Having issues with battery/starting

[STOIE]

Hey all,

The Mk2 is having some issues at the moment, basically the battery started by going flat one night...
Then battery was swapped to another I know works, it fixed the issue and ran for a few days, now in the last 48 hours, it has died again when the car was just sitting, roll starting the car has worked to start it both times it died. From here we let it charge and it just continually died, now when you go to crank it after charging the battery on a charger and trying 3 different batteries the electrics just flicker in the car and the starter motor makes a loud clicking sound.

Does this sound like a starter issue to you???

Or what else would you think sounds suspect?


Thanks,
Aaron.

[valgamesh]

Turns out the front engine mount was missing a bolt and the engine was loose crushing the starter

[mikinoz]

It's always the simple things. Could have been earth or pos lead connections too.

[valgamesh]

Could have been earth or pos lead connections too.

That is true and was one of the thoughts at the time but the most obvious was the engine mount bolt.

I guess I'll find out later today when I get it back.

[valgamesh]

Ok so got the car back today and everything was fine, ran well and turned on without a push start.

Drove to work, got there about 5pm ish... car sat there till about 1030pm... turned on fine, warmed up... everything good. Drive into shopping center carpark to meet up with misses and friends, nothing was open so headed back to car...

literally 10 minutes after parking there back in car ready to leave but nothing... its like i have no power, clock on dash goes out, battery light flickers, but no kick of the motor.... note: interior light is on still???

when the car is on the central locking flickers as if you have just re-connected the battery... constantly!!!

Any ideas as to what could be causing this???

[sports racer]

How old is your battery? Sounds like it's on it's last legs or your alternator is not charging.

Get the car started, turn on your lights and disconnect the battery. If the engine still runs then the alternator is working. If the engine stalls you are not getting a charge and need to look at why the alternator is not charging.

Hope this helps.

Paul

[STOIE]

Alternator definitely works, I can confirm that we have tested that.

Weird, It just comes back to the starter, the battery or that damn lead.
Do you still have the other battery?
If so, throw that in again and see if it helps...

[Jarred]

I think you have a massive leak in your system somewhere.

My old diesel (yes, I know its' a diesel, and a mk 1, but principle applies) I had a few issues like that. battery would be going dead over night kinda thing, from full charge, but it was only and intermitten thing (the hard thing is, cause it was diesel, it would didn't need battery to keep running, just to start)

Anyways, turned out, one of the high amp relays was getting stuck open, which cause a massive amps draw and drained the battery. I could actually see the battery being drained by checking the voltage every few hours with a multimeter.

So if the battery is good, and the starter is fine, I'd check the earths for starters, and then try and find things that would be massive current draws. turn things on in progression, with a multimeter across the battery, look out for a big dip, ie sound system, likes etc. Maybe check the wiring around the starter and alternator just incase too. wouldn't hurt to double check the alternator as well (again, i know) Should read 13.5-14V DC when the cars running at idle, with nothing on. (but the engine)

Sorry if this is a whole bunhc of mumbo jumbo, but hopefully something helps!

[STOIE]

I am still having my doubts about the damn battery leads, I would piss that thing off now that it has happened again.

Still try switching the battery back to the other one too.

[valgamesh]

Ok,

First, car turned on fine today

Paul: Tried disconnecting the battery and the car worked fine, didn't stall so not the alternator.

Aaron: I put the battery I liberated from your mk1 in and turned on fine. Having serious doubts about both leads, positive and negative, plus that little battery light. Even though its disabled...

Jarred: On starting the car battery sits at 12.5 but goes up to 13.5/14 after it runs for a minute. we thought it was the stereo at first but thats disconnected completely. The earths should be fine since I literally just had the starter fixed by Pete, but I probably should still have a look.

[STOIE]

Paul: Tried disconnecting the battery and the car worked fine, didn't stall so not the alternator.

It wouldn't stall, but the interior lights/stero etc. wouldn't work if the alt was furked.

[mikinoz]

I'd check the connections at the terminals to ensure the cable and the terminals (this is the terminal on the cable itself) are well seated. I had this same issue and it was the positive cable loose in the pole terminal - replaced the earth and + and never looked back.

Good luck.

It is not really a voltage drop, this is sounding like a broken circuit.

What happened in the carpark, how did you get it going?

[STOIE]

I believe he rolled it.

But the bad thing is with the connectors they are aftermarket and it has a voltage display on the pos terminal.
The cable connectors seem really dodgy that are attached to it, they have these sort of ball joints...

I would seriously piss those off Nick, maybe give Paul a call and see if he has a set, or maybe the battery factory???

Aaron.

[mikinoz]

Just get yourself 2 x stock starter cables and 2 new terminals, keep it simple and go from there is my advice.

[STOIE]

That's pretty much my feelings too.