Car wont start, just clicks!

[littletodd20]

Hi All,

I have recently bought a black Audi S3 on a W plate which i am very pleased with...

It seems to have minimal cranking power, like the battery was low, so i tried another battery, still no good.

So i put my battery back on, go to crank it over and it just clicks, so we bump start it, go for a long-ish drive, try again and it still just clicks!

Can anyone shed any light on this for me please?

Mike

 

[dela]

deffinitely battery!

 

[littletodd20]

deffinitely battery!

Ok mate i shal go down to halfrauds tomorow and get a new one! How come it always started before i took it off, then when i put it back on it doesn't even have enough power to turn the engine over though? When did it loose all that power

 

[Dani_B19]

You made sure both connectors are on properly?

 

[voorhees]

Dan,Halfrauds ones don't seat properly in the space (I have one) go somewhere else

 

[Bignick]

Sounds like another alternator prob to me. stick a meter on it to see

 

[Nilz]

Sounds like it could be your alternator, get it checked out, may have to get a recon'd one.

 

[Boro&Beth]

As said, stick a volt meter across the terminals with the engine running to see if the battery is actually getting a charge. You should get something between 11-12v if its charging properly i would have thought. Anything less than that and your alternator could be knackered.

Might be worth popping into somewhere that does free battery tests before you spend out on one.

 

[Shy19s]

This also happens when your starter goes, 2/3 bolts on the bottom of the Gearbox, get it off, give it a live feed and earth it on the metal part of the casing, see if it spins, and check the other solenoid to see if it jumps out. If not, then you know whats wrong.. you can get a free battery test at halfrauds tho.

 

[littletodd20]

Okey doke my friend has a multi meter so will bump start it and test if it's charging.

How baddly do the Halfrauds batteries fit? As there are not many places local to me that sell brand new batteries!

 

[littletodd20]

Right managed to buy a new battery from Unipart, cranks over nice & quick now...

Put a multi meter on the battery with the engine off, 12.82v, started the engine and got 14.19v

So it is charging, is that about right or do they normally charge more?

 

[SanityClause]

Yes your measurements are fine for a new battery.

For anyone else with this kind of problem, a battery at rest should be around 12.5 - 12.7 volts, running the car at around 1500 - 2000 RPM this should climb to around 14.1volts.

If the car won't start, put a voltmeter across the battery and then try to start the engine, if the voltage drops to around 10 volts or less then it's a good sign that one of the cells has collapsed and the battery needs replacing.