Panda 1.1 Active, 19.2k, 2010.

Yesterday morning when I went to start the car it wouldn't start straight away it just went

"chi chi chi chi chi chi chi chi chi chi" but the engine did not turn over.

I then tried again and it turned over straight away with no problem.

This morning I started the car and it started straight away with no hesitation, but about an other later I tried to start the car and it went "chi chi chi....." so I had to try again and it started instantly.

It has been ok every since, I can't see been the battery as it always starts the second time. Any ideas would this might be?

The car is otherwise running fine, apart from the odd ECU lamp issue (I have made plenty of other threads on that). It was last serviced in April including a new air filter and spark plugs.

probably iffy battery

I think these cars are very susceptible to a less than fully healthy battery

Yeah the power steering failed when I started it last week, restarted and been fine since. It was on 12.1v then, but after a long run it was 12.4.

Can car batteries behave like that? E.g not enough ampage to turn the engine over one second then fine the next?

JD82 said:

Yeah the power steering failed when I started it last week, restarted and been fine since. It was on 12.1v then, but after a long run it was 12.4.

Can car batteries behave like that? E.g not enough ampage to turn the engine over one second then fine the next?

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Could potentially be the battery connections, or even the engine earth strap starting to fail (has happened on Andy Monty's sisters 500).

I checked the other day with negative lead on the body and the positive on the positive terminal of the battery, I got 0v is that normal? I thought the body acted as the 'ground' and was directly connected to the negative terminal on the battery.

pas failure also;
points to poor electrical supply - rather than dodgy starter,

unless the battery is less than 3 years old,
get it charged properly..,
or get another Bosch silver for @£40 , will rule out a LOT of things..,
Charlie

Where are they £40? £56 is the cheapest I can find at Euro car parts.

JD82 said:

Where are they £40? £56 is the cheapest I can find at Euro car parts.

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Not quite £40 but I've found eBay the cheapest in the past

I found this guide to battery condition
12.66v . . . . . . . . . . 100%
12.45v . . . . . . . . . . 75%
12.24v . . . . . . . . . . 50%
12.06v . . . . . . . . . . 25%
11.89v . . . . . . . . . . 0%

(NOTE: these readings are at 80 degrees F. Battery voltage readings will drop with temperature roughly 0.01 volts for every 10 degrees F.)
(At 30 degrees F. a fully charged battery will measure about 12.588 volts, and at zero degrees F it will measure about 12.516 volts.)

As you can see, temperature of the battery effects it's charge state.
So your battery reading 12.4v under the bonnet when warm, after a good run is around 70% charged or only holding 70% of it's charge.

Leave it overnight in freezing conditions and it'll no doubt drop well below 50% status. That's why every years first cold snap results in the AA and RAC making a killing out of selling batteries, one that is normally 75-80% healthy, won't be half as good when the weather bites a little!

A cheap digital voltmeter is a useful tool and a few tests can help decide what is going on.

1, Just probing the battery with everything turned off can indicate the battery's condition, roughly! See above.

2, Probing the battery with the engine running will test the alternator output (it should read high 13's to anywhere up to 14.4v)

3, Setting the meter to read amps (small amps), turning every electrical item off, disconnecting the neg lead.
Bridging the neg terminal - disconnected lead with the meter will read off the current being drawn from the battery, which, with everything off, shouldn't be much (around 0.04amp give or take a few 0.00's)

Anything that reads way above and you have a drain somewhere. (and a headache finding it, unless you've recently fitted an aftermarket head unit, then you've wired up the switched and unswitched live wrong!)

By using the 3 tests, you should be able to work out to some degree if it's a duff battery, what's charging it (the alternator or belt) is fubar or if you have a short or problen draining the battery.

Another test would be a battery "drop test".
This basically shorts the battery to measure it's strength, without a tester it's hard to do, but you can go it places like Kwikfit, Halfords etc and get them to test for you, they usually do it for "free" but you usually "need a new battery" because they sell them!

Goudrons said:

Another test would be a battery "drop test".
This basically shorts the battery to measure it's strength, without a tester it's hard to do, but you can go it places like Kwikfit, Halfords etc and get them to test for you, they usually do it for "free" but you usually "need a new battery" because they sell them!

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http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Seale...634?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item563a1868a2

That what I've bought, a good bit of kit

I have access to one, but you can bet your last pound (euro) that a cheap battery will be fecked after three years and a quality one will last around 5 years of normal motoring.

Contantly short tripping (Llike the Mrs does) and you can pretty much half the above.

Checked again this afternoon (from cold) battery was on 12.4v.

Checked the Hyundai and that was 12.66v so it looks like I will need to order a new battery soon. What is odd is the last 20 starts have been instant with no hesitation.

JD82 said:

Checked again this afternoon (from cold) battery was on 12.4v.

Checked the Hyundai and that was 12.66v so it looks like I will need to order a new battery soon. What is odd is the last 20 starts have been instant with no hesitation.

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this is what's fitted to our 1.1 since October ( punto spec but fits and works fine)

compare the Cold Cranking Amps..!!

same 44 Amp Hour rating,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOSCH-S4-...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35e481349f

make a low offer on that one..!!,
this is our sellers current ad.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bosch-S4-...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5d402c9eaf

Charlie

Get a Bosch battery. At this time of year it is money well spent.
The old one will let you down when......
Going to an important work meeting
going to pick up kids
going to a wedding.
How old is the old battery?