SOS... my car won't start!!

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Have now took the battery off to re-charge. See if it makes a difference.

I'll get a free battery check and ring around some garages and get quotes.

darich

knowledgeman wrote: »

are you a mechanic per chance?

My battery did just that one day, I went to the garage and asked them to check the charge

They told me it was dead and it needed a new one and tried to sell me on for 45 quid

I said Id come back in a few days when had cash

2 years later it was going fine, and that was a 9 yr old battery running a car with a lot of features

Funnily enough they were saying similar to you before even getting a look at it

Thanks!!
I'm not a mechanic but i've have had cars for 17years and when i started i had problems exactly like that. Sometimes when the car is hot the starter will jam. Other times it's random.
When you drive cars that are several years old and weren't full of electronics like i did in the early 90s you learn a few things and rmember them.
Having a rally driver pal who could build an engine from scratch helped though!!!!

darich

Wig wrote: »

Try a jump lead connected to another car (with engine running). If it works it was the battery.

After that get a free battery check (even if you fit a new battery) from somewhere advertising it - could be your alternator has gone.

If you try to jump start a car with the donor car running you could destroy the alternator. The reason being the faulty car when trying to start draws huge power - normally from the battery. But if the engine is running then the power is drawn from the alternator and that device isn't designed to output that amount of power - you may get away with it but i'd advise against it on a regular basis.

I've had a look on a few websites and none say the above - it may be that the advice above was relevant 15 years ago and not now although if it IS the battery that is dead then it'll start even with the donor car not running.

robnye

robnye wrote: »

could be the alternator not charging up the battery during driving, had this end of last year in my old car, yet the battery was less than 3 years old

you asked - was it expensive?

the fitting wasnt , the reconditioned alternator was £45, a new one would have been £120+

on top of that the first replacement didnt work, so the whole process was extended by a couple of days

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Just to update:

Was the battery. I ended up taking it to a garage to get a free battery check. The mechanic said the battery was dead. I bought a new one costing £37. Tried it on the car and wham started first time. Been out in it a few times too and it seems fine.

Thanks for all the replies.