I've been having problems with the battery repeatedly going flat, it doesn't seem to hold a charge, and doesn't seem to get charged from driving.

I've got one of those battery & alternator testers and it says that the alternator is fine. So I'm guessing it's the battery or something else.

Also, I've noticed that after starting the engine there's smoke / steam coming from this part I've circled in the first picture. Is that normal?

And this other part that I've circled in the second picture is not spinning when the engine is on, I'm guessing it should do?

Anyone know what's going on with my car?

Thanks.

1st picture is the exhaust manifold.  There's probably a small leak of exhaust gasses there.  

2nd picture is the air conditioning compressor.  The middle part only spins when you turn the AC on.  (Provided the system has enough AC gas to operate safely.)

and the 3rd answer is..... you need to buy a new battery.

I guess I probably do.

After jump starting the car and then turning the engine off, voltage was around 12.6. Around half an hour later 11.9, then around an hour after that 9.5.

Strangely though the fault light doesn't come on when connecting my battery charger and maintainer to the battery, but maybe it can only detect some faults and not all?

1 hour ago, Ross3452 said:

, voltage was around 12.6. Around half an hour later 11.9, then around an hour after that 9.5.

Almost certainly a duff battery unless you have some load draining the battery when the ignition is off.

 

1 hour ago, Ross3452 said:

Strangely though the fault light doesn't come

Why should it? It will only come on when the ignition is on and the alternator is not charging the battery.

If you want to know if it’s car draining the battery or duff battery, charge battery. Don’t connect it to car. Next day connect to car and see if battery has held the charge. Often when battery is on its way out, the cold weather finishes it off (batteries don’t work as well in lower temperatures)

4 hours ago, agraham said:

Almost certainly a duff battery unless you have some load draining the battery when the ignition is off.

 

Why should it? It will only come on when the ignition is on and the alternator is not charging the battery.

I'm talking about the fault light on my battery maintainer and charger.

The fault light will come on if it detects:

Low battery voltage - less than 3v

High battery voltage - Above 15v on a 12v battery

Battery short circuit of battery cell short circuit

Wrong choice of voltage for battery

31 minutes ago, Ross3452 said:

Low battery voltage - less than 3v

High battery voltage - Above 15v on a 12v battery

Battery short circuit of battery cell short circuit

Wrong choice of voltage for battery

There's no fault light because your battery passes all those tests.  But "Not holding charge" isn't one of the 4 things that your battery maintainer is looking for.

45 minutes ago, alanfp said:

There's no fault light because your battery passes all those tests.  But "Not holding charge" isn't one of the 4 things that your battery maintainer is looking for.

.... and it's not even a Maypole charger 🙄

7 hours ago, Ross3452 said:

I'm talking about the fault light on my battery maintainer and charger.

The fault light will come on if it detects:

Low battery voltage - less than 3v

High battery voltage - Above 15v on a 12v battery

Battery short circuit of battery cell short circuit

Wrong choice of voltage for battery

If it thinks an error is only worth mentioning when the battery is below 3v, then that little box of tricks is about as useful as a box of chocolate spanners!!!

Don't hold faith in cheap chargers/maintainers, they lead you down the wrong path of happiness and make you swear, a lot!!!

Try one of these for a better view of a battery's health.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/OBDMONSTER100-2000-Resistance-Automotive-Alternator-Motorcycles/dp/B09KGLNQJQ/ref=sr_1_9?crid=66Y82MV7MS4I&keywords=car+battery+tester&qid=1669269220&sprefix=car+battery+tester%2Caps%2C70&sr=8-9

Now it's the next day and the voltage is 9.3. Does anyone know why it has only dropped from 9.5 to 9.3 over many hours?

The technical answer is the battery is bug9ered. 😧

15 hours ago, unofix said:

.... and it's not even a Maypole charger 🙄

Where's @StephenFord in this time of dire need 🤣

3 minutes ago, Wino said:

Where's @StephenFord in this time of dire need 🤣

Sulking because he missed out on commission!

5 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Sulking because he missed out on commission!

Perhaps he's busy sat around the negotiating table trying to get a better deal. It wouldn't surprise me one bit due to the amount of Maypole chargers that have been whizzing past on the sorter this week 😄

6 hours ago, Ross3452 said:

Now it's the next day and the voltage is 9.3. Does anyone know why it has only dropped from 9.5 to 9.3 over many hours?

Car battery has six cells. It is possible only 1 of the 6 cells is dead.so it does not necessarily keeping dropping as fast as it did first of all if the other cells are more healthy than the worse one.