Corsa: Electrics dead, won't jump start

zenseeker

Just looking for a little advice.

Friday morning my 2002 Corsa Comfort had trouble starting, but it got going in the end. But in the evening I had a dead car.

First noticed that the key fob wouldn't open the doors but put it down to a weak battery in the fob. But when I got in and turned the ignition....nothing...just the seat belt and engine lights lit dimly on the dash and the rear view mirror light also dim.

I tried jump starting it, still nothing.

Before I go buying a new battery, is there anything else that could be wrong? I'm calling out Green Flag tomorrow, but wanted to get armed with some info in advance.

Cheers

s_b

it sounds like either your battery died a death
or the alternator has died causing a flat battery
your car is 10 years old so my monies on a dead battery and its highly likely its the original battery too

forgot to add your battery would sap all the power from a jump start too and could damage the electrics in your car
let the recovery man use his proper booster pack not some poor quality jump leads of a mates car

vax2002

Wont Jump start on a dead battery, it needs to be able to hold some charge at least.

zenseeker

So you think a new battery is all that's needed?

wazza

As mentioned before if it is the original battery then the chances are you need a new battery. They only last for so long and in cold weather cannot hold their charge for long.

The mechanic has the equipment to check your battery and also once he gets it started will check if your alternator is working properly.

Make sure you have the code for your cd/casstte radio unit in the car if it needs one.

forgotmyname

New battery, But if you try jump starting with cheap leads then they may not be able to cope with the demand of your car with a duff battery.

They need to be a decent thickness to carry all that power. The outer thickness is no guarantee either, I repaired some a while back and the copper wire was about 1/4 of what i expected.

It will need to be connected for some time to put a charge into your battery, Unless your battery is totally dead of course. In which case iot may just drain all the power internally.

zenseeker

Update:

Alternator is dead. It's in the shop waiting to be fixed but he couldn't give me an estimate.

Any idea how much this is likely to set me back?

forgotmyname

£50 - £150 for a recon alternator. + fitting.


But should you have not asked 1st? What if they want to fit a genuine alternators thats £400+vat and £200 fitting? Unlikely but you really should have asked 1st.

Notmyrealname

zenseeker wrote: »

Just looking for a little advice.

Friday morning my 2002 Corsa Comfort had trouble starting, but it got going in the end. But in the evening I had a dead car.

First noticed that the key fob wouldn't open the doors but put it down to a weak battery in the fob. But when I got in and turned the ignition....nothing...just the seat belt and engine lights lit dimly on the dash and the rear view mirror light also dim.

I tried jump starting it, still nothing.

Jump starting as in towing or pushing down the road?

If there isn't enough charge left in the battery to induce a field in the alternator sufficient to get the alternator to emit a charge then jump starting won't work. Alternators need voltage and current before they can actually generate a charge themselves. Thats why you can try bump starting a car on the end of a tow rope all the way to the moon and back and it won't work.

zenseeker

forgotmyname wrote: »

£50 - £150 for a recon alternator. + fitting.


But should you have not asked 1st? What if they want to fit a genuine alternators thats £400+vat and £200 fitting? Unlikely but you really should have asked 1st.

Of course I asked, but he couldn't be sure and is phoning back with a quote today. The garage is pretty genuine and won't fit expensive parts, they're well known for helping keep costs down.