Drained of life...

Site Subscriber Joined: 25 Nov 2004 Posts: 350

...hopped in the 19 not 10 minutes ago to start her up cos the battery was flat the other day for no apparant reason, and yet again, IT WAS FLAT! Evil or Very Mad

No idea why. The ignition lights barely lit up it was that flat.

The battery is about a year old, so i wouldnt have thought it would be that. The alternator looks new also.

Any help greatly appreciated Smile

Site Subscriber Joined: 10 Jun 2004 Posts: 2317

Read:
http://www.retro-renault.com/viewtopic.php?t=1508

Before Chris comes in here.

Level 8 User Joined: 02 Dec 2004 Posts: 263

huwwatkins wrote:

Before Chris comes in here.

Hehe

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

same thing happened to me the next day i tried to start it up after buying .

only difference is , the lights were not coming up at all . just changed the green terminal and never had prroblems since .

Site Subscriber Joined: 25 Nov 2004 Posts: 350

green terminal as in the physical connector between the cable and the battery? or the whole length of cable?

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

its the green plastic bit that screws on top of the negative side of the battery as you can see on chris h"s pictures .

you dont need to change the cable

Site Subscriber Joined: 25 Nov 2004 Posts: 350

ok cool. think my old man has some battery related bits knocking about in the shed Cool

Site Subscriber Joined: 25 Nov 2004 Posts: 350

was in process of completing the terminal block change-over, when my fan came on as i made the connection to the battery (ie so both positive and negative are now connected to the battery)

WHAT
THE
FCUK?!

ive checked for crossed wiring by the battery (bcos thats the only place ive been fidling with) and all looks as it should be. im stumped as to what it could be. Crying or Very sad

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

is the fan still running?

Site Subscriber Joined: 25 Nov 2004 Posts: 350

not at this very second. disconnected the switch at the back of the fan. also charging up the battery.

what are the chances of it being the sender unit on the bottom side of the rad?

Site Subscriber Joined: 10 Jun 2004 Posts: 2317

Its very possible, thats the thing i was trying to think of when I was talking to you on msn. The fan temperature controller thingie(yes technical i know Wink

)

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

the temp sender may be up the spout or theres a wiring problem to the fan. But I'd say sender

Site Subscriber Joined: 25 Nov 2004 Posts: 350

i took a swan through the good old Haynes manual, and they put my problems (battery losing power mainly) to the following:

wiring fault/crossed wire in the loom
alternator shagged
starter motor shagged
bad earthing points/terminals/cables
fan belt incorrectly tensioned so not chargin bettery properly

well huw checked the belt the other day and reckoned it was alright and we both reckon the alternator is as good as new...even my alternator checker meter thingy says its the badgers nadgers and is doing what it it supposed to. the earthing points look alright but i'll whip them off when the weather improves and give them a darn good clean.

last resort for now is to have the starter motor off and give it a clean and see what happens when i put it back. will also run a second cable from the battery negative to a starter motor support bolt

while on the subject of the starter motor, has anyone taken one off a Turbo Diesel engine while its been IN the car? cos according to good ol' haynes, i need to take off the driveshaft, turbo and part of the exhaust! Evil or Very Mad

the joys of motoring, eh? no wonder i got the car for a song Laughing

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

it comes out easily and this won't be your problem but a clean never hurt anything.

Site Subscriber Joined: 25 Nov 2004 Posts: 350

i put on a close-to-being-fully-charged battery on the td today, and the engine wouldnt turn over...so the starter motor may be in need of TLC. but agreed, clean wont hurt anything if its not the problem.

cheers for all the help, much appreciated!

Site Subscriber Joined: 10 Jun 2004 Posts: 2317

Starter motor is quite easy to take out, I think on the TD's its easier from underneath the car tho.

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

it would be nice if you can take pictures while doing the job if u can be arsed of course Smile

Site Subscriber Joined: 24 Apr 2004 Posts: 318

I remember from doing mine the haynes manual said you had to undo the exhaust from the manifold to get to it, but I couldn't be aresd with that, it was a bit of a bugger but was possible to get it out and the new one in again without removing anything.
Getting it back in was harder, took a few attempts to find the best way to threrad it in!
Helped to have two people one reaching in from the top of the car and another reaching up from unterneath to manuver the thing around the exhaust.

Site Subscriber Joined: 25 Nov 2004 Posts: 350

schakal wrote:

it would be nice if you can take pictures while doing the job if u can be arsed of course Smile

huw, i need your digital camera! Laughing

Site Subscriber Joined: 10 Jun 2004 Posts: 2317

For what?