Diagnostics Test

Yazmina

I've had two jump starts in the last three weeks on my five year old Skoda Fabia. The recovery bloke recommended a diagnostics test at Halfords which I've had done. Halfords didn't find anything wrong. Should I have gone to the dealer for the diagnostics test at nearly 3x the price of Halfords?

forgotmyname

No, buy am OBD reader and a multimeter and do it yourself.

stator

The question is, did Halfords have the right equipment?


An OBD-II port is one thing, but it doesn't give the same level of information as the correct software for your make.



Skoda is VW group, so would a 5 year old VW need VCDS? Do Halfords have that?


The main dealer would likely be a rip off, but you could probably find a local garage with the right software if you look around.

System

forgotmyname wrote: »

No, buy am OBD reader and a multimeter and do it yourself.

Neither of which will do you any good if you don't know what you're supposed to be testing for, how you're supposed to test it and what to do with what the readings are.


Halfords will merely check the battery health and whether the alternator is charging. You need to be checking to see what is draining the battery, something which an OBD reader won't tell you but testing for parasitic current draw with a multimeter, a fusebox diagram and a fuse voltage drop chart will.

Goudy

Yazmina wrote: »

I've had two jump starts in the last three weeks on my five year old Skoda Fabia.

It is also a five year old battery?

Halfords will have probably tested the alternator output and battery volts, but did they check it for amps?

If it's a five your old battery, it probably due a new one if it's the original as it's almost certainly at the end of it's life at that age.

Yazmina

Goudy wrote: »

It is also a five year old battery?

Halfords will have probably tested the alternator output and battery volts, but did they check it for amps?

If it's a five your old battery, it probably due a new one if it's the original as it's almost certainly at the end of it's life at that age.

Yes it's the original battery. Aren't batteries meant to last a lot longer than 5yrs? My old Ford KA was around 10 yrs old before I had to get a new battery.

Need to collect it tomorrow I'll ask about the amps.

Goudy

Most batteries are sold with a 3 year guarantee, Bosch can sell you battery with 5 years, but it all depends on how it's used.

There are now very power hungry devices on cars, things like electric power steering require lots of electrical energy as do basic stop start systems (more high tech systems recover wasted energy and use that) so older cars tended to be a bit kinder on the battery as they didn't run such power hungry devices, hence they lasted a bit longer.

It's a pretty good bet Skoda didn't fit anything quite as good as a top spec Bosch in the first place, so getting five years out of the original with I'm guessing pretty normal "hatchback" motoring isn't too bad.

Most of the batteries I see coming off modern cars seem unable to store the amps anymore, though voltage wise they feed back ok, so look charged when tested with a voltmeter or connected up to a basic battery charger.

There's a test for a battery's high amperage ability, it's commonly called a "drop test", though this doesn't involve throwing it out of an upstairs window!

A battery tester tool is used to create a high load and the drop in voltage is measured to determine it's condition.
Most garages carry one of these testers and the test only requires a minute or two, but as it's five years old, I can't see it testing great anyway and it seems acceptable these days to swap out an old battery even if it's just suspected of being faulty after a few simple tests for drain and alternator output.