sonic113 Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Ok i need to get some advice on this one. Went to start the car after cleaning it out and it was dead. Tested the battery it said 11.0 volts. So took battery out and charged on charger untill it read full poped it bck in and all was fine. This happened again and is more regularly happening especially when doors are opened for any time peroid even short time you can watch thr multimeter volts drop until you close them. I have yested the altenator and its reading 14.37 to 14.4 but it has started to whine the last few days well i think its the alternator as its hard to pin point but the tone changes when you stick on a heavy electrical load.. So is it the battery or the alternator?? Anyfuther tests i can do with this? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypsp Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 i would say your battery has come to the end of it`s life, if it`s the original battery then it`s lasted well, new battery around £60 at the most. has it`s got a little plastic cover with a peep hole on top so you can see a green or red dot ? as that will tell you if the battery is poor or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic113 Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 38 minutes ago, andypsp said: i would say your battery has come to the end of it`s life, if it`s the original battery then it`s lasted well, new battery around £60 at the most. has it`s got a little plastic cover with a peep hole on top so you can see a green or red dot ? as that will tell you if the battery is poor or not. Yeah i think its the original battery. Its the ford silver calcium 43ah i think feom what i remember from the label on top. Its completely sealed and doesn't have the little peep hole. I guess i will have to get a new battery amd see how that pans out. Is there any way to test a battery disgcharge rate agaisnt what its supposed to be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isetta Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 How does the green or red dot work. I would be a bit sceptical about red meaning it definitely needs a new battery as opposed to just meaning it is flat and needs charging. It may well be the battery and it sounds likely But i have known alternators to charge fine with engine running but then battery go flat when parked due to the rectifier pack within the alternator casing failing. The rectifier pack converts the AC current produced by the alternator to DC current to charge the battery. It is made of some diodes. The diodes also act as like a valve so that power can go out of the alternator but not leak back into it from the battery when parked. If you battery is dead you can prove it by removing from car, charging it for many hours, leave for a day, connect back to car and see if starter motor spins the engine nicely like it should. But tricky if you need the car every day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypsp Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 4 minutes ago, sonic113 said: Yeah i think its the original battery. Its the ford silver calcium 43ah i think feom what i remember from the label on top. Its completely sealed and doesn't have the little peep hole. I guess i will have to get a new battery amd see how that pans out. Is there any way to test a battery disgcharge rate agaisnt what its supposed to be? Halfords do a free battery test for you if you got one local. just had a quick look on eurocar parts £43 (if you use flash30 discount code ) Lion battery (065 battery - 3 Year Guarantee)Product Code: 444770651 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypsp Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 1 minute ago, isetta said: How does the green or red dot work. I would be a bit sceptical about red meaning it definitely needs a new battery as opposed to just meaning it is flat and needs charging. it gives you a rough idea of the condition off the battery, you don`t see it on a lot on new battery now (cost cutting i think) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic113 Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 21 minutes ago, andypsp said: halfords do a free battery test for you if you got one local. just had a quick look on eurocar parts £43 (if you use flash30 discount code ) Lion Battery (065 Battery - 3 Year Guarantee)Product Code: 444770651 Thanks Andy, is that the silver calcium type? I think i might order that as the price seems very good. It looks like ots a 53ah battey so probably a little bot of an upgrade to my old one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypsp Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 36 minutes ago, sonic113 said: Thanks Andy, is that the silver calcium type? I think i might order that as the price seems very good. It looks like ots a 53ah battey so probably a little bot of an upgrade to my old one. yes sonic it`s the calcium, had one of these for my old 2008 ford focus many years ago. will be trouble free for you 30mins to fit (if the weather keeps dry long enough lol ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devonboy Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 1 hour ago, isetta said: How does the green or red dot work. I would be a bit sceptical about red meaning it definitely needs a new battery as opposed to just meaning it is flat and needs charging. It may well be the battery and it sounds likely But i have known alternators to charge fine with engine running but then battery go flat when parked due to the rectifier pack within the alternator casing failing. The rectifier pack converts the AC current produced by the alternator to DC current to charge the battery. It is made of some diodes. The diodes also act as like a valve so that power can go out of the alternator but not leak back into it from the battery when parked. If you battery is dead you can prove it by removing from car, charging it for many hours, leave for a day, connect back to car and see if starter motor spins the engine nicely like it should. But tricky if you need the car every day. Having worked at an auto electricians I can confirm that when rectifier packs fail the current in the battery then flows back to the alternator. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic113 Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 1 hour ago, Devonboy said: Having worked at an auto electricians I can confirm that when rectifier packs fail the current in the battery then flows back to the alternator. Is there anyway to test this just incase this is the case for me here but i think its the battery to be honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic113 Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 1 hour ago, andypsp said: yes sonic it`s the calcium, had one of these for my old 2008 ford focus many years ago. will be trouble free for you 30mins to fit (if the weather keeps dry long enough lol ) Yeah weather is a let down here as well but i will pull out the umbrella if needed lol! Will order that tomorrow and get it fitted. If it done the job for yourself andy it should do well in my focus. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trailertrash Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 47 minutes ago, sonic113 said: Yeah weather is a let down here as well but i will pull out the umbrella if needed lol! Will order that tomorrow and get it fitted. If it done the job for yourself andy it should do well in my focus. Thanks again Make sure you've got your radio code! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic113 Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 57 minutes ago, trailertrash said: Make sure you've got your radio code! Yes i have it safe and sound. Thanks for the reminder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tdci-Peter Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 2 hours ago, sonic113 said: Is there anyway to test this just incase this is the case for me here but i think its the battery to be honest. I think you would get quite a big spark on reconnecting the battery -ve terminal if the alternator was pulling a lot of current. Also it is very easy to disconnect the alternator main wire on the Focus, there should be a bolted connection just in front of the battery, in the heavy lead running to the starter motor and alternator. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic113 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 29 minutes ago, Tdci-Peter said: I think you would get quite a big spark on reconnecting the battery -ve terminal if the alternator was pulling a lot of current. Also it is very easy to disconnect the alternator main wire on the Focus, there should be a bolted connection just in front of the battery, in the heavy lead running to the starter motor and alternator. When you pop the battery terminal back on there is no major spark or anything like that out of the ordinary. I think andy is right it os the battery just coming to its end of life cycle so im gonna order that one and hoepfully it does the trick. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypsp Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 4 hours ago, Tdci-Peter said: I think you would get quite a big spark on reconnecting the battery -ve terminal if the alternator was pulling a lot of current don`t forget sonic has had the battery off once already to try and charge it 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trailertrash Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 4 hours ago, andypsp said: don`t forget sonic has had the battery off once already to try and charge it ...and I should have re-read the thread before posting my advice re radio code. Duh! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic113 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 5 hours ago, trailertrash said: ...and I should have re-read the thread before posting my advice re radio code. Duh! Its always good to be re re minded anyways lol! battery ordered this morning so i will keep updated to see how it pans out. Thanks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic113 Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 UPDATE: Just a quick update here, The battery arrived this evening and I have to say its was well packaged so well down eurocarparts, Its the first time buying of them for myself now and I must admit I'm impressed with the packaging and the delivery its spot on, Due to the rain here all evening I didn't get a chance to fit it but will do tomorrow. I tested it when I opened it up and it was pretty much charged so I just give it a little boost on the charger early and now its ready for action in the morning so Hopefully this does the job ok as From testing my old battery it does seems to be loosing charge even when out of car so I guess its just ran its life cycle but just over 6 years isnt bad for the original battery, so I'm not surprised its starting to play up lol!. I will post more updates tomorrow. Thanks again for all advice. Greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic113 Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 Update just to wrap up this tread. battery has been in now for a few days and seems to be 100% so battery was issue. Thanks for all input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypsp Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 glad it`s all working well 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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