Technical A video to show you how my car starts :@ please look and help me sort this out....

[corky]

Im sick of looking like a dweeb in my car and it starts like this.... its annoying me soo much now ive done a video and haha as usual the first time it starts fine... 2nd time starts perfect.... 3rd time it does a ****ty start always starts fine when i want to show somebody the 3rd time is what it does most of the time and i need to sort it really quick cause im losing patience.... :bang:

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWe4mKry_3s"]YouTube- VID 00000 20100906 1610[/nomedia]

 

[corky]

Whilst ive had the car ive changed:

- Spark plugs
- Timing belt and tensioner
- Fan belt (auxillary belt)
- Cleaned the carb

please help!!

 

[bredsticz]

I'd say a dirty earth or battery terminals, maybe a break in the wire somewhere

 

[DaveMcT]

Clip a jump lead onto the battery negative and onto the engine block. If it starts better the problem is in the earth cable connections to the engine and/or the chassis. Unbolt them clean the metal surfaces grease with vaseline and put back.

If its the same, the problem is the battery or the starter.

Undo the battery earth terminal and jump lead from another car with a known good battery. Run the jump earth lead to the engine block and DO NOT run the donor car engine.

If it spins over nicely, then you know its the battery.

 

[corky]

The car always starts though.... sometimes it does it that bad it resets clock etc.... i cleaned the battery terminals yesterday but when i went to start it first time it did it :bang:

 

[dave]

get a new battery

 

[Benjammo]

my dads rover 400 did this, it was the seluloid (ui know its spelt wrong) on the starter motor that was buggered. new starter motor solved it.

 

[DaveMcT]

The car always starts though.... sometimes it does it that bad it resets clock etc.... i cleaned the battery terminals yesterday but when i went to start it first time it did it :bang:

Deffo the battery that's the one symptom that proves it.

Get a good one and ideally go for the best you can get. With electric power steering and winter coming up you will soon forget the extra £50 over the cheapest battery.

 

[dave]

extra £50 you should be able to pick up a varta for under £50

 

[corky]

Its just if i spend like a bit on a new battery and its not that i would be annoyed could anyone point me in the right direction for a new cheapish battery? so are we saying its the battery or the starter motor

 

[a1ant]

Hi mate,

I would third the duff battery diagnosis. E-bay is good for batteries, have a look HERE, or your local motor factors. Avoid halfords though unless you have a trade card as they are very expensive!

Dont go for one of the really cheap ones, go for the good makes such as VARTA. You could even fit a slightly larger battery if you wanted, however you may need to modify your battery tray surround slightly.

Alan

 

[dave]

the bigger battery tray are £15 from a dealer, so probably a fiver at scrappy
they are fitted standard to speedgear puntos

 

[DaveMcT]

The Bosch Silver with 5 year warranty and 550 amps cranking power I have in mine is the same size as the basic 2 year warranty cheapo fluffy battery. It costs 2 x as much and the cheapo will do the job for a while. But Punto steering is fussy, especially in hard winter cold so going OTT on the battery is good sense. I paid £103 from Halfords (no choice as it was a weekend) you could get something similar for less.

The clock going off after starting the car is a sure sign the battery has gone flat with the effort. Its got no charge capacity left so is time for a new one. You can prove it by disconnecting the battery and jump leading off another car (with a known good battery) donor engine NOT running. The Punto clock will be happy and the starter should spin faster.

 

[corky]

Hmmm so im guessing a new battery then? the one in now looks a bit duff lol

 

[a1ant]

Hmmm so im guessing a new battery then? the one in now looks a bit duff lol

Yes looks like that's the problem to me.

Also, starting and stopping it 3 times like you did in the video, would put a lot of drain on the battery. If you started it, and then let it idle for 10 mins, then stopped it and re-started it would probably be ok. Letting it idle for only a few secs in between starts is not enough to replace the charge that was taken by starting the car.

HOWEVER it should manage more than 3 starts in a row with no charging in between, and from your other description, it certainly sounds like your battery is tired.

Alan

 

[corky]

Cheers pal i will get a new and BIGGER battery a trip to the scrappers and get a new battery holder should sort it out

 

[dave]

http://www.tayna.co.uk/Type-076-Varta-Silver-Dynamic-Car-Battery-P3131.html

 

[DaveMcT]

I dont know if mine is a large or small box. The battery is 200mm long x 170 wide x 170 high and fits snugly. It's a Bosch Silver 5 star giving 520Amps cold cranking, 52AH (Amp Hours) and about 2kg heavier than the more basic batteries.

 

[corky]

i was just actually looking at the Bosch ones then the car accessory shop near me he does them in there i might ring him see what hes got

 

[DaveMcT]

Mine came from Halfords - not the cheapest but I wasnt in a position to shop around. I paid just over £100. The next one down was about £85 and the cheapo version was about £55. There was an obvious weight difference between each one.

If you dont intend to keep the car more than a year the £85 jobbie should do. I would avoid the cheapie as it will struggle in cold weather to maintain the system voltage and that upsets the electric power steering.