Battery....cranking Speed

[DoctorDee]

Recently bought a Robin Hood 2b wishbone suspension.... it's fitted with a 2 litre zetec....

 

I went on holiday for two weeks shortly after purchase.

 

Came back and the car really struggled to crank over, I added some fresh fuel and although it cranked slowly it caught and ran. I ran it for twenty minutes.

 

I week later and again it cranked slowly....charged the battery and it was pretty flat so I assumed I had a battery drain....

 

Checked the voltage at the battery, post charge 12.97 volts....... Still cranked slowly...so slowly it won't start.

 

My battery charger has a test sequence for voltage at crank speed....Managed to get one reading of 4.6 volts

 

Which according to the blurb with the charger is real bad....

 

Are we looking at a new battery................. If so currently I have exide type three 38 amp with a CCA of 300.... Any recomendations please

 

 

 

 

[kevin the chicken]

Have a look at what's recommended for the 2 litre zetec in the focus. You might find that space is an issue, if so then you will have to look for one that has the same spec and is the right size. It's like that with kit cars. The first question they always ask when you go to the auto spares shop is what's it For? Make sure the terminals are in the right place too.

The zetec one should be adequate for your needs as you won't be running lots of electrical stuff normally and probably won't be expecting it to start in sub zero temperatures.

If you think you have some sort of battery drain, charge it and then take the leads off until you next want to use it. That should tell you if it's the battery.

And Welcome!

[Longboarder]

Disconnect battery and give it a full charge. You can't draw any conclusions from 12.97 post charge. Swing by your local battery shop and get it tested. If the battery is good then you need to check starter circuits, ignition and possibly the starter motor itself. (You could always try a jump start from a known good battery to assess the starter.) Also need to check for parasitic loss draining the battery.

My 2L zetec battery is 44AH 390CCA and works fine.

 

Nigel

[alanh65]

I experienced a similar issue a couple of years ago not long after purchasing my car.

When parked up, the immobiliser slowly drained the battery but the main problem turned out to be a defective alternator, so when the car was driven it drained the battery even further and wasn't charging it up as I assumed it would be.

 

New alternator and heavier duty battery solved the problem.

 

A good 12 volt battery should read higher than 12 volts ... I know, sounds silly doesn't it!

Edited October 2, 2016 by alanh65

[DoctorDee]

A lot to think about there........ Fitted a new alternator when I first got it but did not swop out the battery...

 

I hate electrics....Probably because I don't understand it....and because I don't understand it....well you get the picture.....However I have to learn

 

Never run anything with an ECU....well not one that I have had to play with.....

 

I have been told that if I disconnect the battery I will lose the engine mapping....is this another of those myths? ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maccavvy]

I wouldnt worry about losing the map...leave it connected..charge up overnight..measure voltage..measure voltage whilst cranking....measure voltage when running with lights etc on...report back.

If you got a loval friendly motor spares they usually load trst batteries and alternators for free.

[alanrichey]

I have been told that if I disconnect the battery I will lose the engine mapping....is this another of those myths? ....

 

You won't lose the basic maps, those are loaded in firmware. What you might lose are what's known as 'adaptive' settings where the ECU has learned your environment, your driving technique, the state of your engine.... and has tweaked some of the settings. So worse case scenario is that you will be driving on the default map, which is probably 95% correct, for a couple of hundred miles while it re-learns those settings.

 

It all depends on the type of ECU of course. On my Rover MEMS 1.6 (Early 90s, so very old), most of the settings are held in non-volatile memory, so the only thing I lose if I disconnect the battery are the ideal idle settings. She still idles OK, but gets a lot better after a few miles. I would think newer ECUs would hold all the adaptive settings so removing the battery has no effect.

[Bob Tucker]

Check for a really good earth directly from battery to engine, and from battery to chassis.

Bad earth is a common cause of this type of problem.

[DoctorDee]

I have spoken to the guys who manufacture the engine management system and they assured me that it would retain the basic mapping. Thankyou for the additional assurance and info.

 

I am going to have to fit a new battery in order to complete cranking tests etc as it does not turn over enough to obtain a reading ....it literally goes..... turn...1234.....turn....1234....nothing

 

Unfortunately i haven't got a Lovalls or any other auto electric type supplier in Banbury....or if we have it's the best kept secret in town. I'll make some calls...

 

If No joy by Friday it's off to Euro parts or Francellis on Saturday am for some voltage in a box

 

Will check earthing before I do anything else....Thanks once again....

 

The moral support is a real help ....Will report back earliest

[DoctorDee]

Checked the earths, both engine and chassis with my multimeter.

 

12.67v at the battery posts.....12.63v at chassis and engine earths.mentioned it

 

Thanks for that advice Bob. I would have probably walked past that particular step if you hadn't

 

Battery voltage has now dropped from 12.97 to 12.67 since Sunday.....Parasitic drain?

 

I shall continue down the testing road once I have purchased a new battery on Saturday........

[Grim]

12.7 is normal, a healthy battery will go over that if recently charged but settle back down at 12.7 even without a drain on it

 

4.6v on cranking does not sound good.

Edited October 4, 2016 by Grim

[nicko]

I bought a new battery for mine due to poor starting, turned out to be the starter motor. Fitted a 2nd hand 1, and all good now.

HTH

Nick

[cb750]

The battery I use is the Varta C6 silver type. It was the smallest higher power "standard" type battery that I could find.

 

Spec is 52 AH, 520 CCA. Size 063, 175 x 175 x 207 mm long. Round posts (I changed the leads to suit). Believe it's a 5 year warranty. Turns my high compression engine a treat!

 

Rob

[Big Jim]

Before you start buying a new battery, check everything else first.

REMOVE the earth to the engine, clean it up and refit it. Checking with a gauge would only show voltage, so do not rely on that, it will show voltage even if only 1 strand of wire is making contact, but it's current that you need as well & lots of it, so you need ALL the wires (ie the eyelet) to make a good clean contact.

Remove the terminals from the battery and clean them up. Remove and clean up the large feed wire to the starter.

Now charge the battery up overnight and take it to your local motor accessory shop and get them to check it with their battery load tester.

If it proves to be ok, and you've cleaned all the terminals etc. you now have a starter motor problem. Obviously if it proves duff, you now know for certain that you need a battery.

I have one of these, but you're not near enough to borrow it. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Draper-100Amp-Battery-Load-Tester-PN-BLT100-/291759026260?hash=item43ee317054:g:H~gAAOSwYmZXL7RE

Edited October 5, 2016 by Big Jim

[Guest lotusPaul]

I had a few issues with mine before. Now solved by the fitment of the Extreme Energy 40 battery. 1100cca. Also fitment of bigger thicker cables for feed (red) and return (black).

I think it's been said before on this forum but wait till Aldi or Lidl sell their chargers. Fantastic kit and even brought my dead battery back to life. It may work for you too.

Mine runs high compression spot was needed.you may not