Car won't start after battery charge

Grumple

Member
Hi All,

For whatever reason my battery had slowly been dying for the last couple of weeks, it finally lost enough power to not start the car on Thursday morning.

I've now fully charged the battery, but the car won't start. The starter doesn't even attempt to turn, the ignition just clicks when I turn the key.

What can have happened in between me removing the battery to charge it, and then reinstalling it for car to now not even turn over?

As much as I like these cars, I'm honestly getting pretty tired of having a new issue every week... Don't think I'll keep it for much longer.

1.4D 75bhp '03 reg

No idea where to start. Any help would be great.

Thanks
 
Sounds like it might be a case of deteriorating engine earth more than deteriorating battery. The earth strap runs from the starter motor to a bolt behind the passenger headlight, which is where corrosion normally occurs. You'll find plenty of advice on here on the subject of getting to it, but note that as well as that connection, it's been known for the strap itself to get corroded entirely through underneath its plastic coating.
 
I was going to start looking into the battery draining/earthing issue once I'd charged it - but now it seems I've got an entirely new issue to sort out...
 
As a quicky, if you've got jump leads just go from a good engine earth to a good body earth: if it starts (or just changes) there's an earth issue. Or if you have a multi-meter, set it to volts and get someone to turn the key as you measure volt difference between the engine and body. Anything more than, say one volt and there's a problem. Ideally you won't see anything or perhaps 0.2volts or so.
 
Hi Rusty,

What do you mean by 'go from an engine earth to a body earth'? With the leads where?

Not keen on electrics...
 
What do you mean by 'go from an engine earth to a body earth'? With the leads where?

He's suggesting using one jump lead to replicate what the earth strap should be doing ie making a good electrical connection between the engine and the body. Think he might be about to send a photo.......
 
Anything on the engine that looks very 'metal': mine's a petrol, but something like this lifting eye is ideal but basically anything that looks to be bare(ish) aluminium or steel will do. No wires and no plastic (obvs :)):

P1020408.JPG
 
So in practical terms, take (say) your black jump lead (it doesn't actually matter which one, you're only using it as an extra earth) and attach it to somewhere metallic and reasonably sturdy on the engine.

Then take the other end of the same lead and try it either on the bolt (above) or the brace (also above).

Try to start the car. If no joy, then see if a helper can turn the key whilst you give each end of the lead a wiggle.

Just make sure that the lead(s) is (are) out of the way of the belt area of the engine just in case it actually does something!

All you're doing is adding an extra earth point: if the engine suddenly starts, you know you've got some sort of engine to body earth issue: either the lead itself has failed, the connections on the lead have failed or the points at which those connections meet the body / engine are corroded. Whatever, the cure is to replace the lead and clean up the contact points at the same time.

If nothing changes, it doesn't guarantee your earth is good, but certainly says the earth isn't your main issue this time. You'll probably find another problem (don't forget there's an earth from the battery to the body in the boot, which can be checked using the same principles). The fact that it's gradually gone downhill is almost certainly going to give some clues as to what's happened.
 
He's suggesting using one jump lead to replicate what the earth strap should be doing ie making a good electrical connection between the engine and the body. Think he might be about to send a photo.......

Yes, in my rambling style, that's exactly what I was saying.

As I briefly mentioned before, if you've not got jump leads but you do have a multi-meter you can set it to volts and do exactly the same thing. If it shows more than the merest wisp of volts, you've got an earth issue.

The idea of both of these checks is that they can be done without taking the car apart (so hard-shoulder / layby friendly) and are really fast (and free).

If you are stuck, there's a fair chance a passer by might have jump leads, but highly unlikely they'll wait around whilst you try to find where your earth lead is, strip it out etc.
 
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Hi guys,

Thanks very much for the input - top notch guidance as always.

I'll have a play with this tomorrow and report back ?
 
I keep jump leads in the driver footwell compartment just in case. A perfect place because otherwise it’s not used because it’s a pain to get into but in an emergency it’s there! Also some tyreweld!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
OK, so I've tried attaching a lead to various points on the engine and body, and it made no difference at all.

Turning the key now doesn't even seem to engage the battery (it was clicking before).

The car was cranking absolutely fine before I took the battery out - why would it now not crank at all?
 
OK so you have probably ruled out the engine end. You now need to do the same at the battery end. Earth easy enough to use a jump lead off the battery negative onto bare metal, if you see a spark then good indication the battery earth lead is broken. The positive terminal is more likely to be the fuses connected directly to the terminal. If all that ok easiest solution is call a recovery service. You did not mention if any other electrics work or if everything is dead. Could even be the battery has died, have you checked the voltage with a meter? Starter could also have failed.
 
Take your battery to somewhere that sells batteries, ideally somewhere that could provide a replacement. They will be able to test it for you. A voltmeter test will not be conclusive.

RAB
 
OK, so I've tried attaching a lead to various points on the engine and body, and it made no difference at all.

Turning the key now doesn't even seem to engage the battery (it was clicking before).

The car was cranking absolutely fine before I took the battery out - why would it now not crank at all?

Quite a few A2s are still using the battery that was fitted from new. Post a picture of your current battery here and we'll easily be able to tell you if yours is in that category. No battery lasts forever, and they do tend to fail quite suddenly.
 
Battery is a Bosch silver top and only a year old. All other electrics seem fine.

IMG-20200315-WA0002.jpg


The car had been starting weakly for a couple of weeks, so battery was taken out to fully charge.

I'll try the leads at the battery end and report back.

Thanks for the input ?

Edit: No sparks and no improvement trying the leads at the battery (negative terminal to body)
 
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Battery is a Bosch silver top and only a year old. All other electrics seem fine.

View attachment 62226

The car had been starting weakly for a couple of weeks, so battery was taken out to fully charge.

I'll try the leads at the battery end and report back.

Thanks for the input ?

Edit: No sparks and no improvement trying the leads at the battery (negative terminal to body)

Your positive terminal appears to be touching the metal bracket that supports the spare wheel. I presume that has shorted the battery out.

The positive terminal is supposed to be kept covered to prevent this sort of problem.
 
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