It's all about positives and negatives.....

[VR6 0]

Well I like to think that my Corrado and me are helping to keep the world in equilibrium.

 

I clean and feed my leather over the course of an hour and a half.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

...... and now the fecker won't start.

 

Think I may have been listening to the stereo for too long whilst cleaning the interior!

 

Wouldn't have thought that would be enough to prevent it from starting! Always thought my battery was excellent.

[Supercharged 2]

Measure the voltage across the terminals...

[VR6 0]

9.75, which I would've thought sufficient to start it.

 

Drivers window is a bit sluggish going up, so I'm not sure where the problem is.

 

I can hear lots of clicking but it just won't turn the engine over at all.

[dinkus 10]

9.75 sounds pretty low actually... time to whip out the battery charger/jump leads

[Supercharged 2]

Yep, charge it!

[VR6 0]

Yep, that was my plan. Bloody car.

 

Btw, this is in General as I'm not really looking for answers (although thanks anyway :)), but I just thought it was pretty cosmic that you improve one thing, and in order for the world to balance, something has to go wrong.

 

Is it just me that thinks like this? Ying and Yang etc.

 

I think I'm so glad that the exams are out of the way for another 6 months that my body has now gone into a sort of 'self preservation' cycle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry.

[dinkus 10]

:lol:

 

Ahh yes, but come tomorrow you'll get into your nicely softened leather seats, fire her up and go for a drive that'll leave a comical grin on your face :D

[VR6 0]

I think the neighbours think I'm insane.

 

Out I went, armed with a damp cloth, a cleaning cloth and a toothbrush (couldn't find a bigger brush such as a nail brush).

 

45 minutes later I went in.

 

And then came out armed with another bottle and another cloth.

 

30 minutes later and I went in again.

 

And then came out to try and figure out why it wasn't starting, multimeter in hand.

[Supercharged 2]

Yep, that was my plan. Bloody car.

 

No, I meant 'Charge' it (with the kit on eBay!) :wink:

[VR6 0]

Lol - maybe sometime soon ....... :lol:

[samm_cvr6 0]

oh yes, the old ying and yang. It's sods law, as soon as I polish that baby up (car) it won't start, so I just let it be dirty, probably keeps the thieves at bay aswell.

[VR6 0]

Would 9.75 really not be enough to turn her over?!

[Supercharged 2]

I wouldn't try with less than 10, in fact you could damage the ECU...

[Ady_G 0]

Mine was reading about 12.2 on the multimeter and it still wouldn't start, shouldn't it read nearer 14V?

 

I realised the battery wasn't holding it's charge so I replaced it.

 

Cheers

 

Ady

[A20 LEE 0]

Mine was reading about 12.2 on the multimeter and it still wouldn't start, shouldn't it read nearer 14V?

 

I realised the battery wasn't holding it's charge so I replaced it.

 

Cheers

 

Ady

 

i get about 12.6V or 14.4V with the engine running.

[dr_mat 0]

You *might* be able to get it to start on a shade less than 10v, but the battery's ability to start the car is less related to the volts and more to the amps it can deliver. A vr6 needs 100+ amps to turn the starter adequately... (The RAC man uses the jump leads from the van AND a secondary booster battery...)

 

(At least once the starter is turning, the alternator helps things along a little, so you don't lose all that energy in one go.)

 

I believe the ECU needs 10 volts to stabilise it's circuits.

 

Battery voltage should be 12.2-12.8 volts, alternator output should be 13-14.5 volts.

 

Sounds like you have some dry/dead cells there, VR6.

[VR6 0]

Cheers Matt - looks like something else to go on the shopping list :)

 

I don't mind so much as I've been running it for about 2 and a half years on the battery that was on the car when I got it.

 

Before the VR it seemed that every car I bought needed a new battery within 5 minutes of owning it!

 

I think I must be quite odd as I actually don't mind spending money on the car, whether it's performance, cosmetic or just plain old maintainance/repair.

[dr_mat 0]

You're odd because you haven't been forced to spend small fortunes through no fault of your own!!

I don't mind spending a few quid here and there when the car is basically running ok and I'm tweaking things for my benefit. But when you look back and realise you've spent £5k over three years and have very little to show for it (other than some shiny components), then it starts to bug you.

[NickVR6 0]

Wise words Dr Matt, its bugging me that i've spent 1k on nothing in 3 months. Purely in persuit of getting it to run how it should from the factory, before tweaking anything.

 

PS: If its not your battery it will be the starter motor plus cable I reckon. Can make a nice flash at night when its arking, quite pretty actually, depending on the weather and where it lets you down that is! It was raining when mine went and the local pub gave me the slaughtered lamb treatment when i walked in!