Dead Electrics

[Guest Welsh_S7]

My Hood has been tucked away in the barn for the last few weeks for her winter hibernation and ready for some overhauling. For the last year, the battery has been struggling to hold any charge - I put this down to not using the car every week.

 

Last weekend I put the battery on trickle-charge and left it for the week. This weekend I checked on its progress and nothing. There was no charge in the battery to switch the ignition lights on, let alone start the car.

 

I decided the battery was knackered and pulled it out (after taking off one of the carbs that was in the way first!) I put the battery from my Focus in the Hood to see if she would now start. Nothing. Once again the car was dead. Now I know the battery from my Focus was in perfect working order - so what has gone wrong?

 

The live cable from the batter is in two sections - one goes to the stater motor, the second goes around the car to the cockpit and presumably the ignition. This cable to the ignition has a fuse right next to the battery and the fuse is ok. So why can't I get any power out of the battery?

 

Anyone got any ideas?

 

Thanks for your help!

Edited November 2, 2009 by Welsh_S7

[Guest madrallysport]

My Hood has been tucked away in the barn for the last few weeks for her winter hibernation and ready for some overhauling. For the last year, the battery has been struggling to hold any charge - I put this down to not using the car every week.

 

Last weekend I put the battery on trickle-charge and left it for the week. This weekend I checked on its progress and nothing. There was no charge in the battery to switch the ignition lights on, let alone start the car.

 

I decided the battery was knackered and pulled it out (after taking off one of the carbs that was in the way first!) I put the battery from my Focus in the Hood to see if she would now start. Nothing. Once again the car was dead. Now I know the battery from my Focus was in perfect working order - so what has gone wrong?

 

The live cable from the batter is in two sections - one goes to the stater motor, the second goes around the car to the cockpit and presumably the ignition. This cable to the ignition has a fuse right next to the battery and the fuse is ok. So why can't I get any power out of the battery?

 

Anyone got any ideas?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

Check your getting power to the switch from the battery using a multi meter, also check the earth connection from the battery to the car, if you have a bad main earth then there is no circuit.

[agent_zed]

check for mice damage to the cables if its been in barn for a while. They have been known to chew on the wires. hth

[miikae]

Have you a battery isolator switch fitted by any chance and forgotten about it?

 

Mike

[ibrooks]

Definitely multi-meter time.

 

If a battery has been left discharged for this sort of time then it's likely dead. OK you've fitted a known good one and still have no electrics but I'd suggest this simply shows an additional problem - it certainly doesn't confirm the original battery is still good.

 

So..... Multi-meter on voltage setting stick the probes on the battery terminals and see if there is anything there. Assuming you're getting 12+Volts then there is enough to at least do some fault finding.

 

The main cable from the battery to the starter should be permanently live so stick the negative probe on the battery negative terminal and the positive on the main terminal of the starter - you should show the same voltage as doing it on the battery direct. Now move the negative terminal to some bare metal on the engine (a head bolt is a good candidate but you'll probably have to scratch some oil/rust off to make contact). You should again see close to the same voltage - if not then try for some bare metal on the chassis/body (the stainless usually has a clear coat so scratch the surface somewhere out of sight if there isn't an instant reading). I'm betting you'll find a problem here because to kill everything in one go sounds like an earth strap has broken or come adrift to me.

 

Mice/rodents are a very good suspect as they seem to love chewing on wires.

 

Iain

[Guest Welsh_S7]

Many thanks for your replies - my mate is a sparky so I'll get him and his multi-meter up to have a look! I doubt its mice as the cat also lives in the barn and is a goof mouser...but you never know!

 

Its probably worth mentioning that the car was outside for a few months during the summer / autumn and even though was under a raincover, she still had a bit of a soaking - could this be a factor also?

 

Cheers!