Standard Battery

[K10]

Hi Folks,

My battery was flat a couple of evenings ago. I had to go to work in my other car and put the battery on charge. I had only fired up the car once to clean the carb in the last 5 days, so that will be why it was flat i presume, either that or the battery is coming to the end of its life.

If the battery does get worse, can you replace the fluid (it is not a sealed battery, it looks like an original panasonic battery on the car with removable plugs to top it up- the fluid level is fine by the way) or will i have to fork out for a new battery?

many thanks in advance,

Dan :k10:

 

[Arnold]

I think if the battery is on its way out, the normal thing to do is to replace the whole thing. It happens to all cars eventually!

 

[pietro]

Usual, the cold nights are creeping in, all the older batterys will start to fail now.

 

[SammoHung]

If you havent allready bought your new battery, hang fire because your battery may be fine and you may have a charging system fault...heres what to do.

After you have charged your old battery, measure the terminal voltage with a voltmeter (with the battery still out of the car). it should be arount 12.5 V
-If the vlotage is less than around 11.5 V then suspect the BATTERY-treat yourself to a new battery

Once the battery is hooked up in the car, have another check of the terminal voltage it should still be still around 12.5V
-If the vlotage is less than around 11.5 V then suspect the BATTERY and possibly an electrical fault on the car that could be draining over a few days while parked -treat yourself to a new battery. debugging a wiring fault is another story

start the engine, have another check of the terminal voltage it should have risen to around 14.5V
-If the voltage is bouncing between 12.5V & 14.5V intermittently or if the terminal voltage has only risen slightly or even not at all, suspect the CHARGING SYSTEM-dont get a new batery just yet

There is always a slim chance thatyou have a fault with the battery and the charging system, so dont be baffled if you get some wierd test results

Good luck

 

[K10]

many thanks guys :grinning:

the battery seems fine, i checked the voltage last week after a trickle, and it pumped out 13.4 volts so it aint dead just yet, it will be from lack of use.

sammo- yep it seems to be OK the charging system (not that i've voltage checked it just yet) but I did notice when under the bonnet that I have what looks like a small earth wire snapped off the alternator :doh:

I'll try and post a pic when I get time- would anyone be willing to check where this wire connects to their car for me?

Thanks again :grinning:

 

[Ed]

Charge the battery on a normal car battery charger for 24 hours. This should help to a certain extent equalise the cells. Chances are the battery grids are breaking up due to age so to be honest I wouldnt hold out too much hope. However this charge will help de-sulphate the cells to a certain extent. On a K10 a good battery should hold enough charge for several weeks not only a few days.

 

[K10]

Cheers ed, ta for the info

I'll try and get a pic of that loose wire soon too, think it could be a casing earth to get rid of static build up to deck.