be OK, it frequently does not contain enough smoke to turn the engine over - the clicking is all you get.

 

Just thinking of simple things before you start delving too deep...

[Guest]

I reckon it's just the strain of winter running your battery down. I recall a Rover diesel that did exactly the same on account of a worn-out battery. If it was fully charged-up and would crack up first time you'd be OK, if not it would make a half-hearted attempt and then just go click-click-click-click-click because it wouldn't have enough power to go again.Try jumping it off, if it works you're sorted. Might be an idea to take the battery off and charge it up overnight though. If it keeps doing it, you might want a new one.

[wilko]

Mate at work had the same thing with a 406 weasel this morning & I've had it happen on Ford diesels in the cold too - we had to tow a transit up and down repeatedly with a petrol sierra to bump start it when it was -8 a few years ago & have also had to use a jump pack or warm the engine up with a heater shoved underneath in the past as well!I think a lot of older diesels end up with batteries that don't have the right cold cranking amps rating because they are so expensive, and that can't help!

[Station]

Tried everything on my car during the current freezing cold spell. After everything, it WAS the battery.

[pbottomley]

Its the battery, i got home about 30 minutes ago and tried again this time it slowly cranks over...battery obviously frozen solid.... will be borrowing the next doors jump leads and his range rover to jump the bugger...alas worry that in the AM will be the same again... fuggin cold weather

[Richard]

It'll not be frozen solid, it'll just be buggered. They seem to do that these days, instead of deteriorating they just die overnight.

[trigger]

The cells can just die overnight, The same happened to my Passat a month ago, Drove it home from work with no problem, The next morning it was dead. £52 for a new battery.Had to buy a 063 battery this morning for my 1602, I tried one local motor factors who wanted £39.99 for one but had no stock so went to another that i use to work for who had one for £37 so i bought that.Went to Halfords this afternoon and they wanted £59.99 for one!

[Rusty Pelican]

Battery in my 01 Astra is the original one supplied with said dross , still seems fine which is a bit of a shock really

[pbottomley]

I had to chisel the ice off the battery in order to get the clamps off and to remove it from the battery tray !!!I somehow think it might of been a little cold last night and today?The water I threw over the windscreen this morning (lazy man de-ice) froze solid instantly and may of not helped Tonight I have two battery's in the house warming up and defrosting and on charge so tomorrow AM at the crack of dawn I shall attempt to gain life from my heap-o-shite.finger crosses folks

[Hudsonpie]

My neighbour knocked at the door yesterday morning, she had started her car to warm it up but then had switched it off to lock the front door. When she returned to it....click.... nothing. The battery looked like it had been in there for a while so I told her it might be wise to just fit a new one, which her fella promptly did. I offered to dispose of the old one for a favor but when I put a tester on it, it was showing full charge. Fitted it to the wifes heap and bingo plenty of life....bonus. Checked the neighbours car over for further faults but all is sound....weird.....

[Albert Ross]

I'm running a 710 amp Ford Diesel battery on my 1970 Land Rover Diesel. So far, in this weather, there's been no issue with poor starting, even with 30 seconds of preheat! A few seconds of cranking, and it coughs into life. A good battery is a wonderful thing.

[VWPowered]

not started my scirocco in four months, decided the other day to fire it up didnt even know there was a battery on it, connected it up, she fired immediately

[ashmicro]

I've found those motor factor special batteries (with names you've never heard of) to be shit.While the ones I got came with a 3 year warranty, three died on me in two years, and they don't fit very well into the battery trays in some cars.I just bit the bullet, and got a Varta battery out of Hellfrauds for £70. Money well spent, no more issues.

[Rusty Pelican]

Just watched Ice road truckers , they use batteries called and possibly made by " Die Hard " for the - 40 F and then some over there , These are what we need

[Andrew353w]

I've had a customer's Y reg Golf GTi since 20th Dec (and we've had some pretty unpleasant weather since then here!) Having changed the coil pack and temperature sensor before Christmas the customer said he'd be away until the new year and would collect it then. Today he turned up.... & it started perfectly after standing in sub-zero conditions for a fortnight! FLUMEN BATTERIES RULE, OK!!!