Vauxhall Astra (2009) beeping and speedo bouncing

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

<sigh> Why spend time diagnosing on the Internet when you can go somewhere and get the battery tested for free and narrow down what the issue is?

This forum might give you ideas on what it might be, but without actually testing the car, it is all guesswork.

My Golf has an older battery, it has been poorly charged for several years and is still something like 95% OK when it was tested - they refused to replace the battery even when I said I was fed up of the problems and just wanted to change it. I finally took the hint and started ignoring the symptoms and bought a starter pack instead for the time it got too flat. It's been jump started quite a lot and the battery is fine and the car electronics are fine.

So, stop guessing and spend 10 minutes at your local auto parts place getting the battery tested. It'll either be a problem battery, a flat battery which is otherwise healthy, or a healthy battery so the problem is elsewhere, but then you can move on to the next step of diagnosis once you have that answer. Don't buy a battery there and then, check back with their answer here, if you are not convinced they are being straight.

Strider590

Ignore this ^^

Carrying around a jump/starter pack is just crazy, it's penny pinching to the extreme and only delays the inevitable complete battery failure.

Not only this, but a dodgy battery draws more current, this stresses the alternator more (which may fail), increases fuel consumption and causes the battery to gas hydrogen (potential bomb under the bonnet).

If a car battery is more than 3 years old and starts to show problems, just CHANGE IT.

IanMSpencer wrote: »

My Golf has an older battery, it has been poorly charged for several years and is still something like 95% OK when it was tested

Tested how exactly? I'd suggest they didn't know what they were doing......
Probably stuck a voltage meter across it, saw 12.8v and assumed it must be ok. I've got 2 car batteries on the floor of my garage that read 12.8v, but they won't start a car. They'll turn it over, but under stress the battery voltage drops too low for the coils to generate a strong enough spark and the plugs.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Strider590 wrote: »

Ignore this ^^

Carrying around a jump/starter pack is just crazy, it's penny pinching to the extreme and only delays the inevitable complete battery failure.

Not only this, but a dodgy battery draws more current, this stresses the alternator more (which may fail), increases fuel consumption and causes the battery to gas hydrogen (potential bomb under the bonnet).

If a car battery is more than 3 years old and starts to show problems, just CHANGE IT.




Tested how exactly? I'd suggest they didn't know what they were doing......
Probably stuck a voltage meter across it, saw 12.8v and assumed it must be ok. I've got 2 car batteries on the floor of my garage that read 12.8v, but they won't start a car. They'll turn it over, but under stress the battery voltage drops too low for the coils to generate a strong enough spark and the plugs.

What? Ignore doing the most obvious and sensible thing which is to go somewhere and get the battery tested rather than this thread waffling on speculating what could be wrong without anything more than a beep and a flicking speedo?

The point I am making on the battery test is that there is a lot of folklore about batteries being crashed by maltreatment such as jump-starting.

The problem with the Golf was it was sitting for a couple of weeks between uses and it has a security system which the handbook itself says flattens the battery in 4 weeks, so if it only does a few short journeys it doesn't get properly charged. Where it was parked, there was no opportunity to connect a trickle charger, so the only solution at the time was to make sure student daughter could get it started. Probably cheaper than driving it around for half an hour every few days.

In terms of the battery test, the guy did know what he was doing, had a proper manufacturer's diagnostic and was able to explain exactly why the battery was still fit, and it was not just to do with it being able to deliver over 13 volts, but other factors as well. Had it diagnosed a couple of years ago and now the car is getting more frequent use, we get no problems at all with a battery I would have changed based on the advice like yours which is all too frequent.

Strider590

My advise in common sense, you don't **** about with car batteries, the cost of a new one is not worth the risks of trying to wrestle a few more months out of an old one.

The advise your giving, to keep nursing a knackered battery, is "all too frequent" and when it eventually results in a novice having a car battery explode in their face, I don't want or need that guilt on my shoulders (hence why I will keep giving the advise that I do).

I probably would have given the same advice if not for experiencing an actual car battery explosion (10 years ago) as a result of charging it beyond it's useful life.



"a proper manufacturer's diagnostic"

On a battery? Sounds like crapfit or Hafrauds BS to me.

You need a drop tester, they're not cheap and even they can't tell you what's really going on inside that battery.

The idea of charging and jump starting, it should not be necessary AT ALL on a healthy battery in a car with a healthy charging system.

Unfortunately it's an area where old advice from decades ago (when car batteries required maintenance) is still being perpetuated by folk who were around in those days and don't understand how things have changed. Back then you could get away with a dodgy battery, as cars didn't have all these fancy electronics that need a good solid supply and when the ignition was off, everything was off.

Just like how these folk still claim VW Golf are the most reliable car, the fact they've been utterly sh*te for nearly 20 years does not compute, they were great in 1985 and that's all that matters.......

I don't want to get into a p*ssing contest over this, it's a money saving forum and cleaning up battery acid from an engine bay, replacing damaged parts and having bodywork stripped back to remove acid damage is NOT money saving.

Besides, I think OP has changed the battery already, which was a good place to start and has allowed them to focus on the other problems they're experiencing.

First rule of fault finding, check and eliminate the obvious stuff first.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Strider590 wrote: »

My advise in common sense, you don't **** about with car batteries, the cost of a new one is not worth the risks of trying to wrestle a few more months out of an old one.

The advise your giving, to keep nursing a knackered battery, is "all too frequent" and when it eventually results in a novice having a car battery explode in their face, I don't want or need that guilt on my shoulders (hence why I will keep giving the advise that I do).

"a proper manufacturer's diagnostic"

On a battery? Sounds like crapfit or Hafrauds BS to me.

You need a drop tester, they're not cheap and even they can't tell you what's really going on inside that battery.

The idea of charging and jump starting, it should not be necessary AT ALL on a healthy battery in a car with a healthy charging system.

Unfortunately it's an area where old advice from decades ago (when car batteries required maintenance) is still being perpetuated by folk who were around in those days and don't understand how things have changed. Back then you could get away with a dodgy battery, as cars didn't have all these fancy electronics that need a good solid supply and when the ignition was off, everything was off.

Just like how these folk still claim VW Golf are the most reliable car, the fact they've been utterly sh*te for nearly 20 years does not compute, they we're great in 1985 and that's all that matters.......

Sorry, but you make my point about forum advice. I told you exactly why my battery was going flat - healthy car, healthy charging system, unhealthy way of using it. Even now, daughter gets lifts to work most days or would rather take the train than drive to work, so it often sits for a week, and then might do a 15 mile journey. Then it will get a treat.

The diagnostic kit was from Yuasa IIRC.