car wont start - battery??

[Zilli]

Hey guys,

Ive got a problem.

got home this arvo to move the car and turning the key did nothing, no reds, no clicks no nothing... so i thought the battery was discharged (again - yeh i know). So i brought my other car around and put the jumpers on and still nothing... left the other car running with some revs to get some charge... still nothing, not even reds

SO i took the jumpers off and put a charger on for half an hour to see if even the reds will come on... nothing...

THe battery is a Supercharge godl and is about a year old, i keep letting battery's die because i dont drive the car and i dont have a charger... stupid and irresponsible yes i know

Now whats getting me is the fact that i cant get any power at all even with a jump... i wwould assume that with the jump it bypassess the battery and feeds directly to the starter etc... so i cant understand whats hapepenning...

Is there a main fuse or something i need to look for? i just dont understand why i got no reds or anything...

[bennjamin]

get a trickle charger.....i use a CTEK charger + quick charge accessory. It runs a line from your + and - to a handy little dongle , which the carger hooks up to. Plug it in when you leave the car for more than a few days....topit up and keeps in in top condition.


Anyway , tired another battery ? Are the terminals 100% tight ?
The supercharge may be totally dead and cant be revived - dont try and charge it , it may blow up.

[Zilli]

i had an old charger hooked to it for the half hour, then i put the ctek on it from the motorbike and the ctek wouldnt even register it - it wont if the battery is totally dead...

the terminals were fine when i garaged the car 2 weeks ago...they are actually immaculate, no corosion or anyhting...

i guess one thing i could try is to remove the terminals and hook directly to another cars battery through the jump cables as a next step... completely eliminating the battery as a potential issue? i just cant see why i cant even get reds? it doesnt make sense?

[Zilli]

What i need to clarify is - when i am jumpin the battery, is the battery still what is being used to power the car? ie, is it still part of the circuit? or will the charge from the other car go straight past the battery and pwoer the car up?

not sure if this makes sense, but to picture it as a circuit, when you put the jumper cables on, does the power go through the system before the battery in the circuit or after?

[IV73CI]

What i need to clarify is - when i am jumpin the battery, is the battery still what is being used to power the car? ie, is it still part of the circuit? or will the charge from the other car go straight past the battery and pwoer the car up?

not sure if this makes sense, but to picture it as a circuit, when you put the jumper cables on, does the power go through the system before the battery in the circuit or after?

No.

The jump from the car donor is only to give the old battery a boost to start up.

But if the overall voltage is less than 10v then its not enough to boost start the car - even if the jump car is being revved.

The old battery's internal electrodes need to still have minimal voltage/current & distilled water to keep its life and so that it can be spared for charging.

Otherwise if the electrodes are dry as an old grannys fanny.. Then bin that old batt and buy new.

[ECU-MAN]

sounds like an ignition switch issue, or aftermarket alarm issue

[Bludger]

sounds like an ignition switch issue, or aftermarket alarm issue
valid point.

Sometimes an aftermarket alarm hold a memory, but when the battery has been discharged for such a long time, it will reset itself.

I would have swapped a battery from a good car into the vehicle in question to see how things go, before spending money.

[Zilli]

Well I did thiunk about the alarm and after market immobiliser etc... but based on the immobilisation points, I still should be able to get reds at least, I'm getting no power whatsoever, so there's no power in the circuit at all..

If I remove the battery terminals and attach jumper leads directly to them with without being attached to the battery, I assume that will be the same as putting a fresh battery in right? Rather than removing a good battery from another car and connecting it up? The battery,s charge indicator is red and didn't change even when I tried to charge it...

Ecuman - how do I check the ignition switch? Obviously I'll eliminate the battery issue first, but keen to understand whether that's something the average Joe can do?

[1900-hustler]

Ahh the good ole battery

I had exactly the same problem with mine

My car was rarely driven and would often die if didnt disconnect the negative terminal.

As Ben said try a different battery before spending on a new one

You wont be able to jump start a completely flat battery, not to mention its actually quite risky too

If you have a battery charger try charging the battery for a few days and try it out then

Mine got to the point that the battery cells itself were completely dead and couldnt even hold charge for 24hrs so I just bought another one

FYI, my battery was less than 18months old and died about 6 times rofl :eek:

[Zilli]

^ thanks for the response...

this one is less than 12 months old and went completely flat 1 month in - its had about 600km in the last 10 months or so i'd guess

anyway im going to try and jump the car directly from my ute - i'll remove the battery terminals and connect the jumper cables directly to the terminals rather than on the terminals while theyre on the battery to rule out the battery as the problem...

[Bludger]

^ thanks for the response...

this one is less than 12 months old and went completely flat 1 month in - its had about 600km in the last 10 months or so i'd guess

anyway im going to try and jump the car directly from my ute - i'll remove the battery terminals and connect the jumper cables directly to the terminals rather than on the terminals while theyre on the battery to rule out the battery as the problem...
you'll still lose voltage though the jumper cables if you have low quality leads.

[mocchi]

would it be dangerous to jump start a flat agm batteries?
why is it dangerous anyway?

zilli did you figure out what is draining you battery so quickly?

[Zilli]

the leads are cheapies, but i guess the purpose of me doing it this way is as a first cut to rule out whether my battery is the problem. Regardless of voltage loss i should get reds at least with the jumpers right?

I dont know whats sucking current... it does have an alarm thats always armed, but the reality is the car doesnt get driven enough and switching it on periodically isn't helping, i need to get a trickle charger on it (if it turns out the battery is the problem)

[ECU-MAN]

you need to perform testing at the ignition switch wires with a test lamp

[Zilli]

are there nay resources online such as diagrams thatre oing to help me find the wires and how to get to them etc?

[ECU-MAN]

not sure

I have always just probed the ignition switch wires to see what is going on.

[Zilli]

http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?32333-DIY-Ignition-Switch-Replacement

i found your DIY... i would imagine that this peice is found somewhere behind the key barrel right?

[Zilli]

also, im assuming it ths wires on that loom thatyou are probing right? whatre the colours?

[husstler]

I would agree with what people are saying here about trying with another battery. Every car uses 2 different levels of battery power when running. The main part when starting is what is called the CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) level on the battery. When you drive a v8 or rotary you will need alot of power to start the car something like 600-800CCA otherwise youll spend 5 mins trying to crank and start the car. With an average car like our hondas you wont need more than 350CCA to start it as it is a 4cylinder small car.
Now the problem mite be that you have drained the battery so much it does not have enough CCA's to start the car, so you may wana try with a different battery.

To test a battery you can always use a voltmeter to get a reading of the power inside the battery. If it shows around or below 11 volts you will have trouble starting. if it shows 12 volts it will start unless something else is an issue. if it shows 13+ volts you should not have any problems at all unless it is not a battery issue.

Also check it has water inside the battery. if not go to a petrol station or supercheap and buy some distilled water and top up the water inside the battery.

another thing i will recommend is that the terminal heads tend to stop conducting or stop working. what you can try if the above hasnt fixed it is boil water in your kettle. then take off the wires connected to the battery terminals. once the terminals are clear just pour the boiling water over the terminals. once it is dry (which shouldnt take more than a min or two because the boiling water will evaporate quickly) you then simply connect your wires to its original spot and voila! the problem should be fixed! This is a very common problem with cars that sit for a while or even when you buy another battery!

Another problem mite be your immobilizer, if you have an alarm it may have caused problems with you immobilization. If non of the above have worked take it to an auto electrician for a check :)

[Zilli]

thanks mate, i havent had the time to spend on the car unfortunately since my last response.

The terminals are gold plated and have absolutely no corrosion on them whatsoever at the point of contact... and the battery is a sealed unit, no water or maintenance

I'll be connecting the terminal directly to jumpers onto a healthy batter to eliminate the battery as a potential issue as soon as i have the time... im anxious tto give it a god but other priorities are taking over right now

[Zilli]

Ok so i finally had a chance just now to jump the car directly to the terminals-without them off the battery and the car started.

Looking for a high quality battery. Thinking of a small oddyssey from jdmyard. Ive got a small system with one amp and splits - no sub. And an alarm.

Will the baby oddysey stand up to the test? Ive always had supercharge but my mechanic is closed.

Recommendations?

[mocchi]

those small batteries usually give high cca but low capacity.
my deka gives good start, but can only do few starts when used for short driving distance unlike those massive century batteries

you tried doing this?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1gijj03_0

[Zilli]

Thanks for the response

Ive had a chat with the guy i bought the battery from and he told me to bring it back for a potential warranty claim. My issue is it is not unnormal for the car to sit dormant for 2 or 3 weeks with the alarm on.

I will try out the link though as it'd be good to know if there is an underlying issue... In the meantime im looking for a trickle charger...