Battery Problems

Post by **Bigal_85** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 8:43 am

Hey everyone,

My Morris has developed a very annoying problem. My battery needs charged every 3 days!!!! The red light on the speedo glows at idle but turns off when I rev the engine. At idle the lights are really dim and the indicator flashes really REALLY slow...as soon as I rev the engine the lights brighten up and the frequency of the flashing increases for the indicator. I've had the multi-meter out and everything seems to be working fine from the dynamo. Could my problem be down to an old battery??

If you think it is worth buying a new battery, could someone please provide details of what battery to get as I can pick one up today using my girlfriends car.

Thanks in advance.

Al

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 9:05 am

Does sound like ruined battery - but do check all the connections - and check if there is anything draining the battery when the engine is off! COSTCO do very good batteries at a good price - and MAKRO (Hillington) are ok. Best avoid Hellfrauds - unless you have a trade discount card.

Post by **LouiseM** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 9:51 am

Or try your local motor factors / spares shop. They should be able to provide a suitable battery. Halfords are not the cheapest but they have a 'guide' to batteries instore so you can look up which one you need (Minor parts are usually listed under Rover). They have a choice of standard or heavy duty battery and I've found that it's worth paying a bit more for the heavy duty one as they tend to last longer. I got a heavy duty one for around £43 last year.

Post by **dalebrignall** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:30 pm

ive had no problems with hellfrauds they come with a 4 year guarentee,type 038 is what you want.

Post by **MarkyB** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 5:56 pm

If when you rev the engine the lights brighten up then there is output from the dynamo.
Are you sure there isn't a drain on the battery when the car is parked up?
Try disconnecting it over night and see if the problem persists.

Any idea how old the battery is?

Post by **Bigal_85** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 3:17 pm

Hi everyone,

I have bought and fitted a new battery and the car was running great for a week. Yesterday however it died again. I did spend much of the day in traffic with lights and heater on.

Is there a possibility that the dynamo can output enough to put the red light off but not enough to supply a decent charge to the battery??

Post by **PSL184** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 4:27 pm

Put the meter across the battery and check what charge it is getting. Should be close to 14volts at fast idle....

Post by **Bigal_85** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 4:36 pm

Awesome, I'll do it when I get home and let you know the results!!

Post by **bmcecosse** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:02 pm

Obviously - you should NOT run with the headlights on - when in heavy traffic. You may need to raise the idle speed slightly during winter to keep some charge going at idle. Is the fan belt tight enough ? And is the red light going out - completely out ?

Post by **billlobban** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:55 pm

I'll probably need to duck whilst typing this. Buy an alternator if youre going to run your car regularly in town in the winter

Post by **bmcecosse** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:17 pm

In general - I agree! But -even Glasgow traffic isn't THAT bad - and even with an alternator - it's still polite to NOT shine your headlights in the back window of the car in front -when in heavy slow-moving traffic! On the same theme - don't sit with foot on the brake pedal - blinding those behind with the brake warning lights!

Post by **Bigal_85** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:28 pm

So I checked the voltage across the battery tonight and it was 14.25V when I gave the engine a wee rev. My dad is sick of me borrowing his battery charger so what do you all think?

Buy a battery charger for £35ish or an alternator conversion kit for £60ish???

Does everyone experience the same problems as I am?

Post by **PSL184** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:01 pm

That should be enough to charge the battery so I'd start checking for anything that is draining power from the battery when the engine is switched off. If you have a multimeter that can measure current draw, take the live off the battery and place the meter in series and see what drain you are getting - you shouldn't see anything on the meter....

Post by **bmcecosse** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:22 pm

That's fine - so just learn to 'manage' your power consumption - keep headlights off - only use wipers when actually moving - and don't sit with foot on brake pedal! Also consider lifting the idle speed slightly. An alternator from a Mini fits - I only pay £1 for mine at Autojumbles. Certainly no need to spend £60 for a 'kit' !

Post by **billlobban** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:44 am

Bigal - trawl around Glasgow scrapyards and find yourself a Mini alternator No more than a few quid. The MMOC Tech Manual has a good article about how to do it if youre not sure.

Post by **MarkyB** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 5:54 pm

An alternator isn't going to help if the battery is being drained overnight.
It'll just put off the inevitable until when you don't use the car for a long weekend.

Post by **billlobban** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:32 pm

But it will keep his new battery charged when he is stuck on the M8 with the lights, heater etc on full blast

Post by **MarkyB** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:27 am

Only if it starts in the morning.

Post by **beechford** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 11:05 am

and turn the radio/cd player off when you leave it overnight.

Post by **rich-legg** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 2:02 pm

Sounds like you've got a drain. As has been said, if you can't check for a drain then disconnect the battery over night & see if it solves the problem. Also, check your connections are tight.

Also, when you're checking your charging rate with the meter, have the engine running high & switch on the headlights, heater blower & re-screen heater (if you've got one), then you can check the charging rate whilst under load.

Just a note on batteries & dynamos. New batteries aren't really designed for dynamo's like they used to, so won't last as long as batteries used to (although it should last longer than 3 days!! lol). With a dynamo the charging rate varies, so batteries were designed with thicker heavier duty plates inside to allow for the constant variation of power going back into the battery. Alternators have a very constant charging rate, so over the years batteries have been designed with thinner plates.