Broke Down last night, help

[DAVE_RSi]

well i didnt but my mate who bought my 1995 clio rsi about 6 weeks ago did

he was sitting in traffic, headunit went off, and then the car died

a mate came out and jump started him and got him home, now charged the battery and its fine for now, have told him it will prob happen again though

soooo

what are the causes for a battery going flat

battery on its way out???
needs topping up??
alternator not charging the battery??
wires not connected properly

as far as i know hes not done anything to the engine bay or changed anything, not even got an amp to drain the battery I dont think

ideas?? or hopefully just battery on its way out and nice cheap job to sort

 

[DAVE_RSi]

also, 2nd hand alternators off here, how much would they cost off a member 2nd hand, any ideas?? and what ones would fit, any mk1? or would it need to be an rsi one

as for batterys, can be had nice and cheap these days cant they

 

[DAVE_RSi]

bump now ppl are awake

 

[DAVE_RSi]

.

 

[_Kenny_]

could be needing a new alternator

or battery needing replaced. How long has current one been in car?

Also look at connections/wiring looms to see that none are rusting

 

[ViolentJ]

no expert but... if the battery was that knackered hed have been lucky to start the car.

Id guess at alternator?

Not much help.. sorry!

 

[Dink]

yeah you need a multimeter to check some voltages.

batt charged should be around 12.4v with engine off

engine on should be around 13.8-14.4v with engine running

 

[DAVE_RSi]

cheers dink that is prob best thing to do

sounds more like alternator though imo,

can prob get a 2nd hand 1 quite cheap id imagine and then he could get a garage to fit it or whatever

hopefully just a battery problem or loose terminal though

 

[DAVE_RSi]

right well this is strange


basically he was lazy, and just charged the battery

and its only just gone flat now

6 weeks later

so what do we think that is, a garage are looking for free today for him anyway

must only slowly be losing its charge

 

[Mattie h]

what charges the batery is it the cam belt? sum1 did tell me all this but iv 4gotton

 

[Daz]

Quote: Originally posted by iLL_MoVeS on 23 August 2005
what charges the batery is it the cam belt? sum1 did tell me all this but iv 4gotton


Alternator belt turns the alternator, heh.

Sounds like alternator to me.. my Williams 3 did the same - Headunit was the first thing to go when accelerating, then things started going downhill from there until I stopped, heh.

 

[Mattie h]

Quote: Originally posted by Daz on 23 August 2005

Quote: Originally posted by iLL_MoVeS on 23 August 2005

what charges the batery is it the cam belt? sum1 did tell me all this but iv 4gotton

Alternator belt turns the alternator, heh.

Sounds like alternator to me.. my Williams 3 did the same - Headunit was the first thing to go when accelerating, then things started going downhill from there until I stopped, heh.



ahh knew it was sum kind of belt

 

[DAVE_RSi]

just a bit strange that its taken 6 weeks to go dead again

so must be charging a bit, but just not enough, maybe a connection just isnt good enough somewhere

 

[TriO`]

yeah but the altenator is probably not that dead...

If its charging its battery slightly less than the power being used, and the battery is a goodun, then 6 weeks wouldnt be all that long imo.

Id say it was the alternator tbh. If its not replaced it will probably be less than 6 weeks untill it dies again.

Just get a new or second hand one in there... shouldnt be that hard a job on the RSi (he says)

 

[DAVE_RSi]

well apparently it was the battery

mate went to a mates garage and they said with engine running it was at 13.7 so not that high but should be good enough

battery was old and cheap so he put a new one in, will have to see if it dies within 2 months or not, either way not a major prob at the moment