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Battery or starter?

  • 18-11-2009 2:13pm
    #1
    CQ
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭


    Hi folks, i have a rover 25 2003 which had the starter replaced a few months ago because the car died on me on a round about, this was after getting the head gasket replaced!! Since then the car is tempermental about starting........the garage checked the starter and said it working fine that the battery needs replacing. I will replace the battery now, but i'm wondering when the car is started doesnt that recharge the battery, my sister has just been out in it, and stopped for petrol then she couldnt start the car after........so is it the battery, it was eventually jump started but it took a while. I just want to make sure it is the battery as the garage i've been using i feel had been doing dodgy work & charging me for it.
    thanks for any advice you can give me, i'm going to try to sell the car now so want it working well!!


Comments

  • #2
    hobochris
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,164 ✭✭✭hobochris


    Sounds like a dead battery alright but My guess would be alternator trouble causing that.

    Battery may be fooked anyway, but no point putting a new one in if the alternator is not charging it.


  • #3
    Darragh29
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,097 ✭✭✭Darragh29


    If the problem is resolved with a jump start OP then the cause is likely the battery. This time of year, especially with the cold this year, it tends to finish off batteries that are approaching end of life.


  • #4
    corktina
    Closed Accounts Posts: 17,733 ✭✭✭✭corktina


    hang on....a new starter because the car died on a roundabout? That cant be right...once its running it should stay running, starter wont affect that...are you sure you didnt get a new Alternator because it died on you?


  • #5
    CQ
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭CQ


    Yeah the car sounded funny when i started it, then the engine just cut out on a round about.
    They told me it was the starter, so you both think its an alternator problem?


  • #6
    CQ
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭CQ


    Darragh29 wrote: »
    If the problem is resolved with a jump start OP then the cause is likely the battery. This time of year, especially with the cold this year, it tends to finish off batteries that are approaching end of life.


    Yeah they jump started it but it took a while, the garage said they had recharged the battery completely last week. This prob has been going on for a few months, not just since the cold snap


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  • #7
    dudara
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,518 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    It sounds more like you have trouble with your alternator.

    Go to another garage and get both your alternator and battery checked out.


  • #8
    CQ
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭CQ


    dudara wrote: »
    It sounds more like you have trouble with your alternator.

    Go to another garage and get both your alternator and battery checked out.

    going to try another garage now,hopefully he will sort it, and be honest about it


  • #9
    Darragh29
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,097 ✭✭✭Darragh29


    CQ wrote: »
    going to try another garage now,hopefully he will sort it, and be honest about it

    I don't know the case history here obviously but if the original garage changed your starter motor recently and your battery is now at end of life, the fact that they changed the starter motor doesn't mean that they are responsible for the battery problem now or that they failed to diagnose the battery problem (which might not have existed), at the time the starter was replaced.

    Is it a thing where you think they wrongly diagnosed the starter as being the problem when it was the battery???

    After the garage replaced the starter motor, did this resolve the issue, and if it did, how long did the problem with starting remain resolved until you had this problem with the battery???


  • #10
    CQ
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭CQ


    Darragh29 wrote: »
    I don't know the case history here obviously but if the original garage changed your starter motor recently and your battery is now at end of life, the fact that they changed the starter motor doesn't mean that they are responsible for the battery problem now or that they failed to diagnose the battery problem (which might not have existed), at the time the starter was replaced.

    Is it a thing where you think they wrongly diagnosed the starter as being the problem when it was the battery???

    After the garage replaced the starter motor, did this resolve the issue, and if it did, how long did the problem with starting remain resolved until you had this problem with the battery???


    Even after the starter had been replaced i was having trouble with it, it wouldnt start and had to leave it back to the garage twice.
    I dont know what is wrong iwth the car...i have been having trouble with it since they did a big service where they replaced the timing belt, shortly after that my head gasket went which maybe a coincidence, but i had noticed the fan running longer after i stopped the engine after the service but wasnt sure what it was.
    Then as i was driving through a round about the engine just cut out, it did sound a little funny when i started the engine, but it started and drove for about 5 mins before cutting out.
    Now sometimes its starts, sometimes it wont, brought it back last week, they told me they had recharged the battery. I dont mind buying a new battery, i just need to make sure that is whats wrong as i've seem to be spending alot of money on the car!


  • #11
    jimmyw
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,382 ✭✭✭jimmyw


    As a simple test if you dont have a meter which I assume you dont, then when the engine is running switch on the headlights and see if they brighten when you rev the engine a bit.It may be a bit hard to see but if they brighten then the alternator is fine.


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  • #12
    CQ
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭CQ


    jimmyw wrote: »
    As a simple test if you dont have a meter which I assume you dont, then when the engine is running switch on the headlights and see if they brighten when you rev the engine a bit.It may be a bit hard to see but if they brighten then the alternator is fine.


    When the engine is first turned on & the engine is raved the lights brighten, but any subsequent raving had no effect of the brightness of the lights, if that makes any sense, just the first time its raved


  • #13
    corktina
    Closed Accounts Posts: 17,733 ✭✭✭✭corktina


    is the drive belt slack? worth checking (id say fanbelt but thats not correct nowadays)


  • #14
    CQ
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭CQ


    corktina wrote: »
    is the drive belt slack? worth checking (id say fanbelt but thats not correct nowadays)
    No idea about a drive belt or fan belt.......will ask mechanic to check it also tomorrow


  • #15
    jimmyw
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,382 ✭✭✭jimmyw


    Is your battery light on the dash going out?if it is then the alternator should be ok.


  • #16
    jimmyw
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,382 ✭✭✭jimmyw


    CQ wrote: »
    Hi folks, i have a rover 25 2003 which had the starter replaced a few months ago because the car died on me on a round about, this was after getting the head gasket replaced!! Since then the car is tempermental about starting........the garage checked the starter and said it working fine that the battery needs replacing. I will replace the battery now, but i'm wondering when the car is started doesnt that recharge the battery, my sister has just been out in it, and stopped for petrol then she couldnt start the car after........so is it the battery, it was eventually jump started but it took a while. I just want to make sure it is the battery as the garage i've been using i feel had been doing dodgy work & charging me for it.
    thanks for any advice you can give me, i'm going to try to sell the car now so want it working well!!

    Yeah the battery is kept charged while the engine is running, but if the battery is gone it might not take/hold a charge.


  • #17
    Mr Benevolent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,456 ✭✭✭✭Mr Benevolent


    .i have been having trouble with it since they did a big service where they replaced the timing belt, shortly after that my head gasket went which maybe a coincidence

    Heh. I bet they didn't replace the water pump when the changed the timing belt, which cause the HG failure. And they replaced the starter because the car wouldn't start, and it still won't start? Was the car diagnosed by a housewife or something?

    OP, that garage is obviously crap. Find a better one.


  • #18
    CQ
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭CQ


    Confab wrote: »
    Heh. I bet they didn't replace the water pump when the changed the timing belt, which cause the HG failure. And they replaced the starter because the car wouldn't start, and it still won't start? Was the car diagnosed by a housewife or something?

    OP, that garage is obviously crap. Find a better one.

    Yeah i'm beginning to think the garage is crap myself, they have gotten over 1800 euros off me this last yr, over 500 for service & timing belt replacement & break pads, then about 1200 for head gasket.

    They repaced the starter motor because the engine cut out on me when i was driving.....the car just died on me going round a roundabout!


  • #19
    Kiri
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21 ✭Kiri


    Hi, I'd have another look at the HG and check all connections, water levels and pipework etc , The R25 have a notoriously awkward HG replacement proceedure and if jump leads allow you to start the car immediately then it's a battery problem, if the engine cranks for a long time and eventually starts it's not the starter but probably a HG related
    issue. good luck.
    CQ wrote: »
    Hi folks, i have a rover 25 2003 which had the starter replaced a few months ago because the car died on me on a round about, this was after getting the head gasket replaced!! Since then the car is tempermental about starting........the garage checked the starter and said it working fine that the battery needs replacing. I will replace the battery now, but i'm wondering when the car is started doesnt that recharge the battery, my sister has just been out in it, and stopped for petrol then she couldnt start the car after........so is it the battery, it was eventually jump started but it took a while. I just want to make sure it is the battery as the garage i've been using i feel had been doing dodgy work & charging me for it.
    thanks for any advice you can give me, i'm going to try to sell the car now so want it working well!!


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