ADL Mark Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Hi All, My other half's crappy Corsa B 1.7D had it's alternator fail recently (possibly my bad) and the battery on it lasted five days of starting and running with no charge before it died and would no longer hold a decent charge. I bought a Lion battery from Eurocarparts as it was cheap and had a 3 year warranty. Several times the car has been hard to start or even refused to start if left for more than 24 hours. You only get one crack at a cold start too! I've checked the alternator before when this happened and getting a healthy 14.7, plus after a jump and short run time the battery works ok again. This time I'd had enough so I took the battery back to ECP who promptly tested it and declared it healthy. I've been out and checked the Corsa for current drain and I'm only seeing 0.01A which is good. The guy waffled something about Corsa's having dodgy earths but all the connections look good and strong. Can anybody offer any advice, I think they're giving me the run around? Cheers, Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjy Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Hi All, My other half's crappy Corsa B 1.7D had it's alternator fail recently (possibly my bad) and the battery on it lasted five days of starting and running with no charge before it died and would no longer hold a decent charge. I bought a Lion battery from Eurocarparts as it was cheap and had a 3 year warranty. Several times the car has been hard to start or even refused to start if left for more than 24 hours. You only get one crack at a cold start too! I've checked the alternator before when this happened and getting a healthy 14.7, plus after a jump and short run time the battery works ok again. This time I'd had enough so I took the battery back to ECP who promptly tested it and declared it healthy. I've been out and checked the Corsa for current drain and I'm only seeing 0.01A which is good. The guy waffled something about Corsa's having dodgy earths but all the connections look good and strong. Can anybody offer any advice, I think they're giving me the run around? Cheers, Mark. Put a jump lead between the earth terminal of the battery and a good earth point on the engine. Something like a lifting hook is usually the best bet. Try and start it and see if it makes a difference. Also, try and check the battery voltage on cranking. It shouldn't dip any lower than 10 or 11v. Failing that, make sure they've supplied a high enough ampage battery to start a diesel. I'm banned from euro's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADL Mark Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 Haha, dare I ask why? The guy I spoke to was a knob, I had to leave before I told him where to stick his tester It's a 70Ah battery which should be enough? I'll try the jump lead trick and see if that helps. If it fits I'll swap the battery with the one in my Passat TDi and see how they both get on. Their "very expensive" battery tester showed it had more CCA than it's rated at and it's got a steady 12.8V sitting there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADL Mark Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 Ok, tried a jump lead between the neg and the lift hook and still the same, checked the voltage drop at the same time. It drops to a minimum of 11.5V and that's just after the glow plugs have warmed otherwise it doesn't drop below 12V. I've put the Passat battery on there and tried that but that wouldn't start it either, it just gently 'clunks' the starter motor. Not sure if it would start it though as it's only a 50Ah battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
listy Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Have you checked the starter motor/starter motor contacts? A neighbour of mine had what sounds like the same problem. Battery going flat, no start. Checked the alternator....all good. Threw a new battery on there, and that seemed to solve the problem for a week or so. Then it all started to happen again. Turned out the starter motor was on its way out. New one fitted, and the problem has gone away. That was a 1994 Astra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjy Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Have you checked the starter motor/starter motor contacts? A neighbour of mine had what sounds like the same problem. Battery going flat, no start. Checked the alternator....all good. Threw a new battery on there, and that seemed to solve the problem for a week or so. Then it all started to happen again. Turned out the starter motor was on its way out. New one fitted, and the problem has gone away. That was a 1994 Astra. This. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADL Mark Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 I had started thinking starter motor. Is there a way to test it? I guess not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjy Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 I had started thinking starter motor. Is there a way to test it? I guess not? Not really mate. They're not mega money anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADL Mark Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 The car isn't worth bugger all though Cheers for the help guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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