car starting problem

peediedj

i have a ford focus diesel 2002 plate zetec 2.0l i stay in aviemore in the highlands of scotland and most of dec it was -20 at night and as warm as -10 thru the day lol.3-4 mornings my car struggled to start and 1 weekend when it was sitting a few days without use it needed jump started.i drive 15 miles to work and at lunchtime today from work i drove 1/4 mile to sit and have my lunch in the car,i had the radio on for 30 mins in the car during my break,i went to drive back to work and battery was flat as anytihng wouldnt even turn over!.do i need a new battery or is it my alternator?

Stigy

peediedj wrote: »

i have a ford focus diesel 2002 plate zetec 2.0l i stay in aviemore in the highlands of scotland and most of dec it was -20 at night and as warm as -10 thru the day lol.3-4 mornings my car struggled to start and 1 weekend when it was sitting a few days without use it needed jump started.i drive 15 miles to work and at lunchtime today from work i drove 1/4 mile to sit and have my lunch in the car,i had the radio on for 30 mins in the car during my break,i went to drive back to work and battery was flat as anytihng wouldnt even turn over!.do i need a new battery or is it my alternator?

More than likely your battery. If you had the stereo on for 30-minutes, with or without the ignition on, and assuming the engine was off, you're draining unnecessary power from the battery.

peediedj

Stigy wrote: »

More than likely your battery. If you had the stereo on for 30-minutes, with or without the ignition on, and assuming the engine was off, you're draining unnecessary power from the battery.

engine was off yes,probably had heater on no 2 as well(as its usually always on).the thing is i have sat with radio on without engine running for longer,in much colder temps with no problems

Stigy

peediedj wrote: »

engine was off yes,probably had heater on no 2 as well(as its usually always on).the thing is i have sat with radio on without engine running for longer,in much colder temps with no problems

If you're doing it on a frequant basis, my money's on the battery. I'd hazard a guess that it's on its original battery, too.

peediedj

Stigy wrote: »

If you're doing it on a frequant basis, my money's on the battery. I'd hazard a guess that it's on its original battery, too.

yup it certainly looks like the original battery,it has a small glass/plastic viewing bit on it,about 1/2 inch round,if you look in it it shows red,does that mean anything?

Stigy

peediedj wrote: »

yup it certainly looks like the original battery,it has a small glass/plastic viewing bit on it,about 1/2 inch round,if you look in it it shows red,does that mean anything?

Red usually means danger, lol.

In this case the red dot will more than likely be an indicator to advise when the battery has had it! Green = good, healthy battery. Amber = Getting weak. Red = FUBAR. :beer:

reeac

See if you can borrow a voltmeter. With it you can check the battery and also the alternator. When the car has been standing for a while - say an hour - the battery voltage should be at least 12.5 or better still 12.7. You can check the alternator by starting the engine [assuming that you can start it] and then again measuring the battery voltage. Should read 14 volts or a bit more. If it says under 12.5 volts then the alternator isn't charging. Apart from the battery and alternator there's always the possibility of a poor/intermittent starter circuit connection

mikey72

reeac wrote: »

See if you can borrow a voltmeter. With it you can check the battery and also the alternator. When the car has been standing for a while - say an hour - the battery voltage should be at least 12.5 or better still 12.7. You can check the alternator by starting the engine [assuming that you can start it] and then again measuring the battery voltage. Should read 14 volts or a bit more. If it says under 12.5 volts then the alternator isn't charging. Apart from the battery and alternator there's always the possibility of a poor/intermittent starter circuit connection

12.7 is 100% charge, 12.5 is 90%, it could be less than that after a short run.

Norman_Castle

engine was off yes,probably had heater on no 2 as well

If you had the fan blowing air into the car without the engine running I expect this will drain the battery more than using the radio.