Car repairs costing money but still no fix

Soph_abb

Hi all,
Posting here as a last ditch attempt at trying to sort my issues with my car and see if anyone has any advice!
I own a Peugeot 107 (2010) and have done for about 3 years. I pay it off next month so I'm trying my absolute best to keep it working so I don't have to fork out another few ££ on a new car. 
The car has been fairly ok since I purchased it...it's first year was a hefty MOT (£500+) to sort out a series of issues, but last year it passed its MOT and was said to be working fine. The problems started when I was coming to drive it one day and the battery was flat. It had never happened before so I jump started it and went on my way, hoping it was just a fluke. Since then it happened more and more to the point where I didn't feel comfortable driving it often in case I ended up stuck somewhere, which further fuelled the issue as the car wasn't being used as often. After a couple of weeks I went to Halfords and bought a new battery, which my dad fitted, and the car seemed to work fine for a fair few months.
Then we went on holiday and the car was left for a week without being started (I'd done this many times previously when I went on holiday and there were no issues) but this time my battery was completely flat when I returned. I knew the battery was new so there must be an issue elsewhere. To try test the issue, I decided to jump start, take the car on a long drive and set an alarm every 2 days to turn the engine on and let the battery tick over (as well as taking it out for 10 mins where I could). But no luck, the day after taking it out for 20 minutes at 50mph, it was completely flat so that even the central locking didn't work.

I took it into the local garage, who took the battery out and charged it, we left my car there for a week and it had no issues starting at all. He took it out over the tops on a long drive too and parked it back up at the garage. He said he'd checked over the battery and everything related to it and couldn't find anything. He even got an autoelectrician out who couldn't find anything draining the battery and I was charged and sent on my way. 2 days after getting it home, it was completely flat again. I unplugged my radio incase that was an issue, and have even bought a solar panel trickler charge, which I thought was working, but the issues have started up again. I'd also bought a battery charger and had left it on over night but it didn't allow the car to start.

Today I checked whether my car was unlocking/locking (which is how I usually check if its gone flat) after I've been taking it out 3 times a week. I heard the car unlock so I packed it up and went to run some chores, but when I got in, although the car would turn on, the engine wouldn't. It was clicking constantly, which I've read could be a bad starter. I tried ringing the garage to get in but he's finished for half term which means I'm without a car for the next 3 days (by that time the whole thing will probably be flat so will need another jump start).

Does anyone have any similar experience or suggestions? Only few things I've noticed is my dashboard indicators randomly flash sometimes, and flutter as if they're losing power, but my radio has stayed unplugged this whole time. No lights etc left on as tested by me and the garage. 

Please help! I feel like I'm sinking hundreds and hundreds of pounds on a car that still won't drive!

Thanks in advance,
Soph

Flight3287462

Skip the garage and go straight to he auto electrician.  But French electrics in elderly cars were always an issue but I thought they had improved.

AdrianC

Hunyani_Flight_825 said:

But French electrics in elderly cars were always an issue but I thought they had improved.

Built in Czech, Toyota joint-venture. Same thing as an Aygo.

Certainly sounds like something's draining - and ten minutes with a multimeter should tell anybody vaguely competent where the problem is. Dash indicator shenanigans sound like a poor earth somewhere - have you looked at the rear lights? Does the "fluttering" coincide with braking or having the lights on?

Soph_abb

AdrianC said:

Hunyani_Flight_825 said:

But French electrics in elderly cars were always an issue but I thought they had improved.

Built in Czech, Toyota joint-venture. Same thing as an Aygo.

Certainly sounds like something's draining - and ten minutes with a multimeter should tell anybody vaguely competent where the problem is. Dash indicator shenanigans sound like a poor earth somewhere - have you looked at the rear lights? Does the "fluttering" coincide with braking or having the lights on?

Yeah I definitely agree - I think what has thrown me off is the garage charged me for the auto electrician coming out and checking things over so I thought the electrics had been looked at in depth. Maybe he couldn't find anything at the time!

All my lights are working normally, the fluttering is only when I put my indicators on, it's like there's not enough power to give a strong light. I noticed today that even though my car turned on that things felt slower, for instance I put my window down and it was much slower than usual.

Looks like I might just have to bite the bullet and pay for an auto electrician to come take a look. Thank you!

AdrianC

Do you have a jump lead?

Put the black one between a chunky bare-metal bit of engine and the battery -ve terminal.
Now try starting it, winding the windows down, etc.

If that doesn't help, try moving the engine end to a solid bit of bodywork metal.

Still sounding like earthing probs to me.

Soph_abb

AdrianC said:

Do you have a jump lead?

Put the black one between a chunky bare-metal bit of engine and the battery -ve terminal.
Now try starting it, winding the windows down, etc.

If that doesn't help, try moving the engine end to a solid bit of bodywork metal.

Still sounding like earthing probs to me.

Hey Adrian,

Will try this as soon as I finish work, and check over lights etc like you mentioned previous! Will update back on here

Thanks