New Battery?

Hyper · 17 Jul 2011 at 22:40

Hi all,

My Citroen C2 is becoming a bit of a pain to start sometimes from cold, once the car does eventually start it runs fine with no sign of missfire which makes me think the ignition leads and spark plugs should be okay.

The battery also seems to drain quite quickly making the car enter economy mode while listening to the radio for only 15 minutes without the car running.

This all leads me to think a new battery could be in order?

Is it worth doing some tests on it using a multimeter before buying another?

Any advice is welcome,

Thanks, Sam.

Liquidfox · 18 Jul 2011 at 09:40

No harm in testing it, a normal battery level will remain between 12.5 and 12.8 volts when the engine is turned off, 14.3 is the normal when it's running (iirc)

Participant · 18 Jul 2011 at 09:44

Sam,

Most battery places will do free battery and alternator checks, for obvious reasons. The easiest thing for you to do is to take your car to one of these places. Just make sure you're looking over their shoulders when they taken 'the measurements'

.

Liampope · 18 Jul 2011 at 12:37

Robbie G said:
Sam,

Most battery places will do free battery and alternator checks, for obvious reasons. The easiest thing for you to do is to take your car to one of these places. Just make sure you're looking over their shoulders when they taken 'the measurements' .

Depends if they know how to use the kit!

I went to Halfords a while ago for a battery and thought I may as well get the free check to confirm the charging cct was ok as I didn't have my multimeter with me. The girl asked me to pop the bonnet and did a measurement with the engine still off. I was surprised when she concluded the charging cct isn't working then and there, so I suggested maybe we try that measurement again with the engine running. "Uh, OK if you want" she said, and sure enough with the engine running "Oh - it's OK this time". :rolleyes: