Dead Battery?

Jono8 · 21 Sep 2011 at 07:57

Ok so i tried to start the car (Focus ST) yesterday afternoon and it said there was an engine system management failure and it wouldnt start ( didnt crank, just made some funny electrical noises). At this point everything worked like the dahsboard lights,main lights, interior light, radio, central locking e.t.c e.t.c

I had to go to work so couldnt do anything else yesterday. I have tried it this morning and the central locking barely worked. managed to get the car unlocked but now when i turn the ignition in i get no lights or anything. All i get is a funny ticking noise coming from around the glove box ( not when im cranking the engine, just when i turn the ignition on). I can no longer put the radio,lights,interior light on e.t.c the car just has no power.

I assume this means the battery is dead yes? I don't know why it has suddenly happened as this is the first problem i ave ever had with the car and nothing before starting it up yesterday has ever hinted that there is anything wrong.

Can the battery just suddenly collapse/die?

The bigger problem is that i don't have homestart or another car to jump it with so....i don't really know what the least expensive option is really to get someone to test the battery at my house!?

Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks

robj20 · 21 Sep 2011 at 08:00

Buy a £6 multimeter from the well know high street electronics shop, check the voltage. Batterys can just die, might be worth replacing anyway, as winter is coming it will finish off dying batteries.

Jono8 · 21 Sep 2011 at 08:21

robj20 said:
Buy a £6 multimeter from the well know high street electronics shop, check the voltage. Batterys can just die, might be worth replacing anyway, as winter is coming it will finish off dying batteries.

Can a battery go from being seemingly fine to just dying and losing all its charge in 24 - 48 hours though?

bledd · 21 Sep 2011 at 08:27

Scrutinize · 21 Sep 2011 at 08:34

had to replace mine recently, would die after leaving lights on for a few mins or the dc socket. lasted a year from when it showed signs of degredation though. was £47inc delivery for a bosch silver (4 year warranty) from euro car parts as they had a 25% off online, even still their in store / trade counter price was still well below anywhere else @ £66.

is it possible you left something on to cause the battery to drain, even one of the internal lights if for long enough

Jono8 · 21 Sep 2011 at 08:37

mrk1@1 said:
had to replace mine recently, would die after leaving lights on for a few mins or the dc socket. lasted a year from when it showed signs of degredation though. was £47inc delivery for a bosch silver (4 year warranty) from euro car parts as they had a 25% off online, even still their in store / trade counter price was still well below anywhere else @ £66.

is it possible you left something on to cause the battery to drain, even one of the internal lights if for long enough

I don't think so. The only possible thing i left on was the stereo as i remember putting it on after turning the car off to get a cd out however im 99% it only stays on for an hour if the keys arent in the ignition.

Re: the multimeter. What will this confirm? That the battery is dead or that it isnt supplying the correct voltage?

Jono8 · 21 Sep 2011 at 08:40

Also, my slight worry is that initially when the car still had a bit of power ( but wouldnt start) it said engine system fault. Would this just have come up due to the car not having enough power though?

robj20 · 21 Sep 2011 at 08:51

Multimeter will at least show you if its the battery or something else, should read 12v or higher at the terminals, you can then get someone to crank it over and if the voltage drops too much its the battery, it should be able to supply 12v while cranking really.

Jono8 · 21 Sep 2011 at 08:55

robj20 said:
Multimeter will at least show you if its the battery or something else, should read 12v or higher at the terminals, you can then get someone to crank it over and if the voltage drops too much its the battery, it should be able to supply 12v while cranking really.

Ok thank you. I don't think i would even be able to attempt to crank the car now though. It just seems to have no power whatsoever. No lights,central locking, dashboard nothing

I am debating whether to call someone out to jump start it (potentially expensive) or just go to euro car parts and buy a new battery and keep my fingers crossed that that is the problem!

robj20 · 21 Sep 2011 at 09:00

If you have a 12v bulb or such wire it to the battery see if it lights up if not completely dead battery. Or even anything else you can wire straight to the battery.
Can you not push start it, go to halfords or such and get them to check it, its free.

Jono8 · 21 Sep 2011 at 09:05

robj20 said:
If you have a 12v bulb or such wire it to the battery see if it lights up if not completely dead battery. Or even anything else you can wire straight to the battery.
Can you not push start it, go to halfords or such and get them to check it, its free.

Push starting it would be a no go as A. It is down my drive and i don't think i could push it myself and B. there seems to be hardly any juice in the battery whatsover now.

andicole0 · 21 Sep 2011 at 09:11

Jono8 said:
Push starting it would be a no go as A. It is down my drive and i don't think i could push it myself and B. there seems to be hardly any juice in the battery whatsover now.

Can you not get the battery charged first, if it starts after a good charge then at least you know the engine is OK. If it still doesn't start you won't have wasted money on a new battery.

Andi.

Jono8 · 21 Sep 2011 at 09:31

Am i correct in thinking that if i multimeter it and it shows less than 12v then i need a new battery and no amount of charging will help?

robj20 · 21 Sep 2011 at 09:41

yes, if no dash lights are working it will be a lot less than 12v if its the battery.

Jono8 · 21 Sep 2011 at 09:48

robj20 said:
yes, if no dash lights are working it will be a lot less than 12v if its the battery.

yes it has nothing now. Yesterday everything was still working except i couldnt start the engine but now literally nothing works so it seems to have drained even more since yesterday afternoon. The ONLy thing that comes on is the mileage/trip display at the first step of ignition. If it turn the key to the second step ntohing comes on at all.

Looks like the battery may just be broken. I don't have jump leads or someone whom i can jump the car, at least not until tomorrow.

I'm thinking that the best course of action might just be to go get a new battery. If that doesnt work then there is obviously something more sinister going on.

In terms of battery manufactureres, Eurocar parts have Exide and Bosch batteries. Happy to pay the few quid extra for the Bosch if they are much better than Exide?

robj20 · 21 Sep 2011 at 09:52

With a multimeter you could also check for excessive drain, disconnect the negative and put the multimeter between to connect the circuit and it will show how many amps are being drawn. For the sake of the cost i would get one, there handy to have.

GeForce · 21 Sep 2011 at 10:12

robj20 said:
With a multimeter you could also check for excessive drain, disconnect the negative and put the multimeter between to connect the circuit and it will show how many amps are being drawn. For the sake of the cost i would get one, there handy to have.

Don't try and start the car like this though, the meter is probably about 10A max and it'll blow up!

Even headlights is pushing it.

robj20 · 21 Sep 2011 at 10:23

Good point to add. That would also defeat the point your wanting to see if anything is drawing too much power in the cars off state.

Jono8 · 21 Sep 2011 at 10:29

Thank you for all your help guys. I think the best course of action and the most financially agreeable is to just go and get a new battery today. It could do with one anyway as is an 06 reg and i suspect it still has the orginal.

If it still doesnt work then at least ive ruled out that!

One last question

Exide battery is £55
Bosch is £58

Exide any good or worth the £3 for the Bosch?

robj20 · 21 Sep 2011 at 10:33

I would go for the bosch purely for there good service should you need it.