stel g60 0 Posted May 20, 2004 right guys, who can help me with this, i changed battery and alternator about 3 months ago and 2 weeks ago the car wouldnt start and the aa man put it down to a dodgy starter motor as it had all the normal symptoms. he gave the starter a whack, car started and i was on my way. it did this twice in the space of a week so i fitted a new one about 2 weeks ago. one day last week though it did the same thing again twice in a week, i thought i had a dodgy starter but it started with a booster so i ruled that out. last night, inside heathrow it did it again. i had a booster with me but this time the booster wouldnt start it, (was fully charged) i finally stared it then it wouldnt start again half hour later. luckilly ive always had someone there to push start it though- nows the strange bit, when i did get it running if i turned on the hazards or heaters or similar the stereo would switch off for a second then come back on. then it was doing alternator syptoms (interior light dimming in time with hazards, that sort of thing) i would say its the alternator but then wouldnt the booster start it? sorry for the essay guys but its really annoying me as it seems like my car dont like running right for too long and i nearly put a bat to it the other day. please help Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SoundsAlarming 0 Posted May 20, 2004 Sounds like a ground fault to me. Check that the battery terminals are clean and tight Check that the ground cable from the battery is clean and tight to the body Check the engine to body ground is sound. A quick test for ground faults like this is to attach a booster cable from the -ive side of the battery to the engine. If the car starts with it attached you know thats the fault. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henny 0 Posted May 20, 2004 yup, I agree with SoundsAlarming, 100% there... 8) The earth strap on Corrados is a known weak point... the strap is part of the -ve terminal on the battery, runs down the back of the battery and bolts onto the chassis at the back of the battery tray, and then continues onto the top front gearbox to engine bolt... It has a nasty habbit of going green and cruddy which causes problems like this... :| The other one to check is the battery +ve connector onto the starter motor... the copper in the connector oxidises but will usually clean up nicely with some rough sandpaper... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhatVR6 0 Posted May 20, 2004 DO what I do on all my cars. buy some gold plated battery terminals, and some amp power connectors, and rewie the starting/charging system using heavy duty cable. Do that and you'll never have starting and ahcarging problems again (well, until your batteyr.starter or alternator dies). Make sure the gearbox earth is as close to the starter as possible, not on the gearbox mounting bracket. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stel g60 0 Posted May 20, 2004 you guys are diamonds, thanks for the quick replys! ive been thinking about the ground but wasnt sure. ill check it tonight and update the situation. fingers crossed :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RACK 0 Posted May 20, 2004 I think I'm having a bit of a smilar prob. My batteries keep going flat. I'm on my 3rd since xmas. The +ve terminal is a bit fooked so I'm gonna swap those this weekend, shouls I check the earths mentioned too? Cheers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henny 0 Posted May 20, 2004 yup... definately worth checking the earth no matter how clean the battery's connectors look... the amount of crud that collects under the battery tray where the strap attaches to the chassis is scarey... :| Probably also worth taking the bulb out of the glovebox lamp and the boot lamp as these can cause current leaks which will flatten batteries pretty quickly... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stel g60 0 Posted May 20, 2004 forgot about the boot lamp. will check that too. cheers henny Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RACK 0 Posted May 20, 2004 I've taken the one out of the boot, cos I thought it was this before. I'll do the glove box when I get out of work in a min and am waiting for the charger to warm up (how come a minute seems to take so long??). I thought it was my new stereo that was doing it, cos on my old one I had a surpressor box on the ignition live but took it off for this one, ever since then my battery has been a bit dodgy??? Strage cos they've both been Kenwood units?? Cheers again peeps (ps Henny, you must get more bored at work than me, I'm sure I've just spotted your name on dubforce :lol: ) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henny 0 Posted May 20, 2004 ps Henny, you must get more bored at work than me, I'm sure I've just spotted your name on dubforce :lol: Yeah, I'm a mod there too... :roll: :lol: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
