Flat battery

[Elainesminor]

Hi guys , for the past few days our moggys battery keeps going flat , anybody any ideas ?

Regards Elaine x

[Steve Phillips]

Either you have an old (dead) battery or a permanent discharge.

Charge your battery but disconnect it from the Morris. Leave it the amount of time you know will normally render it flat then reconnect it and see if it's any good.

If it's flat it's a dead battery, if it's still charged you have a permanent discharge in the vehicle.

Steve

[myoldjalopy]

Or the charging system is not working.....

[Mercmancdi]

You could buy a little multi metre they are cheap
and easy to check if battery is getting any charge when running and also if holding charge etc when disconnected

[ManyMinors]

Is it a very old battery?

[Elainesminor]

Morning guys

Firstly the battery is about 9 months old , what we’ve found is if Chloe comes home from work and puts her in the garage, the next morning when she goes to work all you get is a click when she turns the key , but put a booster pack on and she starts within 2 or 3 try’s , she has to use the booster pack after work as well , obviously with the battery being flat she says she’s leaving the choke out a bit just to stop her stalling at junctions, if we put the battery on charge over night she starts ok in the morning, on Sunday morning I disconnected the battery and she started her to go shopping, because I hadn’t driven her for a couple of weeks and Sunday was hot I over choked her for a cold start in the garage so took me about 6 try’s to get her going but it was when I got back I left her on the drive and when I went to put her away at teatime she turned over very slowly but only had 2 attempts then the battery was flat so we pushed her into the garage and put the battery on charge and she started ok for Chloe Monday morning, that’s as far as we’ve got at the moment

What do you guys think ?

Elaine xx

[mobylette]

Clearly the battery is not charging, so the fault would be with the dynamo, regulator or alternator if fitted. Does the ignition light go out once the car is running?

[Elainesminor]

Clearly the battery is not charging, so the fault would be with the dynamo, regulator or alternator if fitted. Does the ignition light go out once the car is running?

Hiya

Yes once started the ignition light goes out

[Elainesminor]

Clearly the battery is not charging, so the fault would be with the dynamo, regulator or alternator if fitted. Does the ignition light go out once the car is running?

Hiya

Yes once started the ignition light goes out

The only time I have seen the ignition light either flickering or come on and stay on is if I have been out with my daughter and we come back to the car after two or three hours, Chloe will turn the key and start Her and while she’s putting her seatbelt on etc The revs Tend to drop really low, obviously cos She’s cold , The Ignition lights begin with a flicker then usually come on permanent then usually a few seconds later she’ll stall but she does start back up again no problem

[mobylette]

OK, if the light is going out the dynamo (or alternator) is producing some charge. A competent garage would be able to check the output and pinpoint the problem. A picture of the engine bay would show us what system you have.

[myoldjalopy]

Yes, its possible for the ignition light to go out yet not enough charge being produced to re-charge the battery. Someone earlier suggested testing the charge rate with a multi-meter but the alternative is to go to a garage and ask them to check the charging system and the battery.

[Biggles1957]

If you have an alternator and one or more diodes in it have failed then it can try to operate as a motor and flatten the battery very quickly. Doesn't necessarily show up on the red light in my experience

[Elainesminor]

She is okay standing for three hours that doesn’t run the battery flat and there is still plenty of juice in the battery to get her started, On Sunday gone, I returned from shopping just before 11 am and I went to put her in the garage about 6 pm so she had stood just over seven hours, The first try I had I didn’t pull the choke out otherwise she might have actually started but I did notice on the first try. She did turn over really slow then I pulled the choke out and tried the second time, but she turned over even slower than the battery was flat completely. , I think the best bet would be to take her to the Garage I’ve been using as he has done work on this car before, I think I was just hoping it would be something simple and easy to fix that I could do, My biggest worry is jumpstarting her from the booster pack then actually stalling her at a junction before the alternator has recharged her battery enough then I would be holding up all the traffic while I got the booster pack out to get her restarted


Elaine X

[myoldjalopy]

Elaine - please take her to the garage and ask them to check the charging system and the battery. As you say, it would be "the best bet" under the circumstances.

[Mercmancdi]

9 mths old battery should still be ok I’m sure if you ask any mechanic to test your battery they would not charge you , but as said a multimeter a few £ will tell you if both battery and dynamo or alternator is good or bad , if both are good then you have a drain on the battery somewhere but at least you will know . As it can only be battery , or not charging or a drain. So if you can eliminate the battery and the charging you know you will need to track down the drain which could be anything right down to a wiper motor ,

[mike1864]

A £10-£20 multimeter is certainly a good investment.
After a good overnight charge, take the charger off and (after 30 minutes to settle) check that the battery is a healthy 12.4 to 13.0 volts; 12.0 volts would be too low, and indicates it's not been charging.
With the engine running, a working dynamo/alternator should bring this up to a little over 14 volts, even if the battery is a dud. If it measures under this, the dynamo/alternator is suspect.

[Mercmancdi]