Hi,

I recently bought an old mk1 focus and today I decided to fit my stereo in it. Not sure if its coincedence but now when i start the car it just clicks.

Is there anything i can check i should i order a new battery ? ive read that if i buy a battery it should be a siver calcium one, does this one look ok ? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110-Ah-Amp-12V-Silver-Calcium-Deep-Cycle-Leisure-Battery-for-Aux-Power-/170883753315?pt=UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Other_Vehicle_Parts_Accessories_ET&hash=item27c9772563

Thank for any help.

Sounds like the battery to me, you could try charging it. Are you sure the stereo you installed isn't causing a power drain as it could kill the new battery if it is.

ok thanks. Only fitted the new stereo about 10 minutes before it first wouldnt start. Its probably just coincedence, i just hope i havent accidentaly damaged a wire somewhere or something :(

Probs battery issue, could be linked with the new head unit? Was it a straight swap?

remove the stereo, insulate the wiring, charge the battery overnight and see how it goes after that. if it starts ok then leave the stereo out for a day or two to see if the battery holds its charge ok. maybe get a discharge test done on the battery. if all is well with the battery then you know its down to the wiring of the stereo.

Probably the battery has been on its last legs for a while, you've been out on the drive with the door open, doing the install, battery has been sat there getting drained.

Happens to the best of us. Get a jump start off a mate, take the car for a long drive (idleing it won't really put enough juice back in it), check you're not getting a charging circuit warning light, think about getting a new battery.

Thanks for the replies. Ive got the battery in the garage on charge and ive checked all the headunit wiring, it was pretty standard apart from the speaker wires needed messing about with. Il see if it starts tomorow with the charged battery and take it from there i guess.

Ok i charged the battery overnight and it started ok this morning. I went out for a drive came home and left the car for half hour, went back out to drive it and at first it was cranking fast but wouldnt start, it did this a couple of times but then started fine. Now it starts straight away again. Do you think i need a new battery or do you think theres more to it ?

If its working fine now, then I would leave it. Do bare in mind if there is a really cold spell or that, you could wake up and find the battery has completely died and will need replacing with a Silver Calcium one.

Ok thanks. If i was to get a new battery in the near future what would you recommend ? I wouldnt really want to spend more than £75 as its only an old car I use for a runaround.

Whatever battery you buy, it must be a silver calcium one. If your current one isn't a sealed battery, I recommend buying some bat aid tablets from Halfords and putting those in with a top up of distilled water. They clean the sulphate build up off of the plates and may give the battery a new lease of life.

ok its the batt either dead or completely drained flat but what u wanna watch is for a interment cluster light prob got one on my 03 focus it will flash or stay on draining the batt best bet is to goto a breakers yard and pic up up a batt for it it cost me £18+vat that was 2 months ago and its still going strong plus i run 2 big amps and 2 12"subs just need to sort that interment cluster out now :S ive had mine 4 1/2 years now and its a damn good reliable car only had to fix a handful of probs.. i want to change tho to something diff but i love it to much ...