[Guest]

Here we go then,
Left the car overnight (garaged in London) after getting back from the meet at Bolney.
Went to start it the following morning and had a flat battery.
Jump started the car and drove back to Warrington, left car in garage overnight.
Went out this morning to find another flat battery.

Put battery on the charger and within 5 minutes the charger was showing full charge.
Took it off, put it back into car and tried starting. Still no luck. FLat again.
Battery off again and back on charger. 10 mins and it's back to full charge.

Put in car and it starts.

Does anyone have any ideas?
I've checked the electrolyte levels and they appear to be fine.
Battery is 18 months old and is the small Japanese version not the bigger UK battery.

Thanks in advance

Andy

 

[Guest]

Andy,
Difficult to say whether its your charger or the battery or the connections,-I remember a previous thread which helped solve my problem.One of the connections uses a corrugated type of adaptor to adjust the size had corrosion/wasnt tightening enough and caused similar problems.Ralliart changed the battery under warranty but problem persisted until i addressed the connector.Hope this helps.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for that Chris.
The charger is brand new (bought it on Friday) and so I don't think it will be a problem with it but you never know.

I've checked the connections and they all appear to be tight and I've 'waggled' them around and they don't move.

Anyone else?

Andy

 

[Guest]

Those little 35amp batteries really aren't very good, some go on for years, some need replacing regular like.
Most high street kwick fit type tyre fitters also stock Jap spec exide batteries, and they have a green light moulded in the top to let you know condition, only cost £45 inc vat with 2 - 3 year warrenty, a worthwile refurbishment for the peace of mind of reliability.
Alternativley, A mits dealer could fit the winterpack battery instead ( 50 quid bigger but heavier batt, 2 larger terminals, wider batt clip).
his wont solve the prob if it turns out to be faulty regulator/ Alternator.
RogerRally

 

[Guest]

Andy,

Those r the symptoms of a dead cell , only sure way 2 find out is a load test. This is a high current load placed on the battery with simultanious volts reading.

 

[Guest]

My larger sized Jap battery also died when less than a year old. One of the cells had given up and the electrolyte had turned black. If you felt the side it was starting to bulge out. It does seem that the OE jap batteries are not very reliable as I have heard of many people having to replace them.

Check the connections first but as Evoboy says it does sound like a dead cell. Replacement batteries are available from Halfords, HB054 rings a bell but do a search, about £46 (they are equivalent to the larger Cold Climate Pack battery). I got a Lucas item which was the same rating for £38.

 

[Guest]

Yup - I go with Evoboy and HH6. I had this exact same problem in my car....after 2 attempts and charging took it to the local auto electrician, and they did the old load test - 1 dead cell. Resolution buy new battery

Sounds the same. But also like splodge says, you might end up with the same problem if there is an abnormal drain elsewhere - bu then again, the autoelectrician will be able to tell you if you have overly high drain (which might point to the alternator or something else)

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the help guys,
Result was a knackered cell so it was off to Kwik Fit for a replacement.

Managed to pick one up with a 4 year guarantee for the bargain price of £34.

Only problem is that it's the same battery as is standard on a Nissan Micra

Andy